Green vegetable prices fall, Quynh Luu farmers lose tens of billions of dong

(Baonghean.vn) - Never before has the price of Quynh Luu vegetables fallen and lasted as long as this year. With vegetables remaining, farmers had to uproot them, causing a loss of tens of billions of dong.

Regarding the vegetable fields in Quynh Minh commune, the production atmosphere is more gloomy than before; the reason is that the price of green vegetables has dropped.

Ms. Dien Thi Thinh in Hamlet 7, Quynh Minh Commune, grows 3 sao of spring-summer spring onions, which are currently in harvest season. However, because traders do not buy, or if they do, they only buy small quantities at the price of 1,500 - 2,000 VND/kg, which is not enough for labor, she has to pull them out to plant a new onion crop and wait for the opportunity for prices to increase.

Many areas of green onions in Quynh Minh commune (Quynh Luu) had to be uprooted because of low prices and no buyers. Photo: Viet Hung

"If the price of green onions was stable at 7,000 - 8,000 VND like before, my family's 3 sao of green onions would have an income of over 30 million VND. Currently, the selling price is too cheap, no one even asks to buy, so we have lost a lot of revenue compared to the previous crop," Ms. Thinh shared.

Scallions are the most widely grown crop in Quynh Minh, Quynh Luong, and Quynh Bang communes, because they are drought and flood resistant; therefore, at this time, scallion crops account for 70% of the total vegetable cultivation area. However, due to the low selling price, many scallion growers have uprooted them to make way for new onion crops.

Not only scallions, many other vegetables such as cabbage, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes... have also dropped in price. For example, tomatoes at this time last year cost 7,000 - 10,000 VND/kg, now down to 3,000 - 5,000 VND/kg; lettuce from 5,000 - 6,000 VND/kg down to 2,000 VND/kg; carrots less than 2,000 VND/kg...

Carrots are currently priced at less than 2,000 VND/kg, 4,000 - 5,000 VND/kg lower than last year. Photo: Viet Hung

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong's family in Quynh Luong commune grows 1 sao of carrots, currently in the harvest season, estimated at more than 1.5 tons/sao. If the price was 6,000 - 7,000 VND/kg like last year, this season, her family would earn nearly 10 million VND; but currently the import price is only 1,500 - 2,000 VND/kg, so after deducting expenses, the income is less than 2 million VND.

"Never before has the price of green vegetables fallen for such a long time like this year. There are households that have had no income since the beginning of the year because vegetables are in stock and no one is asking to buy them," Ms. Huong shared.

Quynh Minh commune has 135 hectares of vegetable cultivation, with vegetable output reaching 7,000 - 7,200 tons/year; revenue of over 35 billion VND. However, since the beginning of the year, the price of green vegetables has been falling for a long time, affecting the economy of the people.

Fields of ripe red tomatoes left to fall because of cheap prices, farmers harvest without profit. Photo: Viet Hung

Mr. Nguyen Van Mien - Vice Chairman of Quynh Minh Commune People's Committee said that since the beginning of the year, people have been actively producing, and the productivity of all kinds of vegetables has been high; however, the price of vegetables is too cheap, which has greatly affected the production and consumption of the people. In the face of this situation, the locality recommends that people need to restructure the vegetable area to avoid supply exceeding demand.

The coastal area of ​​Quynh Luu district has about 700 hectares of vegetable area, of which green onions account for over 50% of the total area. The total vegetable output of the district reaches over 30,000 tons/year, with a revenue of over 250 billion VND. Due to low vegetable purchase prices from November last year to April this year, Quynh Luu farmers have lost tens of billions of VND.

Viet Hung