Harvesting young cassava after the storm, Nghe An farmers struggle due to low productivity and low prices
Huy Thu•September 14, 2025 11:57
These days, people in many localities in the province are harvesting cassava after the storm. For farmers, this is a failed cassava crop.
In the middle of the summer-autumn rice harvest, people in Dai Dong commune (Thanh Ngoc commune, old Thanh Chuong district) also have to take advantage of the opportunity to harvest cassava with the spirit of harvesting as quickly as possible, the longer it takes, the more damage it will cause. Photo: Huy ThuAccording to local people, the consequences of storm No. 5 caused most of the cassava area in the area to fall and break. After the storm, the cassava leaves gradually dried up, fell off the top, and many tubers rotted. Therefore, people had to harvest early and salvage as much as possible. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Ngo - Head of Phu Quang hamlet, Dai Dong commune informed: In the recent storm, the hamlet had nearly 59 hectares of cassava that fell and broke, and people are currently taking advantage of the opportunity to harvest and salvage. The cassava purchase price is low, the labor cost is high, 400,000 VND/person/day, many households cannot harvest, and consider it a total loss. His family alone has more than 1 hectare of land lying in the field. Photo: Huy ThuTo harvest cassava, households have to cut down trees, rent plows or use buffaloes and cows to plow each row of cassava, then mobilize human resources in the house, brothers and relatives to help, loosen the soil, pull up roots, chop tubers, transport them onto trucks... On this occasion, local people often organize labor exchanges to help each other. Photo: Huy ThuNormally, cassava takes nearly a year to harvest. Households that planted early from the end of 2024 have now grown large tubers, while households that planted late, after the Lunar New Year, have only produced seeds, and the tubers are still small and immature. According to the farmers, according to the crop schedule, they will harvest in November and December. Now, because the storm knocked down the trees, they have to harvest a few months earlier. Photo: Huy ThuCassava plants were broken and uprooted, so when harvested, the rate of rotten tubers was high, and the yield and output were low... Some households, after plowing the cassava fields, saw that there were few tubers and a high rate of rotten tubers, so they neglected and did not harvest anymore. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thai in Phu Quang hamlet, Dai Dong commune said: This cassava crop, her family planted 1 acre. The recent storm caused the cassava fields to tilt. Last year, with this area, they harvested 16.17 tons of tubers, this crop only yielded about 3 tons, equal to 1/5 of the previous year. Photo: Huy ThuMr. Nguyen Doan Van, 54 years old, in Phu Quang hamlet, Dai Dong commune, said: This year, his family planted 1 hectare of cassava, spending tens of millions of dong, but the harvest was not much. He said that cassava failed, so people in the area are not interested in cassava and want to switch to other crops for a more stable income. Photo: Huy ThuAccording to the people, growing cassava costs a lot: the cost of renting a soil compactor is 200,000 VND/sao, the cost of fertilizer, the cost of plowing for harvest, the cost of renting a tractor for transportation... the total is about 1.5 - 2 million VND/sao. Last year, the purchase price of cassava from the local cassava starch processing factory fluctuated from 1,900 - 2,500 VND/kg, now the people can only import at 800 - 1,300 VND/kg. Photo: Huy ThuMs. Nguyen Thi Hien (70 years old) in Yen Xuan hamlet, Dai Dong commune said: This cassava crop, her family grew cassava on 8 sao of land rented from the commune, and after harvesting, only got about 3 tons of cassava tubers. The money from selling cassava could not cover a part of the cost, so it was considered a heavy loss. Photo: Huy ThuAccording to local people, the yield is low, the purchase price is only half of last year, so this cassava crop is a "bitter" one for farmers, with a failed crop, many households suffering heavy losses. Some households grow 2-3 hectares of cassava, spending tens of millions of dong, and are both crying and laughing. Photo: Huy ThuOn this occasion, neighboring communes of Dai Dong, such as Kim Bang, Hoa Quan, Bich Hao... are also harvesting cassava. Mr. Nguyen Van Bay in Lam Thang hamlet, Bich Hao commune (Thanh Lam commune, old Thanh Chuong district) said: This cassava crop, his family planted nearly 2 hectares, storm No. 5 caused the crop to collapse and fall. In previous years, each crop yielded 60 - 70 tons, this year it is probably not even half. Because the area is precarious and far from the cassava starch processing factory, there are more costs. At harvest time, in addition to the cost of renting a cassava plow, there is also the cost of transporting the cassava from the garden to the main road, and the cost of renting a truck to transport it to the factory is 120,000 VND/ton... Photo: Huy ThuMr. Tuong Dang Hao - Vice Chairman of Dai Dong Commune People's Committee said: Due to the impact of storms and floods, many cassava areas in the area have fallen, the tubers are waterlogged and rotten, so the yield is low, the starch content has not met the requirements. Therefore, the processing factory only purchases to support consumption, avoiding losses for the people, so the price is also much lower than in the main season. The commune is guiding the hamlets to prepare documents to request support for the people's losses. In the long term, the locality will rearrange the crop season more reasonably, choose cassava varieties with short growing time, good resistance; encourage models of cooperation with factories to consume products, reduce price risks; re-plan the cassava growing area in areas prone to flooding, combine planting acacia or perennial trees to stabilize income for the people. Photo: Huy ThuPeople in Dai Dong commune harvest young cassava after the storm. Video: Huy Thu
