Fall in sweet potato prices in Gia Lai, many people are in debt

In the past few years, many Japanese sweet potato growers have made a lot of money because of its high prices. Thus, even some people spent money to rent land to grow them. At present, there are 185 ha of Japanese sweet potato in the commune. Compared to the previous crop, this area increased by 50-60 hectares.

However, with these farmers, the dream of changing lives has not become true yet. In fact, thousands of potato fields are fed to cows and chickens because its price is too cheap now.

Farmers said: “When traders come to buy, the sweet and nice ones are sold at 3,000 VND per kg, and the small ones are at most 1 VND”. Total investment for a hectare of about 60 million, now they only get a half.

Chairman of the Commune People’s Committee said, “There are about 30 hectares of potatoes in the commune can not be harvested because no traders to buy, although the current price of potatoes has fallen very low”.

According to him, local authorities also advised farmers not to expand the area of growing potatoes in the coming years. This will help them to avoid the pressure of traders to price, causing damage to the family economy. That is the common concern of many Japanese sweet potato growers in Gia Lai.