Australian mangoes face slump, sold at cheap price

Australian mango in Cam Lam District, Khanh Hoa Province is currently entering harvest time. However, farmers are facing hardship in selling as traders limit the purchasing due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Currently, Australian mangoes are sold mainly in the domestic markets. Photo: KS.

A low record price

Cam Lam District regarded as the "capital" of mangos in Khanh Hoa Province is at the center of the main harvest for Australian mango. However, gardeners still do not want to sell the fruits despite they have been much ripening. 

According to mango growers, the reason for this situation is the absence of traders. Moreover, the purchasing price is too cheap, only a few thousand dongs per kilo-the lowest so far, so the growers cannot afford harvesting and transport. Since then, they just let the mangoes hang on the tree.

Ms. Bui Thi Kim Nao, an Australian mango grower in Bai Gieng 2 village, Cam Hai Tay Commune confirmed the above information and lamented: "It's never been as difficult as this year for Australian mangoes to be consumed. In the harvest season, we call traders to buy, but no one responds. Therefore, the gardeners just let the mango ripen like that, very bitter!”

Mangoes in Ms. Nao's family’s 3-hectare garden are currently left ripen, fallen, and deteriorated. This year is a good season, so Ms. Nao's garden has an output of nearly 100 tons. However, for more than a month now, her family has only sold part of that at a price of only VND3,000-4,000/kg. In previous years, the average price of Australian mangoes ranged from 20-30 thousand VND/kg, helping her family earn hundreds of millions of dongs.

"In this mango crop, the investment costs of fertilizers, drugs, and labor have all increased. My family invested more than VND100 million in three hectares of mangoes, but so far, we have only earned VND30 million while tens of tons are currently in stock as there is no output so far,” shared Ms. Nao.

Similarly, the mango orchard of Mr. Doan Ngoc Long, who lives in the same village, has stocked three tons of Australian mangoes because no traders come to purchase them. 

Mr. Doan Ngoc Phuoc, Chairman of Cam Hai Tay Commune People's Committee, said Cam Hai Tay is one of the communes with the largest mango area. Currently, the whole commune has about 970 hectares of mangoes, of which over 600 hectares are for planting Australian mangoes. Although this year mango has a good harvest, it is very difficult to consume due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. At the beginning of the crop more than a month ago, the price of Australian mangoes sold in buckets was about VND7,000/kg, but when the harvest started, it was only VND4,000/kg. With this price, farmers cannot earn adequately to pay for picking and transporting if they have to hire workers.

Chinese traders rarely come to purchase

According to mango garden owners in Cam Lam, Australian mangoes have been for a long time sold a small quantity in the northern provinces but mainly in Chinese markets.

However, for the past two years, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has become difficult for the fruits to consume in the Chinese markets. Especially for about two months now, mango consumption seems to be stagnant, Chinese traders rarely order to buy Australian mangoes. Since then, the barns have also stopped collecting mangoes for export to this market. Meanwhile, in the domestic market, consumers have long been unfamiliar with Australian mangoes.

The owner of Sau Vang mango barn, in Cam Hai Tay Commune, said that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chinese market "eats" mangoes slowly, so the barn is just "standstill", not knowing where to export. Therefore, growers who have entered the harvest season, are forced to sell their fruits at very cheap mainly in the domestic market.

And Mr. Nguyen Van Khiem, owner of Kim Thao mango barn, Cam Duc town (Cam Lam), said that for nearly 2 months, Chinese traders have rarely ordered the mangoes, so the output of mangoes is squashed. The Chinese traders complained the import of mangoes for sale was also at a loss, so it led to late payment to the barns.

"Currently, Australian mango barns mainly help farmers consume at domestic markets. But the domestic market has not been familiar with such fruits for a long time, so consumption is also very slow…," Mr. Khiem said.

Mr. Dang Chi Liem, Deputy Head of Agriculture and Rural Development Office of Cam Lam District, said that the district has about 6,000 hectares of mangoes, of which about 3,500 hectares are of Australian mangoes. Mr. Liem admitted that due to the impact of the Covid-19, the main Australian mango harvest this year was very difficult. 

It is known that the main Australian mango crop will last until the first days of June.

Which solution?

Khanh Hoa Department of Agriculture and Rural Development recently worked with the Agriculture and Rural Development Office of Cam Lam District to research and find solutions for the situation of hard consumption of Australian mango due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Accordingly, the department found that there are currently backlogs of about 20,000 tons of mangoes (mainly Australian mangoes), accounting for about 50% of this year's output. Due to the rainy weather, mango ripens quickly and yellow flies develop, causing damage and reducing product quality.

Mr. Le Ba Ninh, Deputy Director of Khanh Hoa Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the immediate solution is to urgently carry Australian Cam Lam mangoes to wholesale markets in neighboring provinces and Ho Chi Minh City for consumption. 

Regarding long-term solutions, it should implement guidelines and policies of the Government and Prime Minister in the field of agriculture to promote processing and consumption of agricultural products as well as plans of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on restructuring the agricultural product processing sector in the direction of improving processing capacity associated with market development until 2020 and orientation to 2030. 

 Accordingly, the province will innovate and develop production forms, build concentrated raw material areas and promote linkages and development of cooperative groups and cooperatives, attract investment from private enterprises,

In addition, it will improve the business investment environment, continue to review, abolish and reduce administrative procedures and business conditions. 

In particular, it will call for businesses inside and outside the province, especially those that have factories in the province such as Vietnam Sugar Factory and Khanh Hoa Salanganes Nest One Member State Company Limited, to invest in researching, and installing production lines for mangoes and other fruits to reduce the risks of mango consumption in the main season and increase its value.

To cope with the situation of hard consumption of Australian mangoes in the past two years, Mr. Doan Ngoc Phuoc, Chairman of the People's Committee of Cam Hai Tay Commune, expressed wishes that authorities and sectors at all levels will pay attention and support the consumption for mango farmers on area in particular, and in Cam Lam District in general.

At the same time, he suggested to build a mango processing factory in the area or a frozen warehouse to store the fruits in bumper harvest so that to help better preserve them and have a more stable output. In particular, according to him, purchasers need to pay more attention to linking with mango farmers to help stabilise output.