Record price increase, 1 ton of fresh areca nuts is worth an amount of gold

Each kilogram of areca nuts sold at the garden costs between 80,000 and 90,000 VND.

Areca nut prices increase "dizzily"

In recent days, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hoc (residing in Tien Canh commune, Tien Phuoc district, Quang Nam province) has been happy as if he won the lottery because the price of fresh areca nuts has increased and shows no signs of stopping. Just by selling a bunch of areca nuts weighing about 10kg, he can pocket nearly 1 million VND.

Mr. Hoc’s family grows about 1,000 areca trees, of which more than 200 bear fruit. Although it is only mid-season, Mr. Hoc has earned nearly 300 million VND from his areca garden.

Mr. Hoc picks areca nuts to sell to traders.

"This is the first time I've seen the price of areca nuts increase since the beginning of the season, selling for more than shrimp. If this price can be maintained for a long time, areca nuts will help farmers get rich. The economic value is much higher than many other types of trees, and it requires less care," Mr. Hoc said excitedly.

Excitedly carrying areca nuts to sell after a hard day of harvesting, Mr. Bui Van Ty (Tien Hiep commune, Tien Phuoc district) said that if in previous years, the price of areca nuts at the beginning of the season fluctuated from 5,000-7,000 VND/kg, this year, right from the beginning of the season, the price of areca nuts was over 40,000 VND/kg and has been increasing continuously since then.

Currently, fresh areca nuts cost 90,000 VND/kg. This is considered a record price when areca nuts are in the middle of the season compared to the same time in previous years. There are even days when the price of areca nuts changes within a few hours, from morning to afternoon it has increased by 5,000 VND/kg.

Areca nut purchasing facilities are operating at full capacity.

"My family has 500 areca trees that are being harvested. Last year I sold 1 ton of areca for 20 million VND, and this year I bought 1 ton of areca for more than 1 tael of gold (about 84-85 million VND/tael - PV)", Mr. Ty excitedly boasted.

According to statistics, the whole Quang Nam province has about 1,000 hectares of areca trees, mainly concentrated in Tien Phuoc and Bac Tra My districts. The average annual output reaches nearly 8,000 tons.

Tien Canh Commune is a center for processing areca nuts for export abroad with nearly 10 processing facilities.

At the two areca nut processing facilities for export of Ms. Tran Thi Luan in Tien Lanh and Tien Canh communes (Tien Phuoc district), in recent days there have been many people coming in and out to sell fresh areca nuts.

According to Ms. Luan, the high price of areca nuts is due to China increasing imports to make areca candy and medicinal herbs.

Areca nuts brought to the factory are selected, without broken stems, on average 45-55 fruits per kg.

Ms. Luan’s facility is creating jobs for 20 workers, with income from 6-12 million VND/person/month. Every day, this facility buys about 20 tons of fresh areca nuts to process dried areca nuts.

"About 4 kg of fresh areca nuts will produce 1 kg of dried areca nuts. Dried areca nuts are sold to India, South Korea, Arab countries... but China is still the biggest market," said Ms. Luan.

Fresh areca nuts are boiled in a steamer for more than an hour. When cooked, they are taken out and placed in a drying oven.

Farmers can earn nearly a billion dong per crop.

Quang Ngai is also famous for its large area of ​​areca trees. The whole province has more than 2,000 hectares of areca trees. Of which, Son Tay district has more than 1,000 hectares and Nghia Hanh district has about 750 hectares.

Son Tay mountainous district is known as "the land of thousands of areca nuts" with more than 1,000 hectares of areca nuts.

Mr. Tran Van Nam (residing in Hanh Duc commune, Nghia Hanh district) shared that many years ago, the price of areca nuts was unstable, at times dropping to only 2,000 VND/kg. However, in the past 3 months, the price of areca nuts suddenly increased to an unprecedented high, so he was very excited.

Mr. Nam's family has a garden of more than 300 areca trees that are bearing fruit. On average, each time he sells areca, he earns more than 20 million VND.

"Areca nut trees bear fruit after about 5-6 years, and the harvest time is from July to the end of the year. Each month, we can sell two batches, each time about 250-300kg. This year's areca nut prices are high, so many gardeners have made big profits. If the prices continue to increase and stay until the end of the season, large-scale areca nut growers can earn billions of dong," said Mr. Nam.

Traders from everywhere flock to the villages of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai to buy fresh areca nuts.

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Vu, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quang Nam province, the record increase in areca nut prices is due to strong consumption of areca nut in China and India, causing prices to increase.

"The locality is closely monitoring the market to advise growers to avoid the situation of good harvest but low price, good price but bad harvest," said Mr. Vu.

TB (according to Vietnamnet)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/gia-tang-ky-luc-1-tan-cau-tuoi-bang-ca-luong-vang-395751.html