Van Duc and Dang Xa are two important vegetable growing communities in Gia Lam district of Hanoi. The total area of ​​these localities specialized in vegetables is almost 400 hectares. Due to storms, pests and diseases, many families have suffered severe income losses from growing vegetables this year.

Plant lots of holes…

Mr. Nguyen Van Hoan in Dong Xuyen Village, Dang Xa Township, planted 2 acres (0.72 ha) of off-season brassicas (July to November) and harvested just half of the area at a loss of 30 million dongs. The remaining vegetables are likely to suffer similar losses, because the vegetable fields are very stunted and suffer from many pests. Mr. Hoan lamented, “The object of pests and diseases of vegetables this year is mainly whitefly. I have used many biological medicines to inject, but it is not effective, so day by day I have to watch helplessly as the vegetable field dies.”

Ms. Nguyen Thi Van (with Dang Xa Township), who planted 3 acres of cabbage, also lost 40 million Dong. Ms. Van said the people here basically only live from growing vegetables, thanks to many machines replacing hard labor, the family can produce at least 1 hectare of cabbage and vegetables, many families grow up to 4 hours to taste samples of vegetables species went some households also go to neighboring Phu Thi communities to lease more fields to grow vegetables and get rich. But this year’s vegetables have nothing to say, grow less, lose less capital, plant more and lose more capital, no house growing vegetables here does not suffer losses.

The vegetable barn in Van Duc municipality is in the same situation as Dang Xa. Mr. Tran Manh Hung lost 6 million dong by planting 4 sao cabbage, Ms. Tran Thi Hoan had nearly 3 sao cabbage and also suffered a loss of nearly 9 million dong. With almost 1 bunch of cauliflowers left, Mrs. Hoan plans to destroy and replant a new batch of vegetables.

According to Ms. Hoan, the root cause of vegetable loss is less rain, pests and diseases, slow vegetable growth, increased growing season and increased fertilization. The combined cost of production materials and labor increased 50-70% year-on-year, resulting in product cost. Households trying to keep vegetable fields are also of very poor quality, boiled vegetables take a long time to cook, they are not soft and sweet like every year, because whiteflies sucked up the juices (nutrients) in the plants, they can brought are on the market to sell it cheaply everything is broken.

“Around November last year, 1 kg of cabbage was sold in the field for 8,000-10,000 VND, this year only 1,500-2,000 VND. While the production cost of 1kg of these vegetables requires VND3,500-4,000, vegetables are suffering heavy losses,” Ms. Hoan said.

Vegetable prices go up once the harvest is over

According to local experts, the recent off-season vegetable crop failure was caused by the persistent warm, hot and dry weather favorable for the emergence and development of powdery mildew bugs. First of all, this object causes damage to cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, kohlrabi, cauliflower… Powdery mildew sucks juices from stems and leaves of vegetables at all stages of growth, causing plants to become stunted and slow to develop, vegetable fields must not be badly damaged by bugs and can harvest. However, from the beginning of December until now it has started to rain and freeze, the density of whiteflies has decreased significantly, and vegetable prices have also started to rise again.

Ms. Bui Thi Thien (Dang Xa Municipality) admitted that the price of cabbage is increasing, selling at the top is 5,000-7,000/kg (depending on whether the vegetables are good or bad). But Ms. Thien and the vegetable-growing households in Dang Xa also have no more cabbage to harvest, the rest are just new vegetable fields in the 2nd harvest, which will be sold at the end of February (calendar) next year.

Mr. Doan Ha Bang, deputy director of Dang Xa General Agricultural Service Cooperative, said that the entire community has 120 hectares of all kinds of vegetables (not to mention the rented vegetable-growing land in the outlying communities), cultivation of which is concentrated in Dong- villages. In Xuyen and Hoan Long, 95% of this area is planted with cabbage and vegetables, the planting season stretches evenly from July to November, these vegetables have either been harvested or die from pests and diseases. Currently, farmers are trying to take care of the second crop of vegetables (planted at the end of November), it is expected that vegetables will be sold in mid-February next year. Accordingly, vegetables will be scarce and expensive from now until the Lunar New Year.

Mr. Nguyen Van Minh, Director of General Agricultural Cooperative Van Duc assessed: Due to the influence of weather and pests, the last off-season vegetables have generally fallen in price. Newly planted vegetables cannot be harvested in time for Tet, so the price of vegetables will still increase. “Van Duc also grew 250 ha of cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, cabbage…. The cooperative actively directs farmers to take care of them to harvest vegetables early at a time of high prices and partially compensate for crop losses. Vegetables that were previously grown,” Mr Minh added.

According to the experiences of vegetable farmers in Gia Lam, February 2 jumps in 2023, so the cold comes late. If specialized units advise people to sow vegetables later than the annual season, the risk of damage will be minimized.