Bitter melon on vine in Hong Son (Do Luong) waiting to be sold
(Baonghean.vn) - Hong Son is a famous bitter melon growing area in Do Luong district, however, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, this year's bitter melon crop is very difficult to sell.
This year, Mr. Le Duc Tien's family in Hamlet 1, Hong Son Commune (Do Luong) planted more than 2 sao of bitter melon. The family's bitter melon garden was planted in June, and now is the main season, but the bitter melon cannot be sold.
Mr. Tien said: “Before August 20, when Do Luong district had not yet implemented social isolation according to Directive 16, bitter melon was sold at 15,000 VND/kg. After social isolation, bitter melon prices dropped sharply, down to 8,000 VND/kg, then 6,000 VND/kg, and now the price has dropped to only 4,000 VND/kg, but very few traders come to buy”. Mr. Tien also added that last time, his family's bitter melon had no buyers, it was ripe and yellow, so they had to be dumped into 2 large piles, estimated at over 300 kg".
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| Before the social distancing day according to Directive 16 of the Prime Minister, Mr. Le Duc Tien's family's bitter melon garden was regularly harvested, the price of bitter melon was 15,000 VND/kg. Photo: Ngoc Phuong |
Currently, the whole Hong Son commune has about 150 households growing bitter melon, of which over 100 households grow an average of 1 sao per household. The total bitter melon growing area in the whole commune is 6 hectares. For the people of Hong Son commune (Do Luong), bitter melon is the main income crop. On average, each sao of bitter melon brings in an income of over 10 million VND. Due to many years of experience in growing bitter melon, combined with suitable soil quality, on average each sao of bitter melon yields about 2.5 tons. Hong Son bitter melon is a clean product, people often use biological bait contained in plastic bottles to attract and kill pests, without spraying pesticides - Mr. Pham Ngoc Dinh - Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee said.
At this time, very few traders come to Hong Son commune to buy squash, but they also force the price very low and buy in limited quantities. After much effort in growing, fertilizing, and watering during the drought, now the squash vines are gradually turning yellow on the trellis.
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| Bitter melons are bearing fruit on the trellis, but farmers do not want to harvest them because the price is too low; A wheelbarrow full of bitter melons but no buyers. Photo: Ngoc Phuong |
We have assigned 33 Farmers' Associations in 33 communes and towns to each buy 30 kg of bitter melon for the people. The Farmers' Association of Trang Son commune alone has registered to buy 100 kg. Many Farmers' Associations have also posted on social networking sites to call on people to buy bitter melon.
Every year, bitter melon usually bears fruit until the end of October. Never before have people in Hong Son commune (Do Luong) encountered such a sad bitter melon crop as this year…