Cassava price drops, local people face difficulties

(Baonghean) - Ngoc Lam and Thanh Son (Thanh Chuong) are two communes where people mainly live by growing cassava and acacia. We had the opportunity to visit Thanh Son at the time when people were harvesting cassava. The crops were bountiful but on the contrary, the lives of the people here are still difficult.

Thanh Son commune has 1,118 households with 4,750 people. The people living here are Thai and Kho Mu, of which the Thai ethnic group accounts for the majority with 70% of the population. From 2006 to 2009, 5 communes in the Ban Ve hydroelectric reservoir area (Tuong Duong) were relocated to the resettlement area and settled in this border area. Each household was assigned about 1 hectare of land to grow cassava. The land here is mostly hilly and sloping land, which can only grow cassava and acacia. This year, before people could rejoice over the bountiful harvest, they had to endure hunger because cassava prices had dropped dramatically.

Currently, cassava is purchased at a price of 900 - 1,000 VND/kg, only half of the price of last year. Not only that, during the purchasing process, people are also forced to lower the price by traders. "Because people here do not have the conditions to travel to sell cassava to other areas, they have to endure this oppression" - Ms. Luong Thi Lan (Xop Lam village) shared.

Cha Coong 2 village is one of the villages in Thanh Son commune that has a bumper cassava harvest this year. From the beginning of the village, every house in front of the alley is full of cassava. Some households are transporting cassava onto the truck with a disappointed shake of their heads, while the remaining households refuse to pull the cassava, waiting for time to get a higher price. Ms. Vi Thi Hue confided: "It's heartbreaking, ladies. The effort I put in is paid for so cheaply. I have to grit my teeth and endure the hunger. My family has 7 mouths to feed, and I can't keep the cassava in the house forever. I have to sell it so I can have money to buy rice to eat and send my children to school." When asked about the reason for the cassava price drop this year, people all shook their heads sadly. All 16 villages in Thanh Son commune are in the same situation. Chief of Cha Coong 2 village, Mr. Luong Cong Doan said: "Cassava has lost its value and is being squeezed too much. There were times when people sold 200 kg of cassava, but when weighed by traders, it was only 1.5 kg left. Knowing that, we still had to sell it."

Talking to us, Mr. Vi Trong Thuy - Vice Chairman of Thanh Son Commune People's Committee said: Currently, in the area, there is only one exclusive enterprise purchasing cassava, which is Thanh Chuong Cassava Factory. Unlike previous years, in addition to this enterprise, there are a number of other factories such as cassava processing companies in Ha Tay, Thanh Hoa... Mr. Thuy also said that this year's cassava is of very good quality, currently, people here have only harvested about 1/3 of the area. "With this situation, in the following years we have to consider switching to another direction. The tea and sugarcane planting projects are highly anticipated by the people. Hopefully, these two projects will bring high productivity and regain the trust of the villagers" - Mr. Vi Trong Thuy shared.

Tuyet Anh