On the afternoon of the 2nd day of Lunar New Year, Lao Dong Newspaper reporters recorded at strawberry gardens in Chieng Sung, Mai Son and Moc Chau, the harvesting atmosphere was still busy.
Ripe strawberries ripen red all over the fields, output increases sharply after the Tet holidays. However, the joy of a bumper crop is not complete when selling prices fall deeply as never before.
After three days of Tet holiday, the amount of ripe strawberries suddenly increased. Many gardens harvest from a few quintals to tons of fruit each day. The selling price at the garden ranges from 10,000 - 20,000 VND/kg.
Some places choose large-sized strawberries, wholesale price is only 15,000 VND/kg. Meanwhile, the cost of hiring labor during Tet increases, putting more pressure on many households.
In the Mai Son, Chieng Mung, and Chieng Sung areas, there are currently over 600ha of strawberries, with an annual output of tens of thousands of tons. Many households at this time harvest from 3 quintals to 3 tons per day.
Mr. Nguyen Van Thang (Na San village) said that his family cultivates 2.5 hectares of strawberries, harvesting 2-3 tons of fruit per day. Strawberries ripen in full bloom during Tet, so transporting them to large sources is very difficult. The family has to hire more workers to filter the fruit, remove crushed strawberries, and put them in cold storage for preservation.
After Tet, this amount of strawberries will be converted to make syrup or supplied to ice cream and confectionery production facilities. With this sharp price drop, I invested more than 500 million VND in the strawberry crop, but I don't know if I can recover the capital," Mr. Thang worried.
According to Ms. Tran Thi Dung (Kim Son village, Mai Son commune), because she could not hire more workers, the family posted information on social networks, inviting people to the garden to pick for free to avoid spoiled and wasteful fruits.
In Chieng Sinh ward, Ms. Luong Thi Ut just weighed more than 1 quintal of strawberries for traders at a price of 20,000 VND/kg. However, the price quoted tomorrow may continue to decrease.
Tet holiday is two days, but strawberries ripen quickly and spoil a lot. Today I have to remove nearly 30kg of crushed, bruised, and mushy fruits. Prices are falling like this, it's very worrying," Ms. Ut shared.
In the Moc Chau area, where more than 150ha of strawberries are concentrated in Moc Son, Moc Chau, Thao Nguyen, Van Son wards, the average yield is about 13 tons/ha. However, the current selling price is not commensurate with the effort and investment costs.
Ms. Nguyen Thoan (group 5, Moc Chau ward) said that on the morning of the 2nd day of Tet, her family had to hire more than 20 workers to pick strawberries at a price of 50,000 VND/hour.
Many ripe strawberries but the price is so cheap, the more you pick, the more heartbreaking it is. If you don't pick, it will be spoiled, and after picking, you won't sell much," Ms. Thoan said.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Son La province, the whole province currently has over 800ha of strawberries, concentrated in Moc Chau, Mai Son, Chieng Sung, Chieng Mung and some neighboring localities. Average yield reaches 10 - 13 tons/ha.
However, recently prices have fluctuated in an unfavorable direction. Material and labor costs have increased while selling prices have continuously "broken the bottom".
Reality shows that unstable output is a big problem for strawberry growers. The 2023 strawberry crop also saw a sharp drop in strawberry prices to below 20,000 VND/kg.
The strawberry crop is about 2 months away from ending. If this situation continues, the strawberry area in Son La is at risk of declining. Many households can destroy strawberries early to switch to other crops. Because the more they maintain production, the higher the labor and care costs, the harder it is to make a profit.
