Quang Ngai province currently has more than 2,000 hectares of areca trees. At this time last year, the price of fresh areca nuts ranged from 80,000 to 85,000 VND/kg and remained high for 6 months. However, this year the price of areca nuts has decreased sharply, to only about 10,000 VND/kg. Despite the low price, traders still only choose to buy long, beautiful areca nuts. Round areca - which accounts for a large proportion - can only be bought for 2,000 VND/kg, and some places even have no one to buy.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Bay, in Dinh Cuong commune, said that her garden has more than 300 areca trees bearing fruit. Last year, thanks to the high price of areca nuts, she earned more than 100 million VND. But this year, areca nuts have fallen in price and have been "squeezed" by traders because the shape of the fruit does not meet export standards, causing difficulties for her and many other areca growers in Quang Ngai.
"I feel sorry for taking care of them for so many years. A round areca nut is no different from a long areca nut, so now no one is buying it," Mrs. Bay said sadly.
Ms. Tran Thi Nuong - an areca purchasing trader in Truong Quang Trong ward said that fresh areca after purchasing will be processed to export to the Chinese market. However, it is unclear why China only consumed long-legged areca nuts this year, completely refusing round areca nuts. This makes both areca growers and traders passive and unable to react.
Areca nuts are considered an easy-to-grow, easy-to-care plant with low investment costs. After about 5 years of planting, they start to bear fruit, and if they are priced, each hectare can bring in much greater benefits than many other crops. In particular, the life cycle of areca trees lasts for decades, so for farmers, this used to be a "rich tree" in many rural areas.
However, the downside is that areca nuts are almost completely dependent on the Chinese market - which is always associated with many risks and price fluctuations. Therefore, many localities are not currently encouraging people to cut down other crops to follow the areca growing movement.
Mr. Tran Van Thien - Vice Chairman of Phuoc Giang Commune People's Committee - said that although the price of areca nuts this year is much lower than last year, compared to some other crops, areca growers can still earn a stable temporary income. Recently, people have reported that traders only choose to buy long-fruit areca nuts, causing them to lose a large source of income.
