Vietnamese farmers lick their lips at rising lychee prices

By Ngoc Thanh, Nguyen Hoai   June 16, 2016 | 08:53 pm PT
Unlike previous years, Vietnamese lychees are fetching a tasty price at the moment, putting a smile on the faces of local farmers in the northeastern province of Bac Giang.
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Since the start of May, about 1,500 traders, both Vietnamese and Chinese, have been visiting lychee gardens to purchase the fruit.

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Lychees are harvested in the early morning and then sold the same day so that they remain fresh and delicious.

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This year, lychee output from Luc Ngan District in Bac Giang Province is estimated at 70,000 tons, down 10 percent from the previous year. This fall in productivity has resulted in rising prices, with each kilogram of lychees going for VND30,000 ($1.34).

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Truong Thi Bay, a lychee farmer, told VnExpress that the price has jumped by 50 percent from last year, and the pick of the crop are fetching double last year's prices.

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At 5 a.m., farmers have finished harvesting and take their lychees down to collection points for traders.

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Lychees are checked before they reach the collection points.

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Every day, Tran Van Hanh sells about one ton of fruit.

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Duong Lam said that this year, his family has adopted the Global GAP (good agricultural practices) standard to grow lychees, so the products meet the requirements to enter overseas markets like Japan and Australia.

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Quan, another farmer, sets off 200kg of lychees that will fetch VND6 million ($270).

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More and more people are following Global GAP standards to expand their export markets beyond China.

Related news:

> Vietnamese lychee exports grounded by conflicting inspection regulations

Vietnam's lychee farmers still look to China as main export market

 
 
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