At this time, traders have gone to all provinces and cities in the West to buy pineapples to supply the upcoming Lunar New Year market.
Because at the end of the year, the pineapple growing area does not yield much, while the demand for consumption increases, pushing up the price of this agricultural product. According to records, in Hau Giang, the price of pineapple purchased by traders at the garden is from 13,000 - 13,500 VND/fruit.
To have pineapples to supply to wholesale markets and pineapple jam production facilities, Ms. Tran Tieu Vy (a pineapple buyer in Hau Giang province) has to contact the gardeners about a week in advance, then take a boat from Hau Giang to Kien Giang to purchase.
"It's almost Tet so people (traders) buy a lot, there are few pineapples this time, especially grade 1. Moreover, in recent years, most farmers have sold to companies, so if I'm slow, I won't be able to buy much," said Ms. Vy.
In Long My district, Hau Giang province, to have goods to deliver to travel companies and restaurants, Mr. Nguyen Trong Van (35 years old) practices spread-out farming, harvesting 2-3 pineapple crops each year.
It is known that this farmer's family has just sold 5 hectares of pineapples to traders for 13,000 VND/fruit. After deducting expenses, Mr. Van earned a profit of 40 - 50%.
"The weather this year is erratic, and this is not the main crop, so the price is high. For the first-grade pineapples, I sell them to restaurants to make banh xeo and juice, and the small ones are sold to traders to sell to the market," said Mr. Van.
Mr. Pham Van Dien - Thanh Xuan Agricultural Cooperative, Hoa Tien Commune (Vi Thanh City, Hau Giang) - said: "In this saline land, only pineapple trees can survive. Over the past 40 years, thanks to pineapple, people here have had the conditions to develop their economy, many households have become well-off. On average, 1 hectare yields 20 tons. The selling price is from 5,000 - 13,000 VND/fruit. After deducting costs, growers earn about 150 million VND/ha."
Hau Giang currently has about 3,000 hectares of pineapple cultivation, concentrated in Vi Thanh City and Long My District. Pineapple is one of the key agricultural products under the agricultural development program of Hau Giang province in the period of 2021 - 2025, with the target of 3,500 hectares of pineapple cultivation by 2025, with an output of 45,000 tons/year.
According to the Hau Giang Provincial Statistics Office, pineapple output in the first 10 months of the year is estimated at 33,489 tons, up 5.27% over the same period last year.
