Both crop failure and price drop
These days, farmers in localities in Lam Dong province are entering the 034 avocado harvest season in a heavy mood.
The area of Bao Lam communes is considered the "capital" of 034 avocados of Lam Dong, this area currently has about 1,200ha of avocados, of which nearly 500ha are purely grown and more than 700ha are intercropped.
According to Trinh Van Thao - Chairman of Bao Lam 1 Commune People's Committee, about 4 years ago, the whole commune had nearly 500 hectares of 034 avocado, mainly planted intercropped in coffee gardens by people.
But due to continuous price decreases, people have proactively cut down and currently the whole commune only has about 190ha left.
The main reason is that avocado prices continuously decrease sharply, while coffee and durian bring higher economic efficiency, so many households are converting crop structures. Not only are prices low, this year's avocado crop is also affected by unfavorable weather. The flowering stage encounters unseasonal rain and frost, causing low fruit setting rates and a sharp decrease in output," Mr. Thao said.
Mr. Nguyen Van Dau (resident of Bao Lam 1 commune), who is considered the "father" of avocado variety 034, said that at the beginning of the season, avocado prices fluctuated from 30,000 - 40,000 VND/kg, but now it is only 8,000 - 10,000 VND/kg.
In previous years, the family's 7ha of avocado yielded about 100 tons of fruit. This year, we only harvested about 60 tons. Crop failure, and low prices, so income was heavily affected," Mr. Dau shared.
In 2009, Mr. Dau's family's long avocados participated in the high-yield, good-quality avocado tree contest and were coded 034/09.
After winning the second prize, this avocado variety gradually became known to the people as 034 avocado and became one of the famous avocado varieties of Lam Dong.
Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Tan (Bao Lam 2 commune) said: Because the price of 034 avocado is decreasing, growing it is not profitable, so my family had to cut down 1.5 hectares of avocado to switch to growing coffee.
Concerns about the 034 butter brand
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Dau, besides market factors, the quality of avocados this year is also the reason for the sharp price drop.
Mr. Dau said that when the price at the beginning of the season increased sharply, many traders and garden owners harvested even fruits that were not yet mature.
Picking early causes avocados to not ripen evenly, easily rot in the head and tail of the fruit, reducing consumer confidence.
Over the past time, many reflections have appeared on forums and social networks about the condition of 034 avocado being damaged after being cooked.
Some traders said they had to dump hundreds of kilograms, even nearly a ton of butter due to substandard quality.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Ty - Vice Chairman of Bao Lam 2 Commune People's Committee, said that the whole commune currently has about 300ha of 034 avocado. In previous years, the yield reached about 20 tons/ha, but this year it is only about 12 tons/ha.
Reduced output and low selling prices have caused many difficulties for avocado growers. Some households have started cutting down avocado trees to switch to growing coffee or durian and short-term crops," Mr. Ty said.
Faced with the above situation, many farmers hope that the locality will soon attract investment to build avocado processing plants, in order to diversify products, increase added value and stabilize output. However, to date, this desire has not been answered.
According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Lam Dong province, currently, the whole province has about 9,000 hectares of avocado cultivation, of which 6,500 hectares are being harvested, achieving an average yield of 15 tons/crop/ha.
The total annual butter production is estimated at about 100,000 tons, with 034 butter accounting for 80%, booth butter accounting for 10%, and other butter varieties accounting for the rest.
