Peanut prices fall

Peanuts are in harvest season, but the price has dropped to 20,000 VND/kg, even 17,000 VND/kg. At this price, minus the investment cost and hiring workers to harvest, growers are considered to have no profit.

Ms. Chi called traders to buy peanuts but the price was too low to sell.

In recent days, Ms. Ngoc Chi, in Thuan Minh commune, Ham Thuan Bac district, has grown more than 1 hectare of peanuts that are ready for harvest. She is feeling restless as she keeps calling traders to buy them, but they offer a low price of only 17,000 VND/kg. According to Ms. Chi, she cannot sell at this price because she cannot recover her capital due to high investment costs, including hiring workers to pull out, pick the tubers, clean the beans before delivery, as well as adding fertilizer, seeds, and water before that. “If the price is around 20,000 - 21,000 VND/kg, we can still salvage some capital and continue to invest in the next crop. In previous years, the price was from 22,000 - 25,000 VND/kg, but this year it has dropped sharply,” Ms. Chi added.

However, there are also luckier households, when they sell for 20,000 VND/kg to restaurants and wedding parties. The household of Ms. Phan Thi Bay in Hong Son commune and other households in Ham Duc commune are typical examples. Mr. Nguyen Quoc Dung in village 7, Ham Duc - a person who specializes in purchasing peanuts to sell everywhere, including Phan Thiet city, said that this year peanuts are selling slower than last year, not only peanuts but also other agricultural products. In Ham Duc, people used to grow a lot of peanuts, but in recent years some have switched to growing coconuts, but coconuts are also selling slowly, Mr. Dung added.

In addition, Hong Son commune also has a large number of peanut growers, with an area of more than 20 hectares out of the total area of 55 hectares of crops in the commune. Many farmers in villages 1 and 2 have been harvesting peanuts, but mainly sell them at 20,000 VND/kg. Ms. Pham Thi Luu - Chairwoman of the Farmers' Association of Hong Son commune said that peanuts are not a concentrated crop, scattered among residents in hilly areas and soft lands. People do not grow them seasonally, mainly rotating them with other crops, so when they harvest, they will fall at different times, the selling price will also be different. Harvesting at this time, the selling price is only about 20,000 VND/kg, sometimes lower. Many households see that traders offer low prices and do not have enough money to cover investment costs, so they harvest and dry them to sell later. In other districts and towns such as Bac Binh, where Hoa Thang commune grows a lot of peanuts, people are preparing for harvest. Through research, it is found that not only peanuts but also other agricultural products have had unstable output in recent years.

The refrain of good harvest but low price or bad harvest, low price has been repeated in recent years, which is a common concern of farmers. They have made many recommendations in meetings with voters and annual meetings and forums, with the hope of solving difficulties. However, in the context of many challenges and difficulties, especially the problem of agricultural product consumption when international economic integration is increasingly deep. Farmers need to improve their knowledge of science and technology, knowledge of the market to grow crops appropriately to meet demand and increase income.

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