DNVN - Many durian growers in the West said that currently, off-season durian is in the harvest stage, but the price of this agricultural product is only around 35,000 - 50,000 VND/kg, at this level, it is only break-even, or even a loss...
Taking us to visit the durian garden in harvest, farmer Nguyen Van Trong (residing in Tan Phu commune, Cai Lay district, Tien Giang province) said that his family has 8,000m2 of land cultivating 150 Monthong durian trees. He has just harvested 2 batches of fruit, yielding over 4 tons, the price purchased by traders is 38,000 VND/kg, at this price, he will definitely lose money.
“Durian requires a lot of care, and the cost of fertilizer and flower treatment must be at least VND60,000 to break even or make a profit. I grow it on my own land, not rented land. Any household that rents it will definitely lose money,” Mr. Trong explained.
The current price of durian is only around 35,000 - 50,000 VND/kg, at this price it is only a break even, or even a loss .
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Long (Ngu Hiep commune, Cai Lay district, Tien Giang province), durian has been the main crop of this region for many years and this is also the main economy. Last year, durian had a good harvest and high prices, helping many households earn billions of dong, but now there are only early durians but everyone is worried because of low prices and slow consumption. "If this situation does not improve soon, in about 1-2 months when the main harvest season begins, it will be very difficult to consume and export," said Mr. Long.
Harvesting more than 8 tons of Ri6 durian early in December 2024, at a price of 110,000 VND/kg, so the profit was quite good, Ms. Cao Thi Chien's family (Tan Phu commune, Chau Thanh district, Ben Tre province) was also shocked because by the end of January this year, the price had dropped to 55,000 VND/kg. "Currently, my family still has a few tons of durian that are ready to be harvested, I don't know if the price will drop further or not," she worried.
Destroying the red tangerine and plum gardens to switch to growing this billion-dollar tree, Mr. Huynh Van Tho (Tan Thanh commune, Lai Vung district, Dong Thap province) is even more worried. He said: “A few years ago, seeing other places getting rich from durian, I destroyed the red tangerine and plum gardens to switch to growing this billion-dollar tree. In 2025, the first harvest will begin, but the price has dropped sharply, so I don’t dare to call traders to come see the garden. For now, I will focus on taking care of it and wait a few more weeks to decide how to sell it…”.
The leader of Tan Phu Agricultural Cooperative (Chau Thanh district, Ben Tre province) said that currently, in addition to the fact that durian prices are lower than the same period last year, most of the early fruiting gardens have reduced their output by 40-60% due to unfavorable weather conditions, heavy rains causing fruit set to not be as expected. This shows that the profits are not as expected, but farmers and businesses are even more worried that in the next few months, all provinces will enter the peak harvest season, with high output, will it fall into the situation of "season - market overflow - price drop".
Farmers check durian before delivering to traders .
The reason for the plummeting durian prices is due to the impact of Chinese authorities testing for Basic Yellow 2 (BY2) - a chemical that can cause cancer, when exporting durian to this billion-people market.
Previously, at the end of 2024, the General Administration of Customs of China discovered that several batches of durian imported from Thailand had yellow O residue, so on January 10, China announced the application of strict inspection measures on imported durian batches.
Accordingly, when durian enters the Chinese market, in addition to the cadmium inspection certificate (as before), it is now required to have an O yellow inspection certificate. This new regulation has caused difficulties for some Vietnamese durian exporting enterprises. Among them, some enterprises brought goods to the border gate but had to return because they did not have the O yellow certificate. Also, the slow customs clearance at the border gate has caused the domestic durian price to drop sharply.
Thai Cuong
Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/kinh-te/sau-rieng-mien-tay-rot-gia/20250219034400624
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