Farmers growing spices in Nam Dan have to cut down and dump them because they don't know who to sell them to.

The leek fields are overripe but people still cannot harvest them because they do not know who to sell them to. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu's family (Xuan Son hamlet) grows 1 sao of chives, harvesting a batch every 14 days, about 500 bundles. Every year, when harvesting, traders call to order in advance, then she cuts the chives, sells them in the field, and receives cash from 2,000,000 VND - 2,500,000 VND/batch. This year, the epidemic is complicated,Nam DanLike other localities in the province, they all implemented social distancing and closed the traditional markets, so they didn't know who to sell the chives to.

Ms. Thu said: “The last batch had to be dumped with hundreds of bundles of chives. When the crop is ready, it has to be cut. If left too old, the chives will flower, the leaves will dry and affect the next crop. Now, 1 sao of chives is ready to be harvested, but we have to give up because no one is asking to buy them. We will have to cut them off.”

Dozens of hectares of basil are also overripe and old in the fields. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Currently, the entire Nam Xuan commune has 40 households growing chives with an area of ​​7 hectares, with an average income of 85 million VND/hectare. This is a plantcommercial vegetablesbring high economic efficiency to Nam Xuan people.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hung, an agricultural officer of Nam Xuan commune, said: "The initial cost of growing 1 sao of chives is not large (about 1 million VND for seeds and fertilizers), but because it requires regular watering, a misting system must be installed and a lot of care must be taken. The characteristic of this vegetable is that if it cannot be consumed, it must be cut off to wait for another batch to sprout. Therefore, at this time, there is difficulty in consumption, almost no one asks to buy, so people have to cut off tons of chives and dump them on the banks."

Perilla in the fields and home gardens flourished, with a good harvest and good price, bringing in nearly 100 million VND/ha, but now it has to "lie in the fields" due to lack of output. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In addition to chives, herbs such as perilla, Vietnamese balm, basil, Vietnamese coriander, etc. on about 51 hectares in hamlets such as Xuan Thanh and Xuan Mai of 150 households also have no outlet. It is past the harvest season but there are no traders to buy, so households have to let the good herb fields grow larger than their head, covering the fields. Many families, worried about the impact on the next harvest, have to mobilize manpower to cut them, then carry them to the shore and dump them.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Minh's family, who grows 10 sao of herbs at Lum Bang farm, Xuan Thanh hamlet, said: "Normally, from cutting and selling herbs, they also bring in 800,000 - 1 million VND/day. Mainly, traders from Vinh wholesale market come to buy and pay fresh money right at the garden. But this year, they can't, they don't know who to sell to. For more than a month now, every day they have to cut, pour banks, compost, causing losses of tens of millions of VND. Some households feel sorry for their money so they take advantage of the hot sun to dry perilla and Vietnamese balm, leaving it there for later, in case any traditional medicine shop needs it, they can sell it. But the whole village, with hundreds of tons of output, even if they dry it, they don't know where to sell it all."

Due to the nature of harvesting in batches, when the herbs grow well, they are not sold to anyone. Basil is cut down and put in compost, chives are fed to fish instead of grass, perilla and Vietnamese balm are dried in the hope that someone will buy them to make traditional medicine. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Vegetables,Nam Xuan spicesMainly consumed through traders, supplying restaurants, hotels, wholesale markets in Vinh city and neighboring provinces, and retailing through traditional markets in the province. However, currently, due to the complicated developments of the epidemic, restaurants, hotels, markets, etc. have all stopped operating, so no one buys this vegetable, so it has to be cut and thrown away, with estimated losses of hundreds of millions of dong.

Not only Nam Xuan but also spice vegetable growers in Nam Anh (Nam Dan), Hung Thanh (Hung Nguyen)... are also struggling with output, not knowing who to sell to, people cut them down, piling them up on the banks of the fields. "After months of hard work, working under the sun and rain to take care of them, now it's time to harvest and have to throw them away. Spice vegetables are the main income of households in the growing areas, so people hope that all levels and sectors will connect and support consumption," said Mr. Tran Van Nam, an agricultural official of Nam Anh commune (Nam Dan).