Fruit from the Mekong Delta, Vietnam's agriculture hub, is selling poorly at lower prices as wholesales markets across HCMC close due to Covid-19.
Nguyen Van Thuan, owner of a big longan orchard in Chau Thanh District, Dong Thap Province, said his longans are ripe, but no traders have come to buy them. Prices have fallen by over 50 percent against the pre-pandemic period to VND10,000-15,000 ($0.44-0.65) a kilogram.
"I need to sell over 20 tons of longan now. This neighborhood needs to sell hundreds of tons from now to the end of this month, but no traders have come here," Thuan lamented.
Like the longans, over 1,200 tons of purple sweet potatoes grown in Hoa Tan Commune, Chau Thanh District are waiting to be sold.
Nguyen Van Duyen, chairman of Hoa Tan People's Committee, said purple sweet potatoes sold from the field go for only VND5,000-6,000 per kilogram, but that on certain days, no transaction occurs. "Farmers don’t know what to do. If this situation continues, they will surely have to throw their potatoes away," he said.
Source: Vietnam Express
