Ninh Hoa: Garlic harvest is good but price is low

Currently, localities in Ninh Hoa town are entering the garlic harvest for the 2024-2025 crop year. Although garlic yields are high, farmers are not happy because the selling price is much lower than the previous crop year.

Not full of joy

Under the scorching sun, in the fields of village 1, Ninh Son commune, farmers are still diligently harvesting and drying garlic. Mr. Duong Hoang Vinh - a local garlic grower said: "This year's garlic crop, we farmers are not completely happy! Garlic has a good harvest, the yield is quite high compared to previous years, but the selling price is too low, most garlic growers suffer losses". In the 2024 - 2025 garlic crop, Mr. Vinh's family grows 2 hectares of garlic, the yield is 12 tons/ha, an increase of about 4 tons/ha compared to the previous crop, but currently traders are asking to buy fresh garlic at 22,000 VND/kg (grade 1 garlic), grade 2 garlic is only 12,000 VND/kg, a decrease of 13,000 VND/kg compared to the same period last year. Mr. Vinh calculated that this year, investment costs increased due to increased fertilizer, labor costs for planting and harvesting also increased... so the price of fresh garlic grade 1 must reach about 30,000 VND/kg for his family to make a profit.

Farmers in Ninh Son commune harvest garlic.

With the current purchase price, many farmers have dried and stored garlic, waiting for higher prices to sell. However, this is only done by households with relatively large production areas, about several hectares or more. Smaller households, even at low prices, must sell because the initial cost of fertilizer and agricultural materials for growing and caring for garlic has come due.

Most garlic farmers are not making a profit this year.

According to Mr. Mai Xuan Binh - Vice Chairman of Ninh Son Commune People's Committee, this year, people in the commune planted 90 hectares of garlic, and have so far harvested 50 hectares, with an average yield of 15 tons/ha, with some households achieving as high as 20 tons/ha (last crop year it was 9 tons/ha). Currently, traders have not set a price for purchasing dried garlic, only purchasing grade 1 fresh garlic at 21,000 - 22,000 VND/kg, grade 2 garlic at only about 12,000 VND/kg. At this price, only households with high yields have low profits; households with yields below 10 tons/ha suffer losses.

In Ninh Phuoc commune, which has the largest garlic area in the town with 125 hectares of garlic, the harvest season is also at its peak. Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha (Ninh Tinh village) said that her family's nearly 1 hectare of garlic this year yielded about 10 tons of garlic, 3 tons more than last year, but the selling price is too low so there is no profit. She hopes that local authorities and professional agencies will have solutions to prevent garlic from falling into the chorus of good harvest but low price, good price but bad harvest.

Hope the output is stable

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang - Chairwoman of Ninh Son Commune Farmers' Association, the association has mobilized the establishment of Ninh Son Garlic Growing Cooperative Group with 9 members, with a production area of ​​over 5 hectares. Up to now, the entire garlic area of ​​the group has been certified for good agricultural practices (VietGAP). The Commune Farmers' Association is continuing to work with the group's members to actively implement steps such as: Bringing Ninh Son's VietGAP garlic to e-commerce platforms; discussing with a number of supermarkets and clean food stores in the province to seek opportunities for consumption linkage. However, the amount of garlic consumed through these channels is also limited.

It can be seen that after a long period of development, initially mainly due to households in the Ly Son garlic area, Quang Ngai coming here to settle down and bring garlic growing, up to now, the Ninh Hoa garlic area has developed to hundreds of hectares. With good cultivation level, highly appreciated garlic quality, the garlic plant in Ninh Hoa, especially the two communes of Ninh Phuoc and Ninh Son, has affirmed its suitability to climate and soil conditions and become the main crop of the locality. However, up to now, Khanh Hoa garlic in general and Ninh Hoa in particular have not yet built a brand, have no name in the market. The formation of cooperatives, cooperatives producing garlic according to safe processes, certified, production areas with growing area codes has not been as much as expected. Therefore, Ninh Hoa garlic has not yet had a pass to promote trade, connect supply and demand with food business units and enterprises.

Some households grow dried garlic and store it waiting for the price to increase instead of selling it fresh.

Through discussion, garlic farmers in Ninh Hoa town expressed that currently, people have mastered the method of cultivating garlic for high productivity and quality, but the output is still unstable. Farmers hope that the authorities and government will connect supply and demand, help Ninh Hoa garlic to be consumed in supermarkets, connect with sauce processing enterprises... to consume the product. Regarding this issue, Mr. Mai Xuan Binh said that currently, garlic is mainly sold to traders, there are no sustainable consumption contracts. The locality encourages and guides farmers to develop safe, concentrated garlic production areas, ensuring traceability to meet the increasingly high standards of consumers. From there, garlic can build a brand, farmers can develop products and connect with businesses and supermarkets in the consumption stage.

HONG DANG - HAI LANG

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/kinh-te/202503/ninh-hoatoi-duoc-mua-nhung-mat-gia-1550ffe/