According to Lao Dong reporters in My Xuyen district (Soc Trang province), since the Lunar New Year, the price of green vegetables has decreased sharply by 30 - 50% compared to more than 2 months ago. Many types of vegetables have reached the harvest season but there are no buyers.
Ms. Le Thi Nuong - a farmer in Dai Tam commune (My Xuyen district) - shared: "This season I grow about 300m2 of cumin, with a yield of 800kg but can only sell about 500kg for 3,000 VND/kg. The rest were overgrown with cabbage and were criticized by traders, so they had to be thrown away.
Ms. Nuong added that although the price of vegetables also decreased in the same period last year, there were still buyers. This year, traders only choose beautiful, slightly bad or old vegetables.
Similarly, Mr. Lam Hoai Phong in Dai Tam commune (My Xuyen district, Soc Trang province) said that he used to supply 300kg of spinach per day for 3 stews, but now there are only 100kg and 1 stewed one that has stopped being purchased. "This price is too low, if you do it yourself, you will lose money, and if you hire workers, you will suffer a certain loss," said Mr. Phong.
Mr. Nguyen Quang Hoang, also in Dai Tam commune (My Xuyen district, Soc Trang province), growing 500m2 of sweet cabbage is in the same situation when he can only sell 200kg for 3,000 - 4,000 VND/kg out of a total of 800kg harvested.
Mr. Trieu Thanh Tam, a lettuce grower, said: Normally, water the vegetables twice a day, but the price is too low for slow consumption, so he only watered them once a day so that the vegetables would not grow quickly, and if they were old, they would not be able to sell.
Not only green vegetables, purple onion growers in Vinh Chau town (Soc Trang province) are also going through a "hot" crop when productivity and selling prices have both decreased.
Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, living in Ward 2, said: This season, his family grows 1 hectare of purple onions, investing more than 200 million VND, but the yield is only 15 tons, down 5 tons compared to last year. "Each worker (1,000m2) can only earn 1.5 tons, sell for 10,000 VND/kg, earn 15 million VND, while the cost is from 20 - 25 million VND. This year is considered a heavy loss," Mr. Thanh said sadly.
Mr. Trieu Thanh Hung, another purple onion grower, said that the selling price is too low and traders are purchasing only limited, so the family has to reserve onions in the warehouse, waiting for the price to be better before selling.
According to many purple onion growers in Vinh Chau, the reason for the poor harvest of onions is that during the sowing period, there will be prolonged unseasonal rain, causing damage to onions. Unfavorable weather causes many diseases, causing investment costs to increase and productivity to decrease. Along with the declining price of onions, each kg ranges from 10,000 - 20,000 VND/kg depending on the type, causing many difficulties for farmers.
