Krong Pa: Cassava growers suffer double losses

In addition, the price of noodles has also decreased by about 50% compared to last year, causing farmers to no longer make a profit, or even suffer losses.

According to Mr. Ksor Mop (Gum Gop hamlet, Ia Rmok commune), cassava growers this year suffered double losses due to poor productivity and low prices. Photo: LN

Mr. Ksor Thim (Gum Gop hamlet, Ia Rmok commune) said: His family planted 3 hectares of cassava varieties KM94 and HN5. At the beginning of the season, prolonged drought caused the cassava plants to grow slowly, some died so they had to be replanted, increasing costs. In addition, cassava yield also decreased by about 20% compared to last year. By harvest time, the price of cassava was only 1,400 VND/kg fresh, down more than 50% compared to the same period last year. Therefore, the income was not worth much.

“On average, my family invests about 15-17 million VND per hectare of cassava. But this year, due to the drought, many cassava plants died and had to be replanted, so the cost increased to 17-20 million VND. Last year, cassava had a good harvest and good prices, so the profit was about 50-60 million VND/ha. But this year, after deducting expenses, my family only earned 7-10 million VND/ha,” Mr. Thim said sadly.

During this year's cassava harvest, Mr. Ksor Mốp's face (from Gum Gop hamlet) showed sadness because of the low productivity and low prices. Mr. Mốp said: His family has more than 2 hectares of cassava but this year the harvest will probably only be about 20 tons of fresh cassava. At the beginning of the season, the drought lasted for a long time, causing many cassava plants to die, so his family had to replant them for the third time. "Last year, the price of cassava was at 2,800-4,000 VND/kg of fresh cassava, after deducting expenses, my family earned a profit of more than 20 million VND/ha. However, this year, the price is only 1,400 VND/kg of fresh cassava, estimated to not be enough for investment" - Mr. Mố shared.

Mr. Ksor Yim, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ia Rmok Commune, said: “The whole commune has more than 1,560 hectares of cassava. This year, the price of cassava has dropped sharply, causing difficulties for people, even losses. In the past time, the commune has promoted and mobilized people not to massively expand the cassava area, and at the same time recommended that people gradually switch to other crops with higher economic efficiency.”

Similarly, Mr. Ksor Rok, Chairman of the People's Committee of Chu Drang Commune, said: This year, the sharp decrease in cassava productivity has had a strong impact on people's lives. With this situation, many households who borrowed money in advance to invest or owed agricultural materials to agents will not have the funds to reinvest. Due to the low price of cassava, many households have not harvested yet but instead take advantage of the opportunity to work for hire to make ends meet.

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People in Krong Pa district harvest cassava, one of the main crops of the district. Photo: LN

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Vo Ngoc Chau - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Krong Pa district - said: In the 2024 crop, farmers planted more than 20,000 hectares of cassava, accounting for 56% of the total crop area of the district. In recent years, the district has implemented many solutions to help people improve production efficiency by introducing new cassava varieties with high resistance to mosaic disease such as HN3, HN5 and techniques for care, pest control, etc.

Thanks to that, the average cassava yield reached 20-25 tons/ha, with some households achieving 35-40 tons/ha. However, this year, cassava growers in the area suffered double losses. After planting, they encountered drought, so farmers had to replant 2-3 times. In addition, the yield only reached 20 tons/ha (down 15-20% compared to last year). In addition, the cassava price has also decreased by about 50% compared to last year, causing farmers to no longer make a profit, or even suffer losses.

“In previous years, the cassava harvest was basically over by early April. But this year, up to this point, the entire district has only harvested 85% of the area. For now, we recommend that people continue harvesting and consider selling fresh cassava or drying it, waiting for the price of sliced cassava to match the actual situation. In addition, the district also promotes and encourages people to diversify crops, not to depend entirely on cassava and to switch to other crops with higher economic efficiency,” informed the Head of the district’s Department of Agriculture and Environment.