According to Long Thanh Commune People's Committee (An Giang province), sweet potatoes are also a crop that brings high economic efficiency. However, the output of sweet potatoes still depends on the market and traders because at times the price of sweet potatoes dropped very low, only about a few hundred VND/kg, so the locality is continuing to promote consumption links with businesses.
Currently, the whole commune has 283.5ha of sweet potato cultivation, the sweet potato production area is concentrated at Nguyen Vu Sweet Potato Cooperative (Nguyen Vu hamlet), creating a raw material area to serve consumption inside and outside the province.
Ms. Phan Thi Van (resident of Dinh Hoa commune) said that for more than 6 years attached to the sweet potato growing profession and this sweet potato crop, her family rented 11 acres of land in Long Thanh commune to grow sweet potatoes. Recently, sweet potato prices have decreased sharply, only half compared to before, so her family is slow to harvest to wait for price increases. However, after about 2 weeks of waiting without seeing price increases, while the sweet potatoes are past the harvest season, her family was forced to sell at prices ranging from 150,000 VND to 200,000 VND/quintal (people calculate 1 quintal about 60kg) depending on the size of the sweet potatoes.
Ms. Van recounted that the investment cost for soil improvement, fertilizers, pesticides, and harvested labor is about 220 million VND, but the price of sweet potatoes sold is less than 100 million VND. Her family lost about more than 120 million VND.
Mr. Nguyen Van Nhanh (resident of Long Thanh commune) also said that his family grows 15 cong of sweet potatoes, with a yield of 50 quintals/cong. The price of sweet potatoes ranges from 170,000 VND to 210,000 VND/quintal, so his family lost capital of about 5 million VND per cong and lost 75 million VND for this sweet potato crop.
This land is salty water, rice cultivation is not effective. Sweet potatoes are easy to grow, give high yields, but prices are unstable, farmers really hope that the specialized sector and superiors will pay attention to inviting businesses to invest in processing in the province associated with linking to purchase sweet potatoes at stable prices to help growers feel secure in production and ensure profits," Mr. Nhanh expressed.
Vice Chairman of Long Thanh Commune People's Committee Nguyen Nhiem Toan said that in recent years, implementing the policy of restructuring the agricultural sector in the direction of increasing added value and sustainable development, the commune has focused on propagating and mobilizing people to boldly convert the crop and livestock structure on inefficient production areas to models suitable for soil conditions and market demand.
The whole commune currently has over 7,000 hectares of agricultural production land, in which in addition to the specialized rice growing area, the locality has formed many areas for producing fruit trees, color crops and aquaculture in the direction of commodities. Sweet potatoes are also a crop that brings quite high economic efficiency. When the market is favorable, the price can reach 9,000-12,000 VND/kg, bringing very high profits to producers.
But currently, prices are low, the commune actively informs and connects with interested purchasing units to improve selling prices for gardeners, avoiding losses.
The Vice Chairman of Long Thanh Commune People's Committee also said: "In the coming time, the locality will continue to promote consumption links with businesses; direct the development of specialized sweet potato growing areas according to safety standards, build OCOP products for sweet potatoes to improve product quality and value; support cooperatives in applying digital transformation, traceability and connecting businesses to consume".
The locality also organizes technical training, mechanization of production and use of organic fertilizers to reduce costs and increase profits for people; take advantage of resources to upgrade roads to facilitate the transportation of agricultural products and invite businesses to invest.
