Tien GiangTraders hire “storks” to go into the garden to hunt for scarce durians at a price of 135,000-145,000 VND per kilogram.
The durian “capital” of Tien Giang these days is bustling with workers entering the garden to harvest. After picking durians, they will be carried or pushed by wheelbarrow to the gathering point. Because the country roads are narrow, durians continue to be put in baskets, transported by motorbike to the main road, and loaded onto trucks to be transported to the warehouse for classification.
Once the durian is picked, it will be carried from the garden to the gathering point. Image: Hoang Nam
At the beginning of the off-season, durian output is still limited, so a week before harvest, local traders go to the garden to place a deposit to buy at a price of 135,000-145,000 VND per kilogram.
Mr. Phan Minh Quan, a trader in Cai Lay town, said that every day, his warehouse buys 2 to 5 tons of durian in Cai Lay, Cai Be and Cho Lach (Ben Tre) with the highest price of 135,000 VND per kg. In addition, to have enough supply, traders also hire “brokers” who are local people to go to the garden to buy durian for a fee of 1,000-1,500 VND per kg.
Mr. Nguyen Van Linh, 55 years old (Phu Quy, Cai Lay town), said his family has 4,000 m2 (4 durians) of 8-year-old Monthong durian. In the previous two seasons, he planted durian in the wrong season with high yield, 4 durians produced about 10 tons of fruit, selling for 70,000-85,000 VND per kg. Minus expenses, his family earns a profit of 500-600 million VND per crop.
This year, due to rainy weather at night, flowering is very difficult, 4 durians only achieved an output of 8-8.5 tons. However, the supply is scarce, durian from Mr. Linh’s garden is purchased at a price of 130,000 VND per kg, nearly double the price of previous years.
“Except for the cost of medicine and care, which is about 200 million VND, my family’s profit is about 900 million VND for this case,” Mr. Linh said.
Gardeners said that in the past, durians were often grown in season. However, in recent years, the area of this crop in the region and other places has increased, many gardeners have therefore changed their “tactics” to growing off-season, even though the processing techniques are complicated and have many disadvantages. due to weather, in return it will sell at a higher price.
Mr. Vo Van Men, Director of Tien Giang Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, also acknowledged that due to unfavorable weather, durian output this season was not as good as previous years.
“Eastern durian is out of season, the off-season peak harvest is about a month away, leading to a scarcity of goods,” Mr. Men explained, explaining the high price of durian.
According to him, due to skyrocketing prices, in recent times, some places have seen farmers and traders harvesting “young” durian, which does not meet standards. Tien Giang Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection has issued many recommendations to gardeners and purchasing units not to affect the quality and reputation of local durian for immediate benefits.
Gardeners gather durians waiting for traders to weigh them. Image: Hoang Nam
Tien Giang has nearly 18,000 hectares of durian, concentrated mainly in Cai Be, Cai Lay, Chau Thanh districts and Cai Lay town. Of these, more than 10,000 hectares have yielded fruit with an average yield of 26.4 tons per hectare, an output of nearly 300,000 tons per year. Tien Giang durian has been granted 72 growing area codes with a total area of more than 2,600 hectares.
From now until January next year, farmers will harvest durian off-season with an average output of 200,000 tons.
Hoang Nam