There is barely a trace left of lychees in the market as we enter August. The lychee harvest this year was one of the largest this decade. A survey of the lychee industry estimates that the production volume in Guangdong reached 1.48 million tons, which is an increase of 13% in comparison with the same period in the previous year. The harvest in some production areas was twice the volume it was last year. However, did farmers profit from such an abundant harvest?
Farmers harvesting lychees
The price of lychees in a year with an abundant harvest is significantly lower than the price in a year with a meager harvest. Although the harvest increased, so did the labor costs. Therefore, it is common in years with an abundant harvest for the increase in profit to lag behind the increase in production volume. Furthermore, many early-, mid-, and late-season lychee varieties ripened at the same time and entered the market in bulk. Not only did this complicate transport from production areas to markets, it also increased competition between lychee varieties. While the harvest was brought in, the selling price dropped below the cost price. It is easy to see that the highest price, and therefore the largest profit, was paid for lychees that arrived on the market early.
Source: southcn.com