Good productivity, high selling price
These days, gardeners in Thoi Hung commune, Can Tho city are busy harvesting the first- harvest longan fruits with the joy of a bumper harvest and a good harvest.
Mr. Nguyen Phu Tan - Member of Trang Ti Garden Cooperative - said that thanks to favorable weather and cool air, the average yield is estimated at 800 - 900 kg/1000 m2. In addition, as one of the members with a label to sell at the beginning of the season, Mr. Tan was even more excited because the selling price was quite high compared to the main season.
With 5 hectares of longan, I expect a total harvest of about 40 tons. This quantity will be supplied to both the export and domestic markets, so the output is guaranteed to be stable. The low supply due to the new season has caused the price of labels purchased by the associated companies for export to be 20% higher than during the main crop, said Mr. Tan.
With 2.5 hectares of longan trees in the harvest stage, Mr. Dang Thanh Tam - Member of Trang Ti Garden Cooperative - shared that this year's weather has rain early, creating favorable conditions for longan trees to grow, bloom and bear fruit. Thanks to that, the fruit is labored about 2 weeks earlier and the yield is quite stable.
According to this gardener, the yield of longan this year is expected to be from 7 - 7.5 tons/ha. This is an average yield but the advantage is that there are early fruits, so the selling price is quite good, 30% higher than the main crop.
Profit increases from 20%
With favorable weather and price conditions, Mr. Tan estimates that the profits of this year's longan crop will increase. The gardener expressed: "Although the harvest has just begun, this year will definitely be better than last year, because the weather is favorable and the selling price at the beginning of the season is high. After deducting all input costs, I estimate that the profit of this label season will increase by about 30 - 40%. The output is stable, now I just need to increase the number of workers to harvest the label in time, and hand it over to the company and traders".
Sharing the same joy, Mr. Tam calculated that the profit from this year's longan season is about 250 - 300 million VND/ha, after deducting production costs. This profit is about 20 - 30% higher than last year.
Mr. Tran Phuoc Son - Director of Trang Ti Garden Cooperative - informed that the cooperative currently has about 60 hectares of longan production area. Of which, 30 hectares are granted VietGAP certificate, 5 hectares are granted organic production certificate. The unit also has 20 hectares of label bars being produced according to Global GAP standards.
According to Mr. Son, this year's weather is relatively mild, favorable for longan trees to grow, so the yield is better. The price of longan at the beginning of the season is stable at a high level thanks to its beautiful, quality fruit and being cultivated according to a green, clean production process, ensuring food safety.
"The harvesting process of export labels is quite elaborate, workers have to cut each fruit, so the rental cost increases. In return, high selling prices help gardeners still make good profits, said Mr. Son.
According to initial estimates, with an area of 60 hectares and an average yield of 8 tons/ha, Trang Ti Garden Cooperative plans to supply about 500 tons of finished label bars to the market. If all goes well, the product meets the requirements, the unit will consume and export over 200 tons of label bars.
