Rose capital Nam Anh has a bad harvest

If last year, Nam Anh persimmon trees were full of fruit (photo above), this year, many persimmon trees only have a few fruits (photo below). Photo: Thanh Phuc

If at this time last year, people in the communesNam Anh, Nam XuanIt is the peak season for harvesting persimmons, traders from everywhere flock to the gardens to buy, but this year, the place considered the "capital" of persimmons is quite deserted. "The persimmon crop has failed badly, there is nothing to sell. It is the peak harvest season but the amount of persimmons is small, so although many gardeners have received deposits from customers in advance, they now have to return the money because there are no persimmons to sell. Like my family, last year, the whole garden of more than 100 persimmon trees of the family yielded about 3 tons of fruit, but this year, it is only about 1/3, many persimmon trees even yielded only 10-15kg of fruit", said Mr. Tran Nam (Nam Anh commune).

The hill gardens in Khe Mai and Khe Nua areas in Nam Anh commune were covered in the yellow color of persimmons in previous seasons. The persimmon trees were full of fruit, but now they are bare, with only a few fruits on the trees. Many persimmon gardens that were considered better only achieved half the yield compared to 2021.

Although it is the main harvest season, rose gardens in Nam Anh have no more roses to sell to traders. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“From 2018 to 2020,rose crop failureheavy, some years lost everything. Last year, the weather was more favorable, the care process was correct, creating conditions for persimmons to "hibernate" for enough time, so the persimmons bore fruit, the fruits were large, even, and beautiful. However, it happened right at the time when the Covid-19 epidemic was complicated, so the price of persimmons was only at a relative level. This year, the price of persimmons is high, consumption is favorable, but the crop is bad, persimmon growers in Nam Anh have lost their crops. It is estimated that the total persimmon output of the commune is only about 200-250 tons, down more than half compared to last year," said Mr. Ho Viet Hoa, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Nam Anh commune.

Not only in Nam Anh, 50 hectares of roses of more than 100 households growing roses in Nam Xuan also suffered from crop failure. Households growing roses scattered in gardens still had fruits, but the rose gardens on the hills had a sharp decrease in productivity, only half compared to last year.

The price of persimmons has increased compared to previous years, and they are easy to sell, but people in the persimmon capital of Nam Dan are not happy because of the crop failure. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“Not only has the quantity of fruit decreased, but the quality of the persimmons is also not as good as in previous years. The fruits are smaller, the color is also worse, and many trees are not yet mature enough but have rotted due to harmful insects,” said Mr. Ho Viet Thang, owner of a persimmon garden in Nam Xuan.

Currently, the purchase pricepink trustIn the garden, the price ranges from 15,000-18,000 VND/kg (depending on the type), 3,000-5,000 VND/kg higher than previous crops; the wholesale price for traders is up to 20,000-25,000 VND, the retail price in the markets is 30-35,000 VND/kg, but the people of Nam Dan rose garden are still "not happy". Because with this selling price, if in a good year, each rose tree brings an income of 2-2.5 million VND, this year's rose crop, due to reduced productivity, the tree with the most fruit will only produce 40-50kg of fruit, the income is only half that of last year.

According to traders, although there are many orders from agents outside the province and the purchase price is high, Nam Dan rose apple production has decreased so there is not enough supply. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Ms. Sam Hoa, a large persimmon purchasing agent in Nam Anh (Nam Dan) said: “If last year, I purchased about 100 tons of persimmons from people to export to other places, this year, although I contacted the gardens in advance to make a deposit, due to a bad harvest, I estimate that I can only purchase about 40-50 tons of persimmons for the whole season. It is the harvest season, but the gardens have run out of fruit, many orders from agents from other provinces had to be canceled because there was not enough persimmon supply.”

The poor harvest of persimmons not only causes farmers to lose their income, but also other services such as harvesting, soaking, classifying, and transporting persimmons have no income. "In previous years, persimmons had a good harvest, and each day they had to buy several tons of fruit, so they had to hire workers to pick, carry, classify, wash, and soak persimmons for 200,000-250,000 VND/day, but this year, each day they can only buy a few hundred kilograms, so the family workers have to manage on their own," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong, a persimmon trader in Nam Anh.

The poor harvest of persimmons not only means that growers lose their crops, but seasonal workers who pick, transport, and classify persimmons also have no jobs and lose a significant source of income. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“In the 2022 rose season, Nam Anh has selected and put into operation 2 rose garden experience tourist areas in hamlets 6 and 8 with 50 ancient rose bushes, ancient houses and ancient wells. At the same time, guide people to deploy accompanying services to display and sell typical products, especially local OCOP products; sell tickets to visit and experience the garden and provide food and beverage services if customers have a need. From this model, we will evaluate the feasibility, from there have a plan to replicate beautiful rose gardens in the area for tourism, creating more income for people”

Mr. Tran Quoc Khanh, Secretary of the Party Committee of Nam Anh Commune (Nam Dan)