These days, farmers in Gia Lai are entering the pepper harvest. Although pepper prices are higher than the same period last year, due to a deep decrease in productivity, many households continue to face difficulties.
Productivity plummeted
As noted by the PV in the “pepper capital” Chu Se-Chu Puh, the atmosphere of the harvest took place quite quietly, no longer the bustling scene like in the years of good harvest and good price. Even in order to save costs, many households do not dare to hire workers but harvest by themselves.
The main reason for this situation is that pepper prices have continuously dropped deeply in recent years, so people limit investment or neglect their gardens, leading to a sharp decrease in productivity. In particular, many pepper gardens in these two districts were “wiped out” due to diseases and drought. Specifically, Chu Puh district currently has just over 1,500 hectares of pepper, a decrease of nearly half compared to the period 2015-2016; Chu Se district has 2,248 hectares, down about 1,000 hectares compared to before.
With 4,000 pepper posts, in the past, every time he entered the harvest season, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Hoa (Hoa Tin village, Nhon Hoa town, Chu Puh district) had to run around looking for workers. However, in recent years, the pepper garden has gradually died down due to diseases and drought, currently there are only more than 300 pillars. This area of pepper because there is no money to reinvest, it is also old and has low productivity. To save costs, Mr. Hoa does not hire workers but harvests pepper himself.
4,000 pepper pillars of Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Hoa’s family (Nhon Hoa town, Chu Puh district) gradually died due to disease and drought. Photo: Quang Tan
“With the current yield and pepper price of about 52,000 VND/kg, if hiring workers to harvest, it may not be enough to pay wages. These 300 pillars must have earned more than 5 quintals, selling not enough to pay the bank interest, but not daring to think about the growing loan amount. Currently, I still owe the bank more than 600 million. With a situation like this, I sometimes have to sell my house to pay off my debt,” said Hoa sadly.
Similarly, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hau’s household (Hang Ring village, Chu Se town) used to have more than 1,000 pepper posts but gradually aged and died due to disease and drought, now there are only about 500 pillars. “Because there is no money to reinvest, the pepper garden is stunted and produces very little fruit. Expected this crop, I only get about 1 ton, down more than 50% compared to the previous crop. At the current price, it is not enough money to spend as well as pay bank interest, “- Ms. Hau said.
Sadness due to the sharp decrease in pepper productivity is also the mood of Mr. Le Hung (An Dien village, Ia Blang commune, Chu Se district). His family has 3 hectares of pepper (equivalent to 6,000 pillars). Last season, he harvested more than 15 tons. However, this year, Mr. Hung is estimated to collect less than 10 tons.
Mr. Hung said: “Price of pepper in recent years has been low, especially in the beginning of 2020, the price has dropped to a record low, sometimes only 35,000 VND/kg. Therefore, people almost only invest in moderation to maintain the orchard, leading to a decrease in productivity year by year. Hopefully pepper prices will rise again in the near future so that we can partly reduce difficulties as well as have money to reinvest and repay bank loans.”
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Hop, Head of Chu Se Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, pepper plants do not appear to have fast-dead or slow-dead diseases like before. However, pepper prices in recent years have always been low, causing farmers to face many difficulties and have no money to reinvest. As a result, pepper productivity is continuously decreasing. It is expected that pepper productivity of the district in this crop will decrease by about 20% compared to the previous year.
Mobilizing farmers to associate production with processing
Talking to PV, Mr. Hoang Phuoc Binh, Permanent Vice Chairman and General Secretary of Chu Se Pepper Association, commented: Currently, almost all pepper reserves in the population as well as agents have been exhausted. Meanwhile, it is estimated that the national pepper output will decrease by about 30% compared to the previous crop.
Currently, the big enterprises of the city. Ho Chi Minh City is starting to buy goods to reserve for export. Therefore, this time began to appear the situation of demand exceeding supply. Due to a lack of supply, pepper prices have started to rise again and are expected to increase sharply in the near future.
According to the head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Chu Se district, the district’s orientation in the coming time is not to develop more pepper areas. However, the district also recommends that people should keep the existing pepper area. In case you want to change crops, you need to choose the type suitable to the soil and climate to promote the advantages of the region. At the same time, the district will continue to propagate and mobilize people to join the chain of production in the direction of organic in order to gradually improve the value and brand of products, increase competitiveness, and create stable output for the agricultural sector. this item.
According to Mr. Nguyen Long Khanh-Deputy Head of Department in charge of Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Chu Puh district, over the past time, the district has built linkages in the model of cooperative groups and cooperatives to reorganize production on key crops. energy such as pepper, coffee, fruit trees…
For areas of pepper that have died due to disease or old age, the district will guide people to switch to planting crops suitable to local climate and soil conditions such as fruit trees, vegetables associated with chain link to produce stable output. In particular, the district will support the building of cooperatives strong enough to organize the association of pepper production in an organic and sustainable direction as well as call on businesses to participate in the linkage chain in order to consume products for consumers. farmers with stable prices.
Regarding the pepper production industry, Mr. Doan Ngoc Co, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said: The whole province currently has 13,673 hectares of pepper, of which there are nearly 12,582 hectares of business, the rest is in the process of basic construction. and new planting. The average annual output of pepper is about 47,260 tons.
Although in recent years, pepper prices have been low, many areas have died due to diseases and droughts, but pepper is still one of the main crops of the province. Therefore, over the past time, the province’s agriculture sector and localities have focused on mobilizing people to develop production in an organic and sustainable way. Up to now, the province has more than 200 hectares of pepper produced according to standards such as VietGAP and Organic. Many pepper areas have also been applied water-saving irrigation technology.
“In order for pepper to develop sustainably, in the coming time, the Agriculture sector determines not to expand the area. Instead, the industry will focus on mobilizing people to maintain and stabilize the pepper area from 12,000 ha to 13,000 ha. At the same time, continue to promote the building of production links between farmers and cooperatives and enterprises associated with deep processing to create high quality products for export and domestic consumption; focus on guiding people to produce according to standards and deep processing, in which great attention is paid to traceability, promote advertising, trade promotion, step by step improve Gia Lai pepper brand , Deputy Director of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development added information.
According to the Quang Tan (Gia Lai Online Newspaper)
