Nghe An: Green squash costs only 2,000 VND/kg but no one buys it
(Baonghean.vn) - Although they have specialized in growing green squash for many years, the people of Thanh Linh commune, Thanh Chuong district have never been as sad as they are now. After reaching a record price of 16,000 VND/kg, the price of squash is now only 2,000 VND/kg but there are still no buyers.
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| Ms. Tran Thi Ha in Linh Hong village, Thanh Linh commune, Thanh Chuong district collects pumpkins in the warehouse. Photo: Dinh Ha |
Originally a person who specializes in trading services, but has seen that for many years the pumpkins have been in good harvest and high price, this spring, Ms. Tran Thi Ha in Linh Hong Village, Thanh Linh Commune, Thanh Chuong District took advantage of the time to grow 3 sao of pumpkins. Thanks to careful planting and care and favorable weather, the pumpkins have a good harvest. But the joy is not complete when the time comes to harvest the pumpkins and they cannot be sold.
Picking up each pumpkin and carefully arranging them in the warehouse, Ms. Ha sadly said: "This is the first time growing pumpkins and the price has dropped miserably, so I have to keep them. If they spoil, I have to accept it."
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| Despite a good harvest, Mr. Bui Van Thu in Linh Hong village, Thanh Linh commune, was not interested in harvesting, spending all day absent-mindedly in the pumpkin field. Photo: Dinh Ha |
Linh Hong is a purely agricultural village of Thanh Linh commune, Thanh Chuong district, located next to Lam river. Currently, the whole hamlet has about 30 households specializing in monoculture of squash on an area of about 3 hectares. Each year, they grow 4 crops, which used to bring a stable income of about 500 - 600 million VND/ha. There was a time when the price of squash peaked at 16,000 VND/kg, at the lowest it was 4,000 VND/kg, but now it cannot be sold for 2,000 VND/kg.
Like Ms. Ha, these days, Mr. Bui Van Thu - who has many years of successful pumpkin growing experience - is also absent-mindedly wandering around his pumpkin field. He said that in the past, there were many pumpkin buyers, and even sellers had the right to choose which traders to sell to, but now all the customers from Do Luong, Vinh and the North have refused. Particularly, agents in Nam Dinh said that currently, there are many pumpkins in the North but the price has also decreased, so it is very difficult to sell to remote areas.
To limit some of the damage, people have been harvesting in small quantities and sending them to local markets for consumption, but the quantity is very limited. When the squash is ready to be harvested, people have been collecting and turning their houses into warehouses to wait for the price to increase. Currently, there are over 20 households here storing 3-6 tons of squash per household.
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| One of the two houses of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa in Linh Hong village has also become a warehouse for storing pumpkins. Photo: Dinh Ha |
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa in Linh Hong village planted 3 sao and got 7 tons but is still having trouble selling, so she has to dedicate a whole house to store squash. She said she learned this method from agents in the South and has instructed everyone to follow it. According to the owners of vegetable and fruit agents in the area, they have never stored a large amount of squash for a long time so they cannot confirm that it is safe.
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| Many fields of squash laden with fruit collapsed on trellises but were not harvested yet, and people did not want to support them. Photo: Dinh Ha |
Faced with the situation of falling prices of green squash, farmers' and women's associations at all levels in the area have focused on calling on members and everyone to "rescue" but the quantity is insignificant. The education sector has also asked boarding schools to buy squash for people, but the school year is about to end, and the schools do not maintain accommodation for students, so difficulties are piling up./.