Durian lost more than half its value
In early August, Ms. Nguyen Thi An (Duc Manh commune, Dak Mil district, Dak Nong province) sold 60 kg of durian seeds but only got 500,000 VND. If compared to the same time last year, these durians could help Ms. An earn more than 1.2 million VND.
Ms. An said that her family has dozens of old durian trees. intercropping in coffee fields. In previous years, she often sold durian for 20,000 – 25,000 VND/kg. But this year, the price of durian has dropped by more than half, to less than 10,000 VND/kg.
Not only Ms. An, nearly 200 hectares of durian from people in Duc Manh commune are also in the same situation of devaluation. . This locality is in the durian season but the price of agricultural products is falling sharply due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic.
Large markets such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and some southern provinces are implementing social distancing to prevent epidemics. Transporting and consuming durian in these markets faces many difficulties.
According to durian gardeners in Dak Nong, durian seeds currently cost 8,000 – 10,000 VND/kg, down 2 /3 compared to last year and down about 10,000 VND/kg compared to the beginning of the season.
Ri6 durian and Thai Mongthong (Thai durian) also dropped sharply in price. Ri6 durian is currently priced at 20,000 – 25,000 VND/kg, down more than 20,000 VND/kg; Thai durian costs more than 30,000 VND/kg, down about 15,000 VND/kg.
Ms. Nguyen Thi My Tien (Dak Ru commune, Dak R’lap district, Dak Nong) shared that her family has 60 Ri6 Thai durian trees. This year her family harvested 5 tons, but Ri6 durian only sold for 25,000 VND/kg while the price of Thai durian was 30,000 VND/kg.
“This year the money from selling the whole durian garden is not as good as Last year’s harvest even though the amount of money spent on care was twice as high. This year’s durian price was too low, but if it wasn’t harvested, the fruit would fall in large numbers. If it was left too ripe, people wouldn’t buy it, so they had to accept selling it at a loss ” Ms. Tien said.
Rotten durian lost hundreds of millions
According to some fruit purchasing warehouse owners, the consumer market was affected. The impact of the Covid-19 epidemic is the reason why durian prices have dropped.
Currently, durians are still sold, but the quantity is not large, and the shipping cost has been pushed up very high, forcing dealers to reduce prices. Purchasing to avoid losses.
Mrs. Dinh Thi Phuong, the owner of a durian purchasing warehouse in Dak R’lap district, currently has hundreds of tons of durian in stock due to Cut gardeners bring it. All of these durians were ordered half a year ago, so when harvested, the garden owner will transport them to the dealer.
According to Ms. Phuong, last year her granary supplied more than 500 tons. durian to the market. This year, the number of durians sold is just over 100 tons even though it is already in the main season.
“Central Highlands durians are mainly consumed in the southern provinces but this market is being affected by the epidemic. Every day, it’s very difficult to sell a few tons of durian. Part of it is kept in cold storage, the rest has to be thrown away.” Ms. Phuong pointed at the pile of black moldy durians.
According to The female owner of this barn had to throw away nearly 20 tons of durian from the beginning of the season until August because it was rotten. At the current purchasing price, every day the family loses nearly a hundred million dong because the durian is damaged and cannot be sold in time.
Similarly, Mr. Nguyen Minh Quang, a trader specializing in purchasing durian at Gia Nghia city is also in trouble because the durians of the gardeners have reached harvest time but cannot be consumed yet.
“I spent nearly a billion to deposit for the gardeners. Now the durian has been sold. If you’re old and can’t harvest, you can’t harvest it, but if you can’t sell it, it’s all ruined. Every day, both wholesale and retail, you can only get a few tons. If this situation continues, you’ll lose tens of millions of dong every day,” he said Quang said.
Knowing the above situation, the Dak Nong Department of Industry and Trade has directed the Center for Industrial and Trade Promotion to implement the following measures: connection activities to support the consumption of agricultural products.
In addition, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dak Nong province will work with localities to review statistics of agricultural products to summarize We request the Ministry of Industry and Trade as well as other provinces to support consumption.
According to statistics, the two provinces of Dak Nong and Dak Lak currently have over 15,000 thousand hectares of durians of all kinds with an estimated output of more than 127,000 tons. . These two localities are having difficulty consuming durian.
“
