For nearly a month now, in some markets and selling points, price signs for Vinh Long king oranges have been posted at 20,000 VND/3kg, 7,000-10,000 VND/kg. Some supermarkets are promoting this kind of orange at 15,900 VND/kg.
King orange prices have dropped because local orange products are only domestically consumed, while orange growing has been mainly spontaneous, not planned. In particular, in the past few years, the price of oranges has increased, sometimes reaching 35,000 - 40,000 VND/kg, so people rushed to plant them, leading to the orange area growing very strongly, exceeding the planned area. Since 2018, the Department of Crop Production has surveyed and warned about the "hot" development of orange cultivation but to no avail.
As one of the districts that grow the most king oranges in Vinh Long province, Mr. Nguyen Van Tam, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tra On district, Vinh Long province, said that in the middle of the year, the price of oranges in farmers' gardens is 10,000 VND -11,000 VND/kg and currently the price of oranges purchased at the garden is only 3,000-4,000 VND/kg.
According to Mr. Tam, due to cold weather in the North and Central regions of our country, the market has reduced consumption. In addition, the orange growing area in Tra On district has recently increased by 850 hectares, bringing its orange growing area to nearly 10,400 hectares.
Accordingly, the total orange output on this season reached about 450,000 tons. From now until Tet, the amount of oranges expected to be harvested will have been 15,000 tons, but currently, prices are low due to a sharp decrease in purchasing power, not because of being unsold.
While the price of gourmet oranges in the garden is 3,000-4,000 VND/kg, and the price of non-beautiful products is 1,500 to less than 3,000 VND/kg, not including the labor of picking and transporting, at both rescue points and online, oranges are only sold at prices from 7,000 VND - 12,000 VND/kg including shipping costs. At this selling price, farmers lose heavily.
Moreover, there is a situation when farmers do not care enough for their oranges to be stung by bees, pests, etc., leading to poor quality goods, so they have to sell them off.
In the immediate future, to support farmers growing oranges, the authorities have put Vinh Long oranges on the e-commerce platform, expected to sell about 60 tons. In addition, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vinh Long province advises people to stop planting new orange orange areas. If you have already planted it, try to continue to care for it. When the price of oranges drops too much, you can cut off the fruit, "sacrifice a crop" to nurture the tree, and when you see the price gradually increase, leave the fruit.
