Central Highlands: Durian trees fall all over the ground, prices drop like never before

For the first time, in Dak Lak, the price of traditional durian has dropped dramatically, only 7-8 thousand VND/kg, grafted durian fluctuates between 12-18 thousand VND/kg. Not to mention, it is harvest season but there are no traders. Cu Kuin district (Dak Lak) is implementing social distancing according to Directive 16 with many blockades related to Covid-19 cases. This is also the durian harvest season, so consumption is very difficult. Mr. Nguyen Van Nam’s house (village 8, Ea Tieu commune) has a durian garden that is in harvest season but no traders have come to buy. “This time last year, traders came to the garden to compete to buy, the price fluctuates between 40-50 thousand VND/kg. But now, I have waited forever but no one has come, I called them and they said they don’t know where to sell. I asked the houses next door to retail to the purchasing points, the price is only 15 thousand VND/kg. “After more than 10 years of growing durian, this is the first time I have seen the price drop so dramatically,” said Mr. Nam. Ms. H’Li Ka (Ea Mta hamlet, Ea Bhok commune) said that in recent days, her family and many households in the hamlet have not been able to sell any durian because they cannot go out due to the social distancing order under Directive 16. She freezes the remaining durian, but many households do not have refrigerators and have to let it fall in the garden or feed it to pigs. Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ea Tieu commune, said that the current price of durian is very low. Traditional durian costs 7-8 thousand VND/kg, grafted durian ranges from 12-18 thousand VND/kg. To facilitate farmers to sell their products, Mr. Dung lets households gather their products in one place, then use tractors to transport them to epidemic control checkpoints to sell to traders. Mr. Pham Van Khoa, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ea Ktur commune – where many places were locked down due to Covid-19 cases, said that during the lockdown, people were not allowed to leave their homes or go to the fields, so they could not harvest durian. Regarding this, the People’s Committee of the commune reported and the People’s Committee of the district issued a policy that after the epidemic is controlled, they will review and count the damage to provide support. Not only the locked down area is having difficulty selling durian, but farmers in Cu M’gar district are also “complaining” because of limited output. Mr. Dang Huy – the owner of a durian warehouse in Cu M’gar said that the buyers who got the best price were traders from the West. Last time, they had fixed the price of durian at 50,000 VND/kg, but due to the epidemic, the price was halved and they still could not be harvested. Meanwhile, Ri 6 and Dona durians must be harvested when the seeds are ripe. Mr. Huy’s durian garden was expected to yield 30 tons, but now he has to sell a few quintals in small batches. Not all of the durians were sold, the trees were covered with fallen durian, birds, squirrels, and chickens were biting and destroying them, and several tons were thrown away. “I also tried to sell to customers from other provinces, but due to the pandemic, passenger buses and trucks were not running, so I had to give up; I also could not transport the goods to Buon Ma Thuot City because there was social distancing according to Directive 16. This crop cost me more than 1 billion VND, and my plan to repay the bank loan was considered unsuccessful,” said Mr. Huy. #saurieng #covid19 #DakLak

source