Watermelon shortage for Tet holidays

A poor harvest in one of the nation’s main watermelon growing areas means there may be a shortage of the large juicy fruit during the coming Tet holidays.

Watermelon farms in several provinces in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta where this fruit is mainly grown have had a smaller than usual spring-winter harvest, according to senior provincial agriculture officials.

Nguyen Thi Nhu Y, head of the Cultivation Unit at Long An Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the area under watermelon cultivation in the province for this year’s winter-spring harvest was about 1,100ha , a sharp decrease in area compared to the previous years.

"Bad weather was also one of the main reasons for the smaller harvest," said Y, adding that rain and cold spells last month and earlier this month resulted in many melons rotting away.

In 2007, Long An Province grew 3,900ha of watermelon, with 1,300ha for the summer-autumn harvest, 400ha for the autumn-winter harvest and 1,100ha for the winter-spring harvest.

Annually, the province grows from 1,500ha to 2,000ha of watermelon for the winter-spring harvest, according to Y.

The productivity estimated by the department this year is about 15 to 20 tonnes per hectare, decreasing by 5 to 7 tonnes per hectare compared to last year.

The poor harvest means watermelons will be expensive during the Tet holidays, when people often include the fruit in offerings to their ancestors.

Last Tet holidays, Long An Province harvested about 40,000 tonnes of watermelon, but about 80 per cent was sold to traders in Ha Noi for exporting to China.

Y said another reason for the smaller harvest was that farmers had converted some land for melons growing into rice paddies.

"The price of rice was high last year, thus farmers grew more rice," she said.

Associations responsible for collecting watermelons from farmers and managers of the sector haven’t escaped blame for the poor harvest.

Y said collection and distribution groups as well as managers had been letting farmers down.

"They have not been helpful for farmers, who have to sell their products to traders at low prices, while consumers have to buy at high price," she said.

Watermelon farmers in the southern provinces of Tien Giang and Ben Tre have also had poor harvests.

Nguyen Van Khang, director of Tien Giang Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said farmers in the province had the same difficulties as their colleagues in Long An.

He said the area used to grow melons for the winter-spring harvest was 1,000ha, 50 per cent smaller than last year.

The price of watermelons in HCM City has already increased slightly. At Ba Chieu Market, the price of watermelons has reached VND8,500 - VND9,000 per kg (US$0.5), increasing VND1,000 compared to prices one week ago. At the Co-op Food Supermarket, the price is VND6,800 per kg.

Farmers lose out

However, farmers are not benefiting from the rising melon prices.

According to Tran Van Tu, a watermelon grower in Thanh An Commune, Thanh Hoa District in Long An Province, he only gets between VND2,300 to VND2,800 per kg. It’s the middle men who are pocketing the profits from rising prices, said Tu.

"For several years we have mainly been growing watermelons for export after the Tet holidays and we only sell a small amount during Tet," said Tu.

Source Vietnamnet