Traders come to the field to deposit

These days around “prime” Covering” of watermelons in Krong Pa district (Gia Lai province), workers from Phu Yen and Binh Dinh provinces come to work and harvest melons, making the atmosphere here busier and busier than usual. On all roads, hundreds of trucks are busy, to drive to the fields to transport melons for consumption. Merchants also rushed to the fields to deposit and shop for the people. For melon growers, a smile appeared on their lips when there was a successful harvest that yielded hundreds of millions of Dong /ha.

According to many melon growers, the reopening of the Chinese market in recent days has helped push the price of melon 2-3 times higher than in the first days of the year. Currently, traders are coming to the field to buy at a price of VND 220 million/ha. Even in unharvested watermelon fields, traders are willing to pay a deposit of VND 300 million/ha.

In the Buon Du melon field (Ia Mlah commune, Krong Pa district), Mr. Dang Van Cong (resident in Tay Son district, Binh Dinh province) calculates the books of the melon harvest that has just been sold to traders. Accordingly, his family’s melon field of almost 2 hectares with a yield of 40 tons/ha was bought by traders for VND 220 million/ha. Mr. Cong said that this year, investment costs of land rent, fertilizer and labor have increased, with each hectare costing about VND 140 million on average. However, with a selling price of VND 220 million/ha, the family still made a profit of VND 150 million in an area of ​​nearly 2 hectares.

“This year, the bad weather didn’t make the quality of my watermelon good, so the selling price was not as expected, only about VND8,800/kg. While other melon fields have good quality, fruits of 4kg or more, traders are willing to buy them at VND 12,000/kg,” said Cong.

On the way to Phu Can Township, where there is a large area for watermelon cultivation of 187 hectares, mainly people from Binh Dinh and Phu Yen provinces rent land. Here, too, the harvest is urgent when the price of melons rises.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Vinh from Tay Son District, Binh Dinh Province went to Phu Can Municipality to lease 4 hectares of land for growing watermelon at a price of VND 23 million/ha. Due to the location of the family’s melon cultivation area near the alluvium of the Ba River, the fruit quality is very good, the yield is around 40 tons/ha. Along with the current selling price of about VND12,000/kg, Mr. Vinh’s family has made a significant profit.

“Last year, the family’s watermelon business suffered a loss due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, which led to the closure of the Chinese market. Currently, China is open, so the demand for watermelons has increased, which has caused the price to be several times higher than last year. This bodes well for watermelon growers like us,” says Vinh.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha, a trader who buys watermelons from Tay Son district in Binh Dinh province, is also busy in the fields of Krong Pa district to buy watermelons for the people. According to Ms. Ha, the opening up of the Chinese market has led to a sharp rise in the price of domestic watermelons. For normal melon fields, traders buy about 220 million VND/ha.

“We are currently negotiating with unharvested melon fields who are willing to pay down payment for the purchase at the price of 300 million dongs/ha provided the melons are of good quality,” Ha said, saying that on average she buys each harvest and consumes about 3,000 tons of watermelons.

According to Ms. Ha, the price of watermelon is rising because the domestic market and China are consuming very well, so traders are willing to take the lead in raising the purchase price for people. At present, traders buy melons for people mainly for export to the Chinese market and a few for domestic consumption, concentrated in the northern provinces such as Hai Duong, Hanoi, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An…

Still have to be careful

Remember last year’s watermelon crop closed due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic in China, the price was only VND 2,000 / kg, even traders did not buy, melon growers suffered heavy losses. On the other hand, the price of melon rises and falls day by day, hour by hour, although China is now open for the market very precarious.

Nguyen Xuan Tung (An Khe City, Gia Lai Province) just harvested a 7.5 ha watermelon field with a price of VND 230 million/ha and still regrets that the selling price is still low. Just a few days later, the watermelon price has risen to over 300 million VND/ha.

Although he regrets it, Mr. Tung still feels comforted when this year’s melon harvest brings his family a profit of nearly VND 90 million/ha. This partially compensated for the loss of last year’s watermelon harvest, when the price was low, traders almost didn’t come to buy.

Mr. Tung prepared the clean-up work to move to Phu Yen to prepare for the next watermelon harvest, saying his family continues to invest in watermelon cultivation despite the volatile price and market. Because according to Mr. Tung, his family is originally a farmer, and he himself has been involved in melon cultivation for more than 10 years, so he has a lot of experience. On the other hand, growing watermelon is more profitable than rice and tapioca.

The watermelon “capital” of Krong Pa district has almost 1,000 hectares with a production of more than 40,000 tons, which is most concentrated in the communities of Dat Bang, Ia Mlah, Phu Can, Ia Rsai…

Mr. Vo Ngoc Chau, chief of agriculture and rural development of Krong Pa district, said that the price of watermelon rose to 18,000 VND/kg before the Rabbit New Year, but dropped sharply to 3,000-5,000 VND/kg after Tet. kg. At present, the price of watermelon has risen again to about 300 million VND/ha, in some places nearly 400 million VND/ha with big fruit and good yield.

“In recent years, watermelon prices have not been stable due to dependence on the Chinese market. Therefore, the locality also advises caution, so that mass production on the market gets into trouble. Also, people have to produce according to the technical process, otherwise the yield will not be achieved,” Chau said, saying that it is difficult to advise people to grow melons because most of the people in Binh Dinh Phu Yen came to land for plants for rent.

Mr. Ho Van Thao, chairman of the People’s Committee of Krong Pa District, said the acreage of melons in the area is very large, but it is not a main crop because it is not sustainable. However, if there is a good season and a good price, farmers will make huge profits. The fact that people from Binh Dinh and Phu Yen come here to grow watermelons partly helps the local economy develop and services become more lively. In addition, the leased land for growing melons helps local people earn more income from land lease, an average of 20-22 million VND/ha in just 3 months.