Gia Lai pepper production failure
Farmers in Gia Lai Province are incurring huge losses, up to VND4trn (USD172m), as their pepper trees keep dying.
69-year-old Van Viet Sy said, "Men go to big cities like Binh Duong and HCM City to find jobs to pay bank loans, leaving behind women, children and elderly people."
Sy said he used to hire 20 people to pick the pepper alone. But most of his pepper garden had died, causing about VND3bn (USD128,500) losses. The surviving pepper trees are weak and may die soon. His brother, Van Viet Nhan, had to give up his newly-built house as collateral for bank loans and left for Binh Duong after the pepper trees died.
Before 2015, a kilo of pepper was sold for VND200,000 (USD8.57) to VND250,000. The growers earned huge profits and the living standards shot up greatly. The pepper trees started dying in 2015 and in 2016, a vast majority of trees died. In 2018, a kilo of pepper is sold for VND47,000.
90% of the growers in Ia Blu Commune are up in debts with the banks. Some borrowed from VND200m (USD8,570) to VND2bn to grow and try to revive the pepper trees but it proved to be fruitless.
A local named Vui still decided to spend all of his money to buy land located a bit far away to grow pepper trees. At first, the peppers grew up well but died mysteriously on harvest day. The growers in Gia Lao have borrowed a total VND4.38trn for the pepper gardens. 8,104 households in Chu Puh borrowed VND1.5trn. Some had to borrow money from black market to pay bank debts.
The locals are trying to sell their houses and the children can't go to school. If there is no solution then in the next two years, most people will forfeit their land to the banks and move elsewhere.
Hoang Phuoc Binh, vice president of the Chu Se-Gia Lai Pepper Association, said "Firstly, the farmers must stop growing peppers for at least five years."
According to Binh, world pepper supply has surpassed demands. Binh suggested investing in other trees such as avocado and coffee trees. Binh said since the pepper prices fell, farmers stopped investing and caring for the pepper trees. As the result, disease spread and destroyed the trees.
There are many causes for the mass tree die-off including climate change, sub-standard seeds, wrong cultivation methods and price falls. As the result, Gia Lai authorities can't declare the case as a natural disaster.
Truong Phuoc Anh, director of Gia Lai Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the farmers should burn the dead trees and clear the land from excessive pesticides and fertilizers. Nguyen Hai Son, vice head of the State Bank of Vietnam branch in Gia Lai asked the banks to extend the deadlines or lower interest rates to help the farmers.
Pepper trees keep dying in Gia Lai
69-year-old Van Viet Sy said, "Men go to big cities like Binh Duong and HCM City to find jobs to pay bank loans, leaving behind women, children and elderly people."
Sy said he used to hire 20 people to pick the pepper alone. But most of his pepper garden had died, causing about VND3bn (USD128,500) losses. The surviving pepper trees are weak and may die soon. His brother, Van Viet Nhan, had to give up his newly-built house as collateral for bank loans and left for Binh Duong after the pepper trees died.
Before 2015, a kilo of pepper was sold for VND200,000 (USD8.57) to VND250,000. The growers earned huge profits and the living standards shot up greatly. The pepper trees started dying in 2015 and in 2016, a vast majority of trees died. In 2018, a kilo of pepper is sold for VND47,000.
90% of the growers in Ia Blu Commune are up in debts with the banks. Some borrowed from VND200m (USD8,570) to VND2bn to grow and try to revive the pepper trees but it proved to be fruitless.
A local named Vui still decided to spend all of his money to buy land located a bit far away to grow pepper trees. At first, the peppers grew up well but died mysteriously on harvest day. The growers in Gia Lao have borrowed a total VND4.38trn for the pepper gardens. 8,104 households in Chu Puh borrowed VND1.5trn. Some had to borrow money from black market to pay bank debts.
The locals are trying to sell their houses and the children can't go to school. If there is no solution then in the next two years, most people will forfeit their land to the banks and move elsewhere.
Hoang Phuoc Binh, vice president of the Chu Se-Gia Lai Pepper Association, said "Firstly, the farmers must stop growing peppers for at least five years."
According to Binh, world pepper supply has surpassed demands. Binh suggested investing in other trees such as avocado and coffee trees. Binh said since the pepper prices fell, farmers stopped investing and caring for the pepper trees. As the result, disease spread and destroyed the trees.
There are many causes for the mass tree die-off including climate change, sub-standard seeds, wrong cultivation methods and price falls. As the result, Gia Lai authorities can't declare the case as a natural disaster.
Truong Phuoc Anh, director of Gia Lai Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the farmers should burn the dead trees and clear the land from excessive pesticides and fertilizers. Nguyen Hai Son, vice head of the State Bank of Vietnam branch in Gia Lai asked the banks to extend the deadlines or lower interest rates to help the farmers.
Leave your comment on this story