Farmers supported to consume agricultural products

Positive signals

In the first 6 months of 2021, the province's agriculture, forestry and fishery sector has a stable and quite comprehensive development. Total cultivated area reached 477,706 hectares, the average yield (dry) was estimated at 64.3 quintals per hectare, output 1,722,961 tons, reaching 63.8 percent of the plan (2.7 million tons), equaling 102.9 percent over the same period in 2020. Most of the main crops have yield, output exceeded the plan, increased quite compared to the same period in 2020. Some key fruit trees such as dragon fruit, lemon, so on are now in the crop. harvest.

It is estimated that the output of dragon fruit harvested in August and September will be more than 46,000 tons; Lemon production will also be more than 10,000 tons in the next 2 months. However, due to the Covid-19 epidemic, production and consumption of some agricultural products faced many difficulties. The price of agricultural products decreased by 30-40 percent; the price of materials for production increased by 10-15 percent; labor cost, transportation cost is 5-7 times higher.

It is expected that after the "green channel", the transportation of goods is favorable, the price of dragon fruit will increase

Director of the Department of Cultivation - Plant Protection and Quality Control of Agricultural Products - Nguyen Van Cuong said: “Through surveying and obtaining information from cooperatives, the price of vegetables, tubers and fruit is currently increasing from 1,000 - 3,000 VND per kilo compared to the time before social distancing, consumption increased due to increased demand; Consumption market is mainly at convenience stores, Co.opMart, etc., so it is not affected much when wholesale markets in Ho Chi Minh City are temporarily closed.

However, dragon fruit and lemon are much affected because the consumption market is mainly foreign; Meanwhile, the transportation faced many difficulties, so traders did not buy, leading to a decrease in the price of dragon fruit and lemon compared to the same period last year. The shrimp that are most affected by the shrimp consumption market are mainly wholesale markets in Ho Chi Minh City, but all of these markets are closed due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic.

According to information from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), not only Long An has difficulty in consuming agricultural products, but also southern provinces and city are affected. Following the direction of the PM, the MARD issued Decision No. 3149/QD-BNN-VP, dated July 18, 2021 on establishing a working Group (WG) to direct production, connect to supply and consume agricultural products in southern provinces and city in the context of the Covid-19 epidemic (referred to as WG 970) led by Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam.

As of July 25, 2021, there are 388 focal places providing agricultural products and foodstuffs registered with the WG of the MARD, including vegetables, tubers, fruits, aquatic products, foodstuffs, etc. Particularly in Long An has 27 focal places providing agricultural products and foodstuffs registered with the WG of the MARD.

Tan Long Agricultural Service Cooperative prepares to harvest sweet potato buds. Currently, 2 companies have contracted to buy in the field (Illustrated photo)

Director of Tan Long Agricultural Service Cooperative  (ASC) (Hung Ha commune, Tan Hung district) - Hoang Dang Tan shared: “Currently, the cooperative is about to enter the stage of harvesting sweet potato buds, an average of 2-3 ton per day. Some cooperative members who grow water lily and raise egg-laying ducks are also entering the harvesting stage. In the difficult situation of agricultural product consumption, after the MARD registered the focal places for consuming agricultural products, the cooperative registered to find a stable output. After registration, two companies registered to buy sweet potato buds and water lilies in the field for 6,000 VND per kilo, duck eggs are at market prices.

Chau Thanh district is harvesting dragon fruit in the main crop, the output is estimated at 15,000 tons. In the past few days, due to the influence of the Covid-19 epidemic, the price of dragon fruit is very low, white flesh dragon fruit is only from 2,000 - 3,000 VND per kilo, red flesh dragon fruit is from 3,000 - 6,000 VND per kilo. However, since the registration of priority vehicles operating on the "green channel", it has created favorable conditions for many companies and cooperatives to purchase and transport agricultural products, contributing to raising prices for agricultural products.

Chairman of the Provincial Dragon Fruit Association - Nguyen Quoc Trinh shared: "Currently, the Provincial Dragon Fruit Association encourages cooperatives, companies and businesses to register for the "green channel" to ensure convenient and fast transportation of goods. Through the survey, many units have the need to buy dragon fruit with the lowest price of 10,000 VND per kilo, but the transportation is difficult. Up to now, some cooperatives have registered for the "green channel", so it is expected that the price of dragon fruit will increase, the consumption will be more stable".

There are still many difficulties

According to information from the Division of Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD ) of Thu Thua district, the district has many types of agricultural products such as rice, lemon, so on and some aquatic products such as frogs, fish, so on are entering the harvesting stage. Because the district is implementing social distancing, it greatly affects the output of agricultural products. Currently, the selling prices of these agricultural products have decreased by nearly half compared to the same period. Facing that situation, the district departments, branches and branches have stepped in to support people to consume but the quantity is not significant.

In this season, many lemon growers in Thanh Hoa district also lost revenue because the consumption stage was congested. According to the Head of the Division of ARD of Thanh Hoa district - Nguyen Kinh Kha, there are more than 600 hectares of lemons in the district and most of them are in the fruiting stage. Due to the impact of the epidemic, the price of lemons decreased, only about 3,000-5,000 VND per kilo, down 8,000 VND per kilo compared to before. “Although in this crop, people actively removed the fruit because it was difficult to consume, but the output of lemons in the harvest season is also quite large. The district's agriculture sector and related departments and branches are actively contacting purchasing businesses to find output for agricultural products"- Mr. Kha added.

Many frog-feeding farmers in Tan Thanh are also facing difficulties in the market

Many households raising frogs in Tan Ninh commune, Tan Thanh district are also facing difficulties in consumption. Mr. Nguyen Van Thoi (Kenh Bich hamlet, Tan Ninh commune) shared: “Nearly 10 tons of commercial frogs of my family have passed the date of sale, but I have not been able to contact the traders. Most traders refuse to buy due to difficulties in transportation. The longer this situation continues, the worse my family's loss will be. Hopefully, the local government will soon have a solution to support farmers to consume frogs".

Deputy Director of the Department of ARD - Dinh Thi Phuong Khanh informed that the consumption of agricultural products in the province during the time of social distancing is facing many difficulties. Along with that, the rice-processing enterprises in the area could not perform "3 on site" so they had to temporarily stop operating. Meanwhile, traders, boats and ships from other provinces to purchase and transport are also very limited due to the epidemic situation. To support farmers, the Department has announced a hotline to receive and process information on production, harvesting and consumption of agricultural products in the province.

Lemon growers leave less fruit, but the yield is still high (Illustrated photo)

“In order to contribute to promoting the production and consumption of agricultural products during the time of the Covid-19 epidemic, the province's agriculture sector has set a goal to prioritize the domestic market through connecting the purchase of agricultural products among localities, businesses and farmers in order to reduce the output burden of agricultural products. Provincial Agriculture Sector continues to actively do well in advising the Provincial People's Committee, coordinating with provincial and local departments, agencies and sectors to have more effective solutions in the production and consumption of agricultural products, in which focusing on promoting apply the process of granting planting area codes; quarantine, build and replicate chain linkage models, closed food safe agricultural product supply chain models, etc., in order to contribute to stabilizing prices and finding a more sustainable agricultural product consumption market for farmers in the near future", added Ms. Dinh Thi Phuong Khanh./.

Shrimp-feeding farmers face many difficulties due to the temporary suspension of consumption at wholesale markets in Ho Chi Minh City

Deputy Director of Department of ARD - Dinh Thi Phuong Khanh

By Staff – Translated by Duc Tam 

Source: https://baolongan.vn/ho-tro-nong-dan-tieu-thu-nong-san-a119147.html