Sweet potato price is VND 3,500/kg with Gia Lai calls for support

On April 4, the People's Committee of Phu Thien district sent a report to the People's Committee of Gia Lai province on the production and consumption of sweet potato products in the area in the winter-spring crop of 2023 - 2024.

Phu Thien district has been considered the sweet potato capital of Gia Lai province in recent years. This year alone, the total area of sweet potatoes in Phu Thien district reached more than 3,400 ha, most people use Japanese sweet potato varieties, concentrated mainly in communes such as Chu A Thai, Ia Sol, Ia Piar.

This year's winter-spring crop, sweet potatoes has an average yield of about 20 tons/ha, total output is about 68,800 tons. Currently, over 2,000 ha of sweet potato area in Phu Thien district has been harvested (about 60%), and the remaining area is expected to be harvested by April 30.

About 2 months ago, the price of sweet potatoes was about VND 10,000/kg. Currently, the price of sweet potatoes is falling dramatically, to only VND 3,500/kg.

According to the assessment of the People's Committee of Phu Thien district, currently, the price of sweet potatoes is decreasing, traders are purchasing moderately and tend to reduce the quantity. Therefore, sweet potato growers are facing many difficulties in finding output, while the remaining area is approaching a very large harvest (over 1,600 ha).

On the other hand, this year's unfavourable weather has led to low sweet potato yields and a high rate of rot and fungus, which has affected the purchasing price. Along with that, the consumption market is unstable, there are no investment processing enterprises in Phu Thien district in particular and in Gia Lai province in general. Due to the low price of sweet potatoes, people have suffered heavy losses.

Mr. Do Van Nam, Director of Phu Thien Safe Agricultural Products Cooperative (Chu A Thai commune, Phu Thien district) said, faced with the dramatic drop in sweet potato prices, the cooperative also reported to the district to grasp the consumption situation as well as propose solutions to support people. "However, it must be admitted that this year's crop season people planted too many sweet potatoes, the sudden increase in the area caused prices to fall sharply and consumption also encountered difficulties", Mr Nam acknowledged.

Mr Nam said that as soon as the district reported difficulties in sweet potato consumption, a number of businesses came to raise consumption issues with people. However, businesses mainly purchase sweet potatoes grown on basalt red soil for deep processing. The amount of sweet potatoes produced in the area is too large, up to several tens of thousands of tons. Therefore, the fact that businesses come to buy and process only a few dozen tons has not significantly solved the consumption problem for people.

“To reduce losses for people, the most important thing to do now is to extend the sweet potato harvest time in the hope that prices will increase again. To do so, people need to water regularly to avoid rotten sweet potatoes and galls, affecting consumption. Currently, people are initiating harvest at the same time, so it is inevitable that prices will drop", Mr Nam shared.

According to records, this year the sweet potato production area increased not only in Phu Thien district but also in the province as well as other regions. The sweet potato seeding season in different localities also overlaps, so harvest output increases dramatically, leading to difficulties in consumption.

Currently, in the Phu Thien district, there are no businesses investing or purchasing sweet potatoes, mainly traders purchase them.

In a report sent to the People's Committee of Gia Lai province, Phu Thien district asked the province to pay attention to calling on businesses to sell sweet potatoes to people. In the long term, it is necessary to call for investment in factories processing and consuming sweet potato products in Gia Lai province associated with the introduction of quality, disease-free varieties with high productivity so people can feel secure in production.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Vice Chairman of Phu Thien District People's Committee, said that as soon as the district has a report sent to the Provincial People's Committee, about 3-4 businesses come to ask people about purchasing issues. The question of how many potatoes will be purchased will have to wait for the next few days.