Struggling to convert
Among the households that actively changed crop varieties is Mr. Nguyen Van Hao, residing in Tra Con commune. On an area of nearly 10,000m2 of garden land, he has converted a part of the area to grow lemons and guavas. According to Mr. Hao, oranges used to bring stable income, but when prices decreased for a long time, gardeners were forced to recalculate production plans to avoid risks.
Planting more lemons and guavas helps the family have more income while waiting for the orange market to stabilize again. Intercropping many types of trees is more difficult in care, but if one type of tree prices fall, there are still other trees to compensate. Currently, the family still keeps a part of the king orange area to monitor the market situation before deciding to convert more" - Mr. Hao added.
Like many other households, Mr. Huynh Van Banh, Tra Con commune currently has about 50,000m2 of garden land growing king oranges. Faced with the unstable orange price situation, his family has started gradually converting a part of the area to growing jackfruit. However, the conversion is being implemented step by step, not cutting down the entire orange garden. According to Mr. Banh, if the entire area is converted at the same time, there will be many risks. Therefore, the family chose to do it in installments to both maintain revenue from oranges and test new crops.
Betting with the market
After switching to growing other crops, many farmers said that the current investment in new planting mainly still places expectations on luck. Because crops such as jackfruit, lemon or coconut all need a long time to be harvested, while market prices are difficult to predict.
Mr. Huynh Van Thao, Tra Con commune, said that his family has more than 8,000m2 of garden land and has switched to intercropping many types of trees such as durian jackfruit, lemon, papaya and coconut. According to Mr. Thao, if only planting one type of tree, when prices fall, it will be very difficult to manage, but intercropping many types of trees can reduce risks. Although it cannot be affirmed immediately, many gardeners still expect new crops to bring more stable income in the near future.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Van Nhieu - Vice Chairman of Tra Con Commune People's Committee, Vinh Long province - said that people's conversion of a part of the crop area took place before the locality implemented the policy of growing organic coconut, cocoa... The Commune People's Committee has directed the Economic Department to coordinate with the Farmers' Association to grasp the production situation of households, and at the same time provide market information and technical guidance to improve crop yield and quality.
Currently, the whole commune has more than 4,400ha of fruit trees, of which king oranges account for over 65% of the area. Faced with the situation of deeply decreasing orange prices, many gardeners have renovated gardens, converting about 5-10% of the area to other crops. The locality expects that crop diversification will help people reduce risks, gradually stabilize output and develop the economy" - Mr. Nhieu informed.
