What is the solution for stable pineapple consumption for Quynh Luu farmers?
(Baonghean.vn) - Faced with the unstable price of pineapples, farmers have some years to make a profit and some years to lose money, the local government in Quynh Luu district (Nghe An) has sought a solution to stably sell pineapples to the people.
| Clip: X.Hoang - Q.An |
Pineapple growers suffer losses
At this time, pineapple growers in some communes of Quynh Luu district are entering the harvest season to sell to traders. Unlike last year when pineapples were priced well, this year the price has dropped sharply, causing pineapple growers to suffer losses.
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| Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga - pineapple garden owner in Tan Thang commune is not happy because pineapple prices have dropped sharply this year. Photo: Quang An |
Mrs. Hoang Thi Nga and her husband in Hamlet 1 - General Team, Tan Thang Commune arepineapple harvestselling to traders said that entering this year's harvest, pineapple prices dropped sharply from the beginning of the season, with prices ranging from 2,000 - 5,000 VND/kg. At this price, the family is losing money compared to the investment cost.
Ms. Nga said that to achieve a pineapple yield of over 25 tons per hectare, a large investment in fertilizer is required. For example, her family grows 6 hectares of pineapple, investing up to 7 tons of NPK fertilizer per hectare per year, along with land preparation and care costs of about 40 million VND, the total estimated cost is about 110 million VND. With the current average pineapple price of 3,500 VND/kg, if the pineapple yield reaches 30 tons/hectare, the loss is about 10 million VND.
"Every year, 100% of pineapples are sold to traders, with traders setting the price, and no factory or business coming to buy. Therefore, the wish of us pineapple growers is to have a factory that buys right from the garden at a suitable price, so that pineapple growers do not have to worry about output," Ms. Hoang Thi Nga shared.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thang - onetradersin Quynh Vinh commune (Hoang Mai town) for exchange, this year the amount of pineapple on the market is a lot, including pineapple from other provinces, so consumption is slow. Previously, each day she alone could consume 4 tons of pineapple for the people, but now only 4-5 quintals, mainly retail in markets and along the road. As for the price, we traders depend on the market to buy, when consumption is fast, we raise the price and vice versa.
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| Growing pineapple requires high investment and hard work, but low selling prices cause farmers to suffer losses. Photo: Quang An |
Some traders using trucks to transport goods added that, due to the abovemarketThere are too many pineapples, so the goods transported to the southern provinces are still difficult to sell, so there is only one trip per week, slowing down the amount of pineapple consumed by the people. Many families have contacted to sell pineapples when it is time to harvest, but they cannot buy them because the goods cannot be moved.
There will be a factory to sign a purchase contract.
Tan Thang is the pineapple orchard of Quynh Luu in particular and Nghe An in general at present, with an estimated pineapple harvest area of about 650 hectares, each year pineapple output is tens of thousands of tons, creating a significant source of income for the people. Faced with the situation of pineapple prices falling sharply and being difficult to sell on the market, the local government had to take the initiative to intervene.
Talking to reporters, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Khanh - Chairman of Tan Thang Commune People's Committee said: Pineapple is one of the main crops of the locality, so the unstable price of pineapple, completely dependent on independent traders, is a concern of the local government. According to the investigation, the reason for the deep price drop of pineapple this year is that businesses have difficulty exporting to foreign countries, especially the European market, so factories buy pineapples in large quantities, causing domestic pineapple products to have "supply greater than demand".
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| Tan Thang commune authorities have come up with solutions to sell pineapples to local people, including encouraging traders to expand their markets. Photo: Xuan Hoang |
Faced with that situation, recently the leaders of Tan Thang commune contacted and worked directly with a number of pineapple processing factories in and outside the province to find solutions to consume pineapples for the people. Among them, Dong Giao pineapple processing factory in Ninh Binh province promised to soon have a plan to directly go to the locality to sign contracts with pineapple growers to sign long-term consumption contracts, considering Tan Thang as the pineapple material area of Dong Giao factory.
"Previously, there was a factory in the province that purchased pineapples for the people. However, the annual purchase quantity of the factory was insignificant compared to the local pineapple output, so most of the pineapple products here were purchased by traders, leading to passivity in the consumption stage," said Mr. Nguyen Quoc Khanh.
"Currently, the price has dropped sharply just at the beginning of the harvest season. In about a month, the main harvest will begin, and the daily pineapple output will be much larger. Therefore, the local government hopes that the Dong Giao pineapple processing factory will soon have a plan to sign a contract to purchase pineapples from the people to stabilize the output of pineapple products."
At the same time, the commune will mobilize a number of large traders to expand the consumption market, especially when the Government has a policy of opening up tourism, this is an opportunity toconsumepineapple at tourist attractions.
In addition, the commune also encourages people not to expand the pineapple area and to plant and care for it in separate crops to avoid harvesting at the same time, leading to "supply exceeding demand" at a time.
The entire Quynh Luu district has over 1,000 hectares of pineapples grown mainly in the communes of Tan Thang, Quynh Thang, and Quynh Chau. The main pineapple harvest season will be from March to June.