P plum prices drop
Currently, dealers buy plums at very low prices, only from 3,000 - 5,000 VND/kg. By June 5, some dealers had stopped purchasing because when moving to the units, they temporarily stopped importing more because of inventory. Many plum gardens in Moc Chau have ripened and are fruit-laden, but people have not yet harvested them due to slow consumption and low plum prices.
After more than 10 years of being attached to plums, Ms. Tran Thi Hien, Co Do ward, Moc Chau town, said that plums are a crop that brings economic efficiency, brings stable income, and the area and output of plums also increase gradually over the years. This year, plum farmers are facing many difficulties, especially the situation of losing prices in the crop. "Prom price has decreased from 60,000 - 100,000 VND/kg (the time of off-season plum) to 15,000 - 40,000 VND/kg (first crop) and is currently only about 3,000 - 5,000 VND/kg. Meanwhile, the production cost for 1ha of plums excluding wages is about 80 million VND/ha. With the current selling price, my family does not dare to hire pickers anymore because selling is not enough to pay" - Ms. Hien shared.
At Moc Chau Clean Agricultural Cooperative, there are currently more than 30 hectares of plums, and in recent days, the consumption of plums by members here has also encountered many difficulties. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Van - Director of Moc Chau Clean Agricultural Products Cooperative, said that this year's plum is the first crop in the past 10 years, with the expected output doubling compared to last year. Although the product meets quality standards, consumption is still very difficult.
"In the past week, plum prices have decreased sharply. After harvesting, we have classified them by size, large, beautiful fruits can only be sold for 10,000 VND/kg, small fruits cost less than 5,000 VND/kg. With the current selling price not enough to cover investment costs, plum farmers do not make a profit, causing many households to stop harvesting" - Mr. Van said.
Flexible drying plums, reduce pressure on fresh fruit consumption
Every harvest, thousands of tons of plums are harvested simultaneously, pouring into unit markets and supermarkets. Abundant supply while limited demand for fresh fruit has pushed plum prices down. Meanwhile, the characteristics of plums are that they ripen quickly, are prone to breakage, and are difficult to preserve for a long time, which is also a major obstacle. Faced with these challenges, many establishments and businesses in Moc Chau town have invested in production lines and processing flexible dried plum products to reduce the pressure of consuming fresh fruit.
Present at the Agricultural Development Service Cooperative 19-5, these days, workers are focusing on producing products from plums such as ginger dried plums, honey dried plums, herbal dried plums, etc. The ripe plums are carefully selected, separated, cleaned with ozone technology and processed according to a separate regulation to help the plums not ferment, retain nutrients.
Mr. Mai Duc Thinh - Director of 19-5 Agricultural Development Service Cooperative - said that there is currently a facility processing honey-dried plums, ginger-dried plums, and herbal plums that meet 4-star OCOP standards. On average, the 19-5 Agricultural Development Service Cooperative purchases about 10 tons of plums per day at an average price of 5,000 - 8,000 VND/kg for processing. Thereby, contributing to creating stable output for plum growing households.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa - Vice Chairman of Moc Chau Town People's Committee - said that in order to have solutions to support stable consumption sources for people, currently, for plum areas grown according to organic standards, ensuring better safety of consumption. The town government will work with a wine producer to conduct a survey to invest in processing wine from plums to serve domestic exports and consumption.
