Chili price sinks heavily, farmers forsake harvesting

According to the journalist of Sai Gon Giai Phong Newspaper, farmers in Phu My District and some midland and mountainous districts of Binh Dinh Province have entered the harvest of chilies. This year, thanks to favorable weather, chili plants give more fruits than in previous years. Because farmers harvest chilies at the same time, the price of chilies drops steeply.

In Phu My District, traders are buying bird’s eye chilies for only VND3,000-VND5,000 per kilogram while at the beginning of the season, the price was VND15,000 per kilogram. Many chili farmers even cannot find any trader to sell. Many households with a large area of chilies have to leave the ripe chilies in the field because they cannot afford to hire workers to pick them.

The representative of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Phu My District said that the growing area of chilies in the whole district this year was about 1,262 hectares, an increase of 30 hectares compared to last year. This year, the yield of chilies is extremely high, from 1 to 1.5 tons per 500 square meters. Currently, the price of chilies is too low, so the locality has reported to the higher level to find a solution to help farmers.