The Deputy Director of the Department tells the truth about the watermelon rescue operation.

"Calling it a rescue effort for Quảng Nam watermelons whose prices have plummeted after April 10th is incorrect, because all the watermelons have already been sold."

'Exploiting for illicit gain'

Speaking to Dat Viet on April 17th, Mr. Ngo Tan, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quang Nam province, said: "Currently, all the watermelons at Tan Thanh border gate (Lang Son) are stuck and cannot be exported. These are not watermelons from Quang Nam, but from some other locality."

In addition, Mr. Tan also stated: "The watermelon crop that was damaged by the flood has been completely sold out, and the remaining harvest is extremely limited."

Specifically, the watermelons that the villagers managed to save have all been sold, while the unripe watermelons that were not yet ready for harvest have been completely ruined.

Specifically, Mr. Tan asserted: "The watermelons currently being sold in the provinces claiming to be from Quang Nam are not actually from the local area. This is because the quantity of watermelons transported recently has already run out."

According to Mr. Tan, the reality after the unusual floods was that watermelons couldn't be sold and were being sold at low prices. Many groups of young volunteers helped sell the watermelons to support the people, and the results were very encouraging. This is a very commendable gesture from young people towards farmers in Quang Nam.

However, although watermelons in Quang Nam province ran out more than a week ago, the market is still reporting that Quang Nam watermelons are unsaleable, causing congestion, and appealing for help, which has angered the people of the province. Many small traders are also taking advantage of this situation to make illicit profits.

Watermelons in the northern part of Quang Nam province were damaged by unusual flooding at the end of March.

Meanwhile, in a statement to the press, Mr. Le Muon, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quang Nam province, said: "It is incorrect to say that by mid-April, there is still information circulating about Quang Nam watermelons dropping in price, being stuck at northern border gates, or about rescuing watermelons."

Accordingly, the Department sent official letter No. 511 to the People's Committee of Quang Nam province. Specifically, the letter stated that every year, during the winter-spring season, approximately 850 hectares of watermelon are grown in Quang Nam province, divided into two main regions.

The northern melon growing area, covering approximately 300 hectares (mainly riverside melons in Dai Loc, Dien Ban, and Duy Xuyen districts), has a harvest season in late March. The southern melon growing area, covering approximately 550 hectares (mainly field melons in Phu Ninh district), has a harvest season from late April to mid-early May.

Recently, there have been reports that watermelons from Quang Nam province are not selling out, causing congestion at border crossings and being sold retail in many other places.

However, in Quang Nam province, there are currently no watermelons left to harvest and sell on the market. This is because: the watermelon crop in the northern area has already been harvested, and some was damaged by the recent rains; the watermelons in the southern area are still small and not yet ready for harvest.

Therefore, the information that watermelons are not selling well, are stuck at border crossings, are being sold at low prices, and are being displayed in some places does not refer to watermelons grown in Quang Nam.

"The watermelons will be all gone by the beginning of April."

In addition, Mr. Le Muon also said: "The watermelons stuck at the border were from Quang Ngai southward. As for Quang Nam, only the watermelons were damaged in March due to floods; our relatives helped sell them, and those watermelons didn't go through the border. Almost all the watermelons from Quang Nam that go to China are long-fruited watermelons. As for watermelons from Quang Nam's rice fields, they won't be harvested for another ten to fifteen days."

According to Mr. Muon, for the past 3-4 years, the rice-growing melon crop in Quang Nam has been planted half a month later than in other central coastal provinces. By then, the melons from other provinces have already been sold, and Quang Nam's melons are starting to fetch better prices.

“Recently, some of the volunteers helped sell watermelons from the riverside fields, which was excellent. At that time, there was an unusual flood, causing the price of watermelons to drop. They helped sell several hundred tons. But by the beginning of April, all the watermelons were gone. Calling it a rescue effort for Quang Nam watermelons after April 10th is incorrect. I'm not talking about the volunteers, but I'm wary of other people taking advantage of this situation, which would be wrong,” Mr. Muon stated.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ho Ngoc Man, Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Dai Loc district, also stated: "The unseasonal rain from March 26th to 28th caused flooding in 87 hectares of watermelon crops belonging to farmers, resulting in losses of approximately 5.2 billion VND."

Stalls selling watermelons to support people in Quang Nam province are still widespread along the streets of Hanoi.

Thanks to the support of young volunteers and philanthropists from all over, about 160 tons of watermelons were sold at prices ranging from 3,000 to 4,000 VND/kg, all sold by April 6th, thus helping to salvage some of the losses. We are currently compiling a list of each affected household so that Quang Nam province can provide assistance to the farmers.”

Notably, along the sidewalks of Hanoi streets such as Nguyen Xien (Thanh Xuan), Le Van Luong extended (Ha Dong), Ho Tung Mau, Tran Thai Tong (Cau Giay)..., street vendors selling fruits, including watermelons, are appearing in abundance, displaying signs that say "Quang Nam watermelons 6000 VND/kg".

According to Baodatviet.vn