Vegetables are abundant but prices have dropped.

(Baonghean)The extremely low prices of green vegetables have left farmers in vegetable-growing areas of Nghe An province in a desperate situation, unable to give them away or sell them, with some even resorting to using them as green fertilizer.

Farmers in Quynh Luong harvest green onions.

We arrived at Quynh Luong commune, Quynh Luu district, the "vegetable capital," and from afar, we saw vast fields of vegetables in a breathtaking green. The atmosphere was quiet, with little buying and selling activity. Mr. Ho Duc Nhat, head of Hamlet 1, lamented: "All kinds of vegetables, from kohlrabi, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, and sweet cabbage to spices like onions and cilantro, are in a massive price drop, practically being given away. Look, kohlrabi and cabbage are only 1,000 VND/piece, and onions are 200 VND/kg..." This is in stark contrast to last year's Tet holiday, when onions were 15,000 VND/kg and cabbages 6,000-8,000 VND/piece. Mr. Nhat added: "The most painful thing is the price of Hanoi-style vegetables; kohlrabi and cabbage are so cheap nobody wants them, only green onions are selling. My family planted 2 sao (approximately 2,000 square meters) of vegetables, but we've already cut down 1.5 sao to use as green manure."

It turns out that this vegetable crop cost over 4 million VND, including seeds and fertilizer, not to mention labor, but it was all lost due to the extremely low price of vegetables. Mr. Van Thoa confided: "I've been involved in vegetable farming for many years, but I've never seen a year where vegetables are wasted like this year. The harvest is good, but we vegetable farmers are suffering losses." Mr. Thoa cultivated over 2 acres of vegetables with an investment of over 3 million VND. Last Tet (Lunar New Year), after deducting expenses, his family earned 15 million VND from those 2 acres, but now they only sold about 1 million VND worth of green onions. It is known that in Hamlet 1, Quynh Luong, out of 26 hectares of vegetable fields, farmers have destroyed over 20 hectares, leaving only over 5 hectares of green onions. Mr. Ho Duc, a large-scale vegetable buyer, said: "Previously, we used to buy over 15 tons of vegetables daily for markets in Hanoi, Hai Phong, etc., but because we couldn't sell them after transportation, most of the traders had to close their businesses and stay home."

Mr. Ho Canh Sau, Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Luong commune, shared: "The entire Quynh Luong commune has nearly 200 hectares of vegetable fields. For a long time, thanks to vegetables, many households in Quynh Luong have become wealthy. This year, the unexpectedly low prices caught vegetable growers in Quynh Luong off guard. Besides being skilled in vegetable farming, Quynh Luong also has a team of over 40 people specializing in buying and selling vegetables internationally. But due to the low prices, these 'small traders' cannot save the vegetable growers. To date, Quynh Luong has destroyed over 170 hectares of vegetables, mainly Hanoi cabbage, regular cabbage, kohlrabi, etc., because they could not be sold. The commune continues to encourage people to prepare the land to plant onions, because onions, even at low prices, are still being sold, which is better than leaving the land fallow."

We visited Giát Market and Quỳnh Mỹ Market and saw piles of green vegetables of all kinds. Ms. Nguyễn Thị Tình from Giát Town sighed in frustration: "The cabbage is so fresh and tender, but no one has asked about it since this morning. And if they did, they'd only offer 1,000 dong for 3 cabbages. A hundred kilograms of vegetables can't even buy a kilogram of meat." It sounds unbelievable, but this is a heartbreaking reality in both city and rural markets: vegetables are dirt cheap, yet nobody is buying them.

We visited the vegetable farming area of ​​Dien Thanh commune, Dien Chau district. The vast fields stretched as far as the eye could see, but only a few people were out working. Many households had to cut down their cabbage and kohlrabi crops to plant peanuts instead. Mr. Minh from Hamlet 10 said: "The entire vegetable market is sluggish this year; the cabbages have all exploded and we have to feed them to the pigs."

Discussing solutions to overcome difficulties in vegetable sales, Mr. Phan Xuan Vinh – Head of the Agriculture Department – ​​said: The entire Dien Chau district currently has about 600 hectares of green vegetables, mainly concentrated in the communes of Dien Thanh, Dien Xuan, Dien Ky, Dien Hanh… This year, due to favorable weather, most of the vegetables have had a good harvest; however, prices have plummeted, causing hardship for vegetable growers. To overcome the difficulties for vegetable growers, it is necessary to focus on building vegetable fields that meet VietGAP standards, because in reality, certified vegetables are easier to sell. Currently, only over 10 hectares of vegetables in Dien Thanh commune, Dien Chau district, meet VietGAP standards. Farmers are advised to diversify their vegetable crops to make them easier to sell.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dinh, Head of the Agriculture Department of Quynh Luu District, explained: The reason for the unexpectedly low vegetable prices is that after the historic flooding at the end of last year, the entire vegetable crop area in Quynh Luu was damaged. Farmers in specialized vegetable farming areas and those growing vegetables on double-cropped rice land simultaneously restored vegetable cultivation on over 800 hectares, with 600 hectares in the coastal area alone. Because they didn't plant in staggered seasons, the simultaneous harvest resulted in a massive surplus that couldn't be consumed quickly enough, leading to a bottleneck in sales. This is also a lesson learned for the next season, when Quynh Luu will direct farmers to focus on staggered planting to avoid harvesting large quantities at once. To find markets for vegetables and fruits, Quynh Luu will continue to implement measures to expand the area of ​​VietGAP-certified clean vegetables. In fact, Quynh Luu has over 10 hectares of VietGAP-certified clean vegetables in Quynh Luong, which have already sold over 50 tons of vegetables per year to hotels in Hanoi. Planning for large-scale, concentrated production areas facilitates intensive farming for farmers and actively encourages businesses to invest in the production and consumption of clean vegetables. Promoting the role of collective economic organizations through cooperative models helps to absorb investment programs in science and technology, disseminate the application of science and technology to farmers in production, and also serves as a key link between farmers and the market.

Van Truong