Prices of some agricultural products to re-increase

Increasing fruit prices

In Long An Province where travel has become more convenient thanks to favourable conditions offered by local authorities, the price of local-grown dragon fruit has started to rise, reaching over VND10,000 per kilo.

According to Nguyen Quoc Trinh, Chairman of Long An Dragon Fruit Association, local authorities in the province have recently created more favorable conditions for traders to purchase and harvest agricultural products.

"Those who have been vaccinated against the Covid-19 vaccine can go back to work. Currently, most working-age people in Chau Thanh District have been vaccinated with one jab, so it is hoped that the situation will gradually become better in the future,” he said,

He added that the output of local-grown dragon fruit is limited as it has reached the end of its harvest season. The output of this week is expected to be 1,000 tones and that of next week is about 10,000, which is also the end of its harvest season. At present, the farmers in Long An Province are applying the lighting method to prepare for a new crop.

Similar to dragon fruit, the price of pineapple in Tan Phuoc District, Tien Giang Province in recent days has also increased again thanks to the ease of Covid-19 pandemic control measures. Currently, the price of pineapple purchased by traders is at about VND6,000 per kilo, double that of 2-3 weeks ago.

According to Kim Tuyen, Director of Tran Binh Minh Agricultural Cooperative in Thanh Tan Commune, Tan Phuoc District, traveling is easier than before, leading to the increase in consumption when the wholesale markets in Ho Chi Minh City are back in business.

“Vehicles from the city have travelled to the area to purchase pineapple. Besides, pineapple production is also low at this time so the supply is limited, and therefore the price has increased as well,” she added.

Production waits to be resumed

Although the area of Long Dinh Commune (Can Duoc District, Long An Province) has not been classified as a green zone or Covid-free area, Thuan Giau Agricultural Cooperative in Hamlet 2 has prepared plans to resume production after September 15.

Huynh Thi Ngoc Giau, Director of the cooperative said that vegetables and fruits such as gourds, squash, cucumbers, yams, etc., of the cooperative are still being produced normally and constantly as it takes much time to take care of the new harvest.

For leafy vegetables, as their storage time is low and the consumption is slow, the cooperative has reduced the growing area to about 30 per cent.

“We will wait for the State's decision after September 15 on how to choose the next plan because the pandemic is still complicated in the area and travel is still difficult and dangerous.

“Vegetables are only sold in supermarkets and slowly consumed in traditional markets. Our cooperative is now providing about 1.5 tons of vegetables to the focal points for consumption every day. Particularly, gourds are bought by supermarkets at the price of VND14,000 per kg and this price has not increased yet,” Giau said.

Meanwhile, a number of freshwater aquatic products in the local farming facilities have not increased but have basically stabilized, cutting the downward trend.

Cao Phu Khanh, Director of Long Thanh Fisheries Cooperative, Long An Province said that the price of freshwater aquatic products purchased on the spots of local farmers is still low.

“Yellow catfish is sold at VND43,000/kg, snakehead fish VND48,000/kg, perch VND29,000/kg, much lower than the same period last year.

“Due to the impact of the pandemic, fishermen hold the selling of the fish, causing the food index to increase. Besides, the price of food increased by more than VND 100,000/bag, so fishermen have earned almost no profit,” he said.

According to a survey of members affiliated with Long Thanh Cooperative in the Mekong Delta, many farmers have abandoned their ponds due to non-profitable farming. In such a situation, the cooperative is thinking of self-producing food with local raw materials, helping to reduce the cost of farming and restoring production.

Go Cong Aquaculture Cooperative (Go Cong Town, Tien Giang Province) has 30 members raising Binh Dinh hybrid chickens. Each household can raise a maximum of 3,000 animals per litter. The cooperative said that it is still providing stable supplies to the focal points, and production activities are still being maintained.

“Since the beginning of the year, we have signed production and consumption contracts with wholesalers with the price of hens at VND72,000/kg and roosters at VND62,000/kg,” said Nguyen Quoc Kiet, director of the cooperative.

“During this pandemic, the cooperative has become more aware of the quality factor and that only the production-consumption link will determine the existence of the cooperative.

“We have set the target that every product must be consumed instead of racing against quantity. Currently, the cooperative is still producing in accordance with the orders signed with previous partners.”