Cutting down thousands of hectares of fruit trees may be the best way forward for Vietnamese farmers dealing with rock-bottom prices due to massive oversupply, reported VietnamNet Bridge.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has suggested tens of thousands of hectares be cut down. Phan Huy Thong, Deputy Head of MARD’s Cultivation Department, says a rush of plantings in the last few years has meant fruit output has far outstripped demand, leaving large amounts of fruit unsold.
Lychees and longan are the two biggest culprits, and account for 45 per cent of the country’s fruit production between them. Longan are cultivated on an estimated 44,000ha.
The last 10 years have seen the area under fruit production in the north of Vietnam grow by 8.9 per cent annually, according to MARD, and the figure is even higher in the rest of the country.
Vietnam’s poor post-harvest infrastructure has also meant options to export the excess fruit are severely limited.
