The price of many agricultural products has dropped by almost 80% in the Mekong River Delta, Vietnam’s largest agricultural region where over 70% of the country’s fruit production is produced.
The pomelo season in Vietnam is at its peak right now. In Vinh Long province, Binh Minh is the largest growing region for Nam Roi pomelos with an average annual crop of 23,000 tons. Before the region’s fourth wave of COVID-19 infections this year, Nam Roi pomelos were selling for up to 14,000 Vietnamese dong ($0.44-0.62) per kilogram in April.
Currently, they sell for about 2,000-9,000 dong ($0.09-$0.40) per kilogram. Prices have fallen to 10-year lows, according to local growers who haven’t been able to pay for fertilizer, pesticide, and labor.
In addition, many local specialty fruits are now at a much lower price. The wholesale price of rambutans is only 5,000–6,000 dong ($0.22–0.26) per kilogram, while that of longans is 6,000–30,000 dong ($0.26–1.32) per kilogram, two to three times lower than before the fourth wave of COVID-19.
Export prices for purple sweet potatoes have also plummeted. The price of 60-kilogram packages of purple sweet potatoes in Vinh Long province’s sweet potato growing region of Binh Tan was 1 million dong ($43.95) prior to the Lunar New Year in February. Currently, export prices are just 155,000–165,000 dong ($6.79–7.03) per 60 kilograms, down by 85%.
Several times over the past few months, China has temporarily suspended Vietnamese agricultural imports, leading to drops in purple sweet potato prices, says the head of a local purple sweet potato cooperative. There are even reports that many growers are temporarily ceasing to plant sweet potato crops, as it will likely take some time for the effects of the epidemic to subside.
Vietnamese agricultural exports to China have declined rapidly in the second half of this year. VinaFruit general secretary Dang Phuc Nguyen reports that Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports to China have been decreasing steadily at an average rate of 15% per month since May of this year. The dragon fruit sector has been particularly hit hard.
