Mekong Delta grapefruit prices plunge

he cost of Nam Roi grapefruit has taken a dive in recent days, leading many farmers in the Mekong Delta provinces of Vinh Long, Soc Trang, and Ben Tre to abandon their crops.

Nguyen Thanh Duoc, secretary of the My Hoa Commune Party committee in Binh Minh District, Vinh Long Province, said November 21 that a kilogram of the grapefruit recently dropped to VND2,000-3,000, just 50 percent of last year’s prices during the same period.

While prices have now moved slightly higher to VND3,200-3,500 a kilogram, farmers are still reporting losses.

This year, domestic demand for grapefruit was low while farmers saw bumper crops of the fruit. Exporting the product also met with difficulties, leading to an excess of grapefruit and the subsequent fall in prices, said Secretary Duoc.

Vinh Long Province People’s Committee has ordered the provincial Agriculture and Rural Development Department to help farmers enhance grapefruit quality, build brand names, and increase advertising to find export markets.

Tags: Vietnam agriculture, Vietnam business news, Vietnam Mekong Delta

Posted by VBN on Nov 20 2009. Filed under Agriculture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry