HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The southern region is enteringthe peak harvest season for many fruits like durian, mango, rambutan, avocado,mangosteen, and jackfruit, but farmers are suffering from poor harvests.

In Ben Tre and Tien Giang provinces in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, which havelarge areas under durian, farmers have been plagued this season by drought andsevere saltwater intrusion.

In Ben Tre’s Chau Thanh district, the quality of durian hasbeen affected significantly due to the shortage of water.

Ha Chi Ngon, who has an 8,000sq.m orchard in thedistrict’s Tan Phu commune, said traders have been offering him 8,000 VND (38 UScent) per kilo, but he has refused to sell since it is too low.

The price was 48,000 – 50,000 VND (2 – 2.1 USD) at this timelast year, he said.

He earned an income of 400 million VND (17,200 USD) last year but is likely tosuffer severe losses this year because of the low prices, he said.

Many farmers in Ben Tre growing high-value fruits like durianhad to buy water to irrigate their orchards, but the fruit quality has stillbeen affected.

Tran Thi Bach Lan in Chau Thanh’s Quoi Thanh commune paid 70million VND (3,000 USD) for water to irrigate her 3,500sq.m orchard, buttraders have refused to buy her durian because of poor quality and her familyhad to sell the fruits at local markets and on the roadside. She earned a totalof 50 million VND (2,100 USD), or less than the cost of the water. 

Ben Tre has 2,000ha under durian, including 1,100ha in ChauThanh.

In Dong Thap, the price of Thai jackfruit has declined from 30,000– 35,000 VND (1.3 – 1.5 USD) a kilo at the beginning of the year to 4,000 –8,000 VND (17 – 34 US cent) now.

Traders attribute the price decline to the increase in supplysince this is the peak harvest season and difficulty in exporting because ofthe COVID-19 pandemic. 

Many farmers in Dong Thap have picked young fruits anddiscarded them to enable the trees to have better fruits later when prices arehopefully higher. 

In Binh Duong province, well known for its mangosteen, outputhas declined by 40 percent this year.

The prices of mangosteen grown to Vietnamese goodagricultural practices (VietGAP) standards are 50,000 – 55,000 VND (2.15 – 2.4USD) a kilo compared to 50,000 – 80,000 VND in previous years.

Export difficulties and the competition from imported Thaimangosteen have caused the price decline, according to farmers.

Bui Thi Huong Thao of the Binh Duong Department ofAgriculture and Rural Development said besides eating the fruit fresh, manypeople also use its flesh in dishes like salads.

The latter use means the fruit’s looks do not matter so much,reducing the pressure on farmers, she said.

The flesh is also frozen for consumption later, she added.

In Ba Ria – Vung Tau province, prolonged hot weather hasreduced the yield and quality of many fruits like mango, rambutan, durian, andavocado.  

Ba Ria – Vung Tau has about 10,370ha under fruits, 2,000hamore than in 2018.

The high prices of fruits in recent years have caused thisincrease, according to the province Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment.

To sustainably develop fruit cultivation, the departmentencourages farmers to grow fruits to VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards forexports.

It has instructed farmers to use advanced techniques to growfruits during the off-season to avoid price declines during the peak harvestseason./.