According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tuyen Quang Province, the banana area in the province is now more than 2,100 hectares. Banana trees are mainly concentrated in Chiem Hoa, Yen Son and Son Duong districts, most of which are in Kien Thiet, Xuan Van, Trung Truc and Yen Son districts; Kim Binh Township, Linh Phu Township, Chiem Hoa District. So far, however, the banana area in Tuyen Quang province has shrunk because localities have massively abandoned this plant.

Dao Van Xuan’s family in Hamlet 4, Trung Truc Township, Yen Son District, previously planted 3 ha of bananas, but in recent years, the Chinese market has not imported goods, bananas are mainly harvested for domestic consumption, so the selling price is very low. Banana prices only reach 1,000 – 2,000 VND/kg, making growers unprofitable.

So in 2020 he broke off 2 ha of bananas to plant forest trees. Recently, seeing that the price of bananas was too precarious, he decided to destroy the remaining 1 hectare to switch to other crops. Mr. Xuan said that not only his family but also many other households have given up bananas to switch to other crops, so there are now almost no banana trees in the community.

At present, in Xuan Van Township, Yen Son District, there are almost no banana trees on the hills. In the past, in the heyday, the banana area here was up to 100 hectares, and many households became rich from banana cultivation. Unfortunately, the banana area in the entire municipality is currently only about 1 ha.

Mr. Trieu Ngoc Ly, vice chairman of the People’s Committee of Xuan Van Township, Yen Son District, said that compared to the peak period of up to hundreds of hectares, there are now only a few hectares of banana trees left in the villages of the township. There are two reasons why the banana area is shrinking rapidly, the first is that bananas have been cultivated for more than 10 years, many areas are affected by diseases, causing the banana garden to die prematurely. The second reason is that the Chinese market is tight, bananas cannot be sold before harvest time, low prices cause growers to lose revenue, even lose money, this is also the most important reason.

In the municipality of Kien Thiet, which is considered the capital of the Tuyen Quang banana region with more than 100 hectares, only 10 hectares are left. Now bananas are mainly grown by the people here to sell to markets like Hanoi, Vinh Phuc… and the export to China has almost stopped.

Mr Ma Ngoc Chan, chairman of the People’s Committee of Kien Thiet Township, Yen Son District, said bananas have been the main crop in recent years, bringing local people a great source of income. When the Chinese market was still open, bananas were bought at a stable price of 5,000 – 10,000 VND/kg.

But now traders only buy between 2,000-5,000 VND/kg, not only that, the acquisition is not stable. Due to the low market demand and low profitability, the company switched completely to other crops.

Faced with a sharp decline in banana acreage, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tuyen Quang Province coordinated with municipalities to proactively advise farmers to change their cropping structure accordingly. At the same time, it is also a lesson for people to succeed in product standardization and standardization to improve the quality of bananas.

But the implementation of this policy will also be difficult because the area suitable for the development of important banana areas is still small and small, and large concentrated areas have not yet been formed; The banana market for official consumption is still difficult. With the remaining areas of the village, the agricultural economy is oriented towards the focus on care, prevention and active networking of the market in order to ensure productivity and profitability.

It can be seen that the Chinese market has always been the most important and largest market for Vietnam’s agricultural products. Therefore, when this market freezes, many commodities will face consumption difficulties and the people who will suffer the most will be farmers.

It can also be seen that the municipalities must implement well the alignment of agricultural product development in accordance with the reality of the market, in order to avoid hot and massive development; Strengthening the development of agricultural products according to standards and regulations, so that agricultural products can enter difficult markets and improve their consumption and value.

On November 1, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the General Administration of Customs of China signed a protocol on phytosanitary requirements for fresh bananas exported from Vietnam to China.

On that occasion, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said that the protocol will ensure the official export of bananas, stability and sustainability while ensuring stable production and prices. This is also an opportunity for us to transform the agricultural economic structure to bring more benefits to banana farmers and to control and ensure food hygiene and safety for consumers.