After Tet, pepper growers in Gia Lai back to the pepper harvest. Compared to the same period last year, productivity and prices of pepper this year have increased, so people are so excited.
Farmers in Gia Lai are in the main pepper harvest. Due to the favorable weather this year, productivity increased by about 20-30% compared to last year. Besides, the pepper prices also increased, ranging from 80,000 – 88,000 VND/kg.
Mr. Tran Man (Hamlet 3, Ia Hlop commune, Chu Se district, Gia Lai province) has 1,000 columns cultivated organically. As early as the 7th day of Tet, his family began to hire workers to pick pepper.
Farmers in Gia Lai are excited about the high prices of pepper.
“Over the years, I have chosen to produce organically, taking advantage of agricultural waste as fertilizer to reduce production costs and improve the quality. Therefore, the yield this year is estimated at 7-8 kg/column, even 10 kg of dry pepper, an increase of about 2-3 kg/column compared to last year”, Mr. Man said.
“The harvest of my 300-column pepper garden this year is estimated at 04 kg of dried pepper/column. Before Tet, my family sold one ton of dried pepper for 80,000 VND/kg. This year’s crop is a big win, ” Mr. Luc said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Quang (Hrăi Dong I village, Nhon Hoa town, Chu Pu district) said: “My family is harvesting 300 columns of pepper. This year’s weather is favorable so pepper yield is higher than in previous years. The harvest is expected to be about one ton of dried pepper. With the price of 80,000 – 82,000 VND/kg at the beginning of the crop, my family has a good income to cover our living expenses “.
Mr. Nguyen Van Hop, Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Chu Se district, said that the district now has about 1,017 ha of pepper for business. Farmers started harvesting pepper in January 2024, especially after the Lunar New Year.
The high prices of pepper from the beginning of the crop have made growers happy.
The favorable weather and high prices compared to previous years make farmers so excited. In addition, productivity this year is also higher than last year, estimated at 3-4 tons/ha.
“The increasing price is a positive signal for pepper growers in the district. Therefore, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development recommends that farmers pay more attention to harvest when the pepper is ripe enough and dry it properly to improve quality. After harvesting pepper, farmers need to take care of plants for prevention of diseases so that the plants can increase resistance and fight well against dangerous diseases,” said Mr. Hop.
Mr. Hoang Phuoc Binh, Vice Chairman of the Chu Se Pepper Association, said that the increase in pepper prices is good for farmers and businesses to improve their incomes. However, farmers are not under pressure to sell compared to previous years. The reason is that the prices of coffee and durian increased last year so people have a stable source of income.
“It is forecast that the pepper prices in the coming time will increase further due to the shortage of supply. This is the motivation for people to link with pepper production enterprises in the direction of organic and export standards to improve economic value “, Mr. Binh said./.