Farmers face difficulties in banana exports: Grass overgrows in banana gardens

Farmers facing difficulties as unable to export bananas:

One day at the end of April 2022, we drove on the National Highway 9 to Huong Hoa district (Quang Tri province) to learn about the life of banana growers in Tan Long, Tan Lap communes… Siamese bananas, a speciality fruit being grown widely in the area, are planted on the steep hillsides along the National Highway 9.

From the center of Tan Lap commune, it takes about 7 - 8 km to go to the center of Tan Long commune, where there is a famous banana market for many years.

At Tan Long banana market, there are much more sellers than buyers. That is why sellers do not go inside market, instead stand waiting for buyers right on the side of the National Highway 9.

Growing in large with hope of selling wholesale, but in reality, most farmers have to choose retailing. That makes income decrease significantly, so farmers lost patient.

Vo Hoanh, a farmer growing banana in Long Giang village, Tan Long commune, says that there has never been a year when Siamese being as sluggish as this year. The price is low and few people buy it.

“In the past, traders would compete to buy at the market. Each ride by motorbike transporting 5 or 6 bunches of bananas can bring VND 500 - 600 thousand for farmer. But now, being very lucky like me would only get half of it. However, as Siamese banana is a traditional tree in the area, the growing and cultivation are easy, so people do not want to change to other fruit trees. Bananas are so cheap this year, each kilogram is only VND 2.5 - 3 thousand, let it be on the tree it will spoil, so farmers have to sell it even at the meanest price," Hoanh says sadly.

People in Huong Hoa district say that, Siamese bananas are very popular in the market because of their large and nice fruits. The weather and and soil conditions in the area are ideal, less pests and diseases, so bananas are grown naturally, there is almost no chemical. Therefore, only 3 - 4 years ago, Huong Hoa Siamese banana was a valuable agricultural product for export. Now everything is different.

Export price of Siamese banana, mainly to Thailand anh China, is very cheap at this time. That is why traders in the area no longer buy bananas for export, according to Doan Quang Thien, a trader living in Tan Thuan village, Tan Lap commune. Currently, bananas cannot be exported to Thailand and China due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, people have thought another way for the output of bananas, that is drying but the amount purchased is very small.

“At this time, the price of bananas is only VND 2.5 - 3 thousand per kg, a nice bunch is about VND 80,000. Meanwhile, 3 years ago, the nice bunch of banana was over VND 150,000 and the wholesale was VND 4 - 8 thousand per kg. As long as the price increases to VND 4,000 per kg, farmers will have profit,” Thien says.

According to Mr. Thien, in the past, he used to buy 2 - 3 tons a day, but now he has to quit his job because he can't find a market. At the peak, the merchants scrambled to buy bananas, but now there are more sellers than buyers.

A trader at Tan Long market added that three years ago, many people went to Laos to rent land to grow bananas. However, in the past few years, the price of bananas has fallen to the bottom and it is difficult to sell, so the investers in Laos have gone bankrupt. Banana orchards in Tan Long, Tan Lap communes... are also overgrown with grass.

At the wholesale price of VND 4 - 5 thousand per kg, banana growers in Huong Hoa district can collect tens of millions of VND per month for each hectare. That is a large amount of money for ethnic minorities in Huong Hoa. However, with the current price, many households will no longer grow bananas but switch to other crops to ensure their livelihood.

Many small traders quit their jobs because Siamese bananas cannot be exported. At the peak, in Huong Hoa district, there were nearly 100 agents to purchse bananas for export. On average, every day there are about 10 trucks to purchase nearly 100 tons of bananas for domestic and export markets. Many small traders also open agent stores to buy bananas in remote villages, where travel conditions are still difficult. However, in the past 2 years, many traders have quit their jobs because bananas cannot be exported.