Areca palm is a type of tree that is intercropped in gardens with the main purpose of blocking wind and creating shade for other crops. At this time, many farmers in Dak Lak are entering the areca palm harvest season.
In fact, the price of areca nuts has been continuously increasing recently. The peak was in mid-October when the price reached 100,000 VND/kg. At that time, a ton of fresh areca nuts was worth an ounce of gold.
The price of fresh areca nuts has hit a new peak, helping many farmers in Dak Lak make big profits. Ms. H'Bliak (in Ea Tieu commune, Cu Kuin district, Dak Lak province) was very happy when talking about areca nuts.
She said she only planted areca trees between coffee and durian gardens to block the wind and create shade. She did not expect fresh areca nuts to fetch such a high price. Since the beginning of the year, Ms. H'Bliak has earned nearly 100 million VND from selling areca nuts.
After the price of areca nuts peaked for a short time, it suddenly turned around and dropped sharply. Ms. Le Thi Thuong (in Hoa Thuan commune, Buon Ma Thuot city, Dak Lak province) said that she had just sold fresh areca nuts for 58,000 VND/kg.
This price is tens of thousands of dong lower than in mid-October. However, Ms. Thuong is still happy because areca is easy to grow and the investment cost is low.
“Areca palm does not take up too much space. Growers do not have to invest much money or effort. The most convenient thing is that they do not have to spray chemicals like many other plants. When it is time to harvest, traders pick them themselves, I just have to look at the scale, record the number of kilograms and then get the money" - Ms. Thuong shared.
When the price of areca nut increased and then decreased, Ms. Thuong was not too worried because this is an intercrop. According to Ms. Thuong, with the current selling price, even at 20-25 thousand VND/kg, growers still see a profit.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Giao - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Cu M'gar district (Dak Lak) - said that there are many people growing areca trees in the area but the exact area has not been counted. Because Cu M'gar people mainly grow areca trees in their gardens to create hedges and shade for other plants.
Fresh areca nuts are mainly sold through traders. Through monitoring, Mr. Giao noticed that the price of fresh areca nuts always fluctuates. At times, the price of areca nuts increased to tens of thousands of VND/kg, then decreased sharply to only a few thousand VND/kg.
Prices are unstable and output is uncertain, so according to Mr. Giao, there must be a deep processing factory for the areca tree to develop sustainably.
