Sweet potatoes surpass VND 1.8 million/quintal with profit

Binh Tan is the district with the largest sweet potato cultivation area in Vinh Long Province. Farmers here have experienced hardships when foreign markets ceased importing sweet potatoes. Despite this, many farmers have continued to grow this crop over the years. This year, Binh Tan farmers are particularly excited as sweet potato prices are at a high level.

Mr. Nguyen Tan Tinh from Thanh Trung Hamlet, Thanh Dong Commune (Binh Tan District) reported that last week, his family harvested four cong (1 cong = 1,000m²) of Japanese purple sweet potatoes, with an average yield of 70 quintal/cong (1 quintal = 60kg). With a selling price of VND 1.1 million/quintal, he earned over VND 300 million. After deducting costs, Mr. Tinh profited about VND 35 million/cong.

According to Mr Tinh, this year’s unfavourable weather conditions led to more small-sized sweet potatoes than usual, yet they still sold out to traders.

“They come to the field to weigh and buy on the spot, taking everything except rotten and pest-damaged tubers. I remember last year when the price was low, I had to hold back the harvest for many days until someone bought them,” Mr Tinh shared.

Over the past month, sweet potato prices in communes like Tan Thanh, Thanh Trung, and Tan Luoc (Binh Tan District) have continuously increased.

Many farmers stated that the current price of Japanese purple sweet potatoes is VND 1.2 million/quintal, doubling compared to the same period last year. After deducting costs, farmers are earning profits of VND 400-500 million/ha. Notably, farmers have not yet harvested the crop widely at this time.

“This season, I planted 1 hectare of sweet potatoes and will harvest in about two months. Hopefully, the price will remain stable as it is now”, said Mr Nguyen Van Quoc from Thanh Trung Commune.

Ms Truong Thi Cam Mai, a trader from Thanh Thuan hamlet, Thanh Trung commune, stated that sweet potato prices have risen due to increased domestic and export demand. Meanwhile, the supply has decreased, with farmers not planting as extensively as before.

“Last year, I used to deliver dozens of tons to Chinese buyers every day. Now, it takes me about 3 – 4 days to gather an order of around 30 – 40 tons, which is less than half compared to previous years”, Ms. Mai shared.

According to Ms Mai, in recent years, there have been times when sweet potato prices were only VND 200 – 300 thousand/quintal, causing many households to suffer losses. Many have switched to planting durian, Thai jackfruit, and other fruit trees, leading to a sharp decrease in sweet potato production.

Like Mr Nguyen Tan Hue from Thanh Hung hamlet, Thanh Trung commune, who used to suffer losses of tens of millions due to sweet potatoes. After several unprofitable seasons, realizing they couldn’t rely on sweet potatoes, his family converted 3 cong of land to plant Thai jackfruit at the beginning of 2023. About 2 weeks ago, during the first harvest of Thai jackfruit, he earned over VND 10 million.

“Growing jackfruit is also easy to care for. The investment costs such as fertilizers and pesticides are lower compared to planting sweet potatoes before. Another advantage is that traders come directly to the garden to buy Thai jackfruit, so I only have to weigh and collect the money”, Mr Hue expressed.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Tan district, as of May 2024, the district has reduced the sweet potato cultivation area to 513 ha, a decrease of 286 ha compared to the same period last year. Recently, due to unstable sweet potato prices, people have switched to growing rice, and vegetables, or shifted to planting durian, Thai jackfruit, red-flesh jackfruit, and some other crops.

Ms Vo Ngoc Tho, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Tan district, stated that the sweet potato market has now recovered. However, sweet potato consumption markets increasingly demand higher quality, standards, and product appearance.

To restore production, farmers are required to change their cultivation practices and produce according to GAP (Good Agricultural Practices), organic standards, etc., to create safe food products, environmentally friendly products, and meet the increasingly stringent market requirements.

Up to now, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Tan district has collaborated with provincial specialized agencies to issue 50 cultivation area codes (CAC). Among them, 45 CACs are for export (including 42 for sweet potatoes, 1 for durian, and 2 for jackfruit) and 5 CACs are for domestic consumption (including 2 for durian, 1 for sweet potatoes, 1 for jackfruit, and 1 for watermelon).