According to the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA), Vietnam's pepper export currently ranks No. 1 in the world in terms of both output and quantity; maintain competitive advantages, regulate and lead international market prices. The life of pepper farmers increased and became richer. Thousands of pepper growing households have an income of over 1 billion / year.
Vietnam continues to be the largest pepper exporter in the world
Many agricultural products export prices fell, including many export items with the largest number, second in the world but still not leading the market, on the contrary, often being pressured by customers. uncertain market. Pangasius and rice prices in recent months have been low, causing serious losses for Tra catfish farmers, and rice growers have not earned profits as expected while pepper in the last 8 years has doubled output and prices have increased to 8. times.
Farmers decide the price
Do Ha Nam, Chairman of the Vietnam Pepper Association, said that the reason farmers grow rich is because they can decide the selling price, not businesses or customers who trade in the world. Previously, farmers often sold off from the beginning of the crop, even before selling, so it was easy for traders to force prices. Prices are often pushed down low, farmers are not profitable. For now, farmers know how to store pepper and wait until the price increases to sell. Many farmers also go online to update prices as well as monitor world market developments for the most accurate decision.
It is predicted that pepper production in major exporting countries is likely to decrease significantly. For example, India has now finished harvesting with an output of less than 50,000 tons, down from expectations at the beginning of the season. Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil and Vietnam also reduced production. Expected production of pepper in the world in 2013 is 229,000 tons, down 15% compared to last year. Therefore, the upcoming world pepper prices will be difficult to reduce.
Area increased but not sustainable
Due to the high price of pepper, the new growing area in many localities has also increased “hot” (about 6,000 hectares), bringing the total area to 58,000 hectares, while the MARD's plan is 50,000 hectares. Many areas where soil conditions are not suitable for growing pepper are also planted by farmers with large areas leading to poor productivity and quality, leading to pests and diseases, and many pepper gardens die. Many households exploit the productivity thoroughly by using chemical fertilizers and pesticides to affect the sustainable development of the pepper industry.
Pepper has the largest export volume but has up to 70% exported in the form of coarse grains so the value is low. Currently, although there are many processing plants with high capacity and technology, the capacity of using and processing to create added value for export products is still limited. Marketing, trade promotion, brand promotion are also limited, lack of initiative, most of them also sell goods through intermediaries.
According to the association, the commercial activity of foreign-invested enterprises (FDI) is growing strongly. The proportion of export of FDI enterprises is increasing compared to domestic enterprises, leading to many domestic enterprises reducing export market share or shifting to export in small and odd quantities according to each shipment. To solve this problem, according to Mr. Nam, domestic enterprises need to quickly restructure and link to improve competitiveness in order to keep the market and export market share.
According to VPA, 2013 pepper output was 90,000-95,000 tons, down 21% from the previous crop. In the first quarter, nearly 40,000 tons were exported, up 23.5% over the same period last year, with an average price of 6,266 USD / ton black pepper, 8,869 USD / ton white pepper.
Nguyen Hai (Labor Newspaper)
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