50,000 VND per kg of fresh areca nut

These days, throughout the countryside and mountainous areas of Quang Ngai province, traders are bustling to buy fresh areca nuts (with stems and fruits). Currently, the price they buy per kilogram at the garden is about 50,000 – 55,000 VND.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Chi, a trader in Nghia Hanh district, said that the price of areca nuts depends on the supply and the Chinese market – the main consumer of this item. After purchasing at the garden, traders will transport the nuts to the collection point, separate the nuts from the stems and dry them. Normally, 7-8 kg of fresh nuts will produce one kg of dried areca nuts, which are then exported to China to make candy.

This fruit is usually most expensive during Tet due to high demand, over 100,000 VND per kg, and then gradually decreases. In the summer, the price of areca nuts is around 10,000 VND per kg, but this year it has continuously increased.

At the end of April, this fruit was around VND25,000 per kilogram and doubled in June, to VND50,000-55,000. This is about five times higher than the same period last year.

“The price of areca nuts has increased, but traders are still competing to buy them because they are afraid of losing their relationship with the gardeners. This also poses risks when prices in China fluctuate,” said Ms. Chi.

However, gardeners earn a significant income when areca prices increase. Ms. Tran Huyen Thanh (Hanh Duc commune, Nghia Hanh district) said that each bunch of areca weighs about 3-5 kg ​​and can be sold for 200,000 VND. Ms. Thanh earned about 8 million VND after selling 40 bunches of areca in her garden.

According to traders, Quang Ngai is still not the locality with the highest purchasing price. In Dak Lak, each kilogram of fresh areca nuts sold in the garden is up to 75,000 VND with beautiful, good quality fruit.

Areca palms in Quang Ngai are grown by people in small-scale gardens, so the agricultural sector does not have statistics for the whole province. In the mountainous district of Son Tay – known as the land of thousands of areca palms – the area planted is about 1,000 hectares.

Mr. Pham Hong Khuyen, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Son Tay district, said that the price fever has caused traders to come to buy areca nuts at many gardens in the district. However, this fruit has not entered the main harvest season due to the colder weather than in the plains, so some areas have been harvested prematurely.

According to him, areca trees bring good income to people in mountainous areas like Son Tay, but the output depends on the Chinese market. “Hopefully in a month when the main crop season begins, the price will still be high so that people can have a good harvest,” said Mr. Khuyen.