Watermelon contends with a poor harvest and a price knockdown

To be stuck with rice thrips

In the last days of July, across the cement road leading through the padding fields in Duong Xuan, Thai Xuan, and Hoa Tay in Nhon Hanh commune, An Nhon district, Binh Dinh, we saw heaps of harvested watermelons covered with straw to shield them from the sun, awaiting collection and delivery by vehicles.

“As a result of the crop failure, garden owners were compelled to sell their watermelons at a loss. Even if nine out of ten watermelon garden owners fail, the remaining one may be able to recoup their investment”, according to some workers.

The majority of watermelons grown in the Nhon Hanh commune are owned by those who specialize in watermelon cultivation and sublet land spanning approximately 160 ha of the commune.

If at the end of May this year, while crossing the fields of Duong Xuan, Thai Xuan, and Hoa Tay, we observed melon field proprietors eagerly working the soil, pulling canvas, and poking holes to distribute seeds, the watermelons are now on show in these fields. However, the landscape is now starkly contrasting.

There are only about 3 hectares of unharvested melons in the field, but there is hardly any fruit to be seen, with only a few melons occasionally reclining among the desiccated, shriveled, branching tendrils and withered leaves. Then, we were informed that this year’s summer melons in Nhon Hanh are severely affected by rice thrips, resulting in a significant yield loss.

Land rent in Nhon Hanh is up to 44 million VND/ha/crop (two and a half months) more expensive than in the Central Highlands. When the plant in this crop had only two leaves, rice thrips caused the injury. When the melon tree is large, rice thrips have severely infested it and it can no longer be spared; daily injections of millions of drugs are ineffective against rice thrips.

The rice thrips consume the melon until the leaves dry out, then they consume the rope, leaving the melon plant exhausted and unable to assimilate manure for growth. The manure was spread on the beds to nourish the plants, but the plants were unable to “eat,” so the manure rendered the melons white. When a thrips-infected melon tree produces fruit, the fruit will be undersized, mushy, and infested with scabies, as Thai Thanh Binh lamented.

A watermelon harvest requires 18 hybrid cows

Binh, a watermelon cultivator, estimated that this summer’s watermelon harvest would cost him approximately 140 million VND per hectare, taking into consideration the cost of soil preparation, seedlings, fertilizer, pesticides, and labor.

This is the level of investment made when a melon plant’s illness makes it difficult for it to assimilate fertilizer, so the quantity of fertilizer is decreased. If the melon tree is robust and absorbs fertilizer well, the investment per hectare will be between 8 and 9 million VND. The level of investment is high, but if the watermelon tree produces a high yield and the fruit is heavy, the cultivator makes a substantial profit. However, this crop is a stark contrast, with watermelons failing miserably.

Although melons cultivated in Phu My district (Binh Dinh) do not suffer from thrips like those grown in Nhon Hanh, the yield is still low due to unfavorable weather conditions, ranging from 800kg to 1 ton/ha. The price of melons in Phu My is higher than in Nhon Hanh, but only by 3,500 to 4,200 VND/kg, whereas watermelons cost between 9,000 and 12,000 VND/kg last summer. This season, the melon producers in Phu My are designated public and are unable to make a profit; many households continue to incur capital losses.

In My Phong commune, the watermelon-growing region of Phu My district, there are 78ha of watermelons in the harvesting stage, the majority of which are located in the villages of Van Truong Dong and Van Truong. Since watermelons have been harvested here for nearly a month, the price has decreased by 40% compared to the same time last year.

“This year’s summer-autumn watermelon crop harvests are not as excellent as in previous years; the majority are only 800kg – 1 ton/rod, a decrease of 40 percent from last year. This year, I planted four rods of melons. Fortunately, melons have high harvests, homogeneous and attractive fruits with an average weight of 4-5 kg per fruit and a maximum yield of 1.5 tons per rod. Fortunately, when I harvested my melon field, the price increased to 4,200 VND per kilogram (previously it was only 3,500 to 3,700 VND per kilogram), allowing me to recoup my investment, as Mr. Nguyen Van Dang of Van Truong Dong Village explained.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga, a vendor in My Phong commune (Phu My district) who specializes in purchasing watermelons, stated: “At the same time last year, I purchased watermelons for 9,000 to 13,000 VND per kilogram, whereas this year I have been purchasing watermelons since the beginning of the harvest. Currently, I only pay between 3,500 and 4,500 VND per kilogram, depending on the quality. The low price of watermelons is primarily due to the difficulty of exporting to China, but watermelons must be attractive to sell readily on the domestic market.

“In this case, my land rent, plowing, and investment for 1 hectare of watermelons cost more than 180 million VND; if the watermelons generate no income, my family has lost 18 hybrid cows, as hybrid cows cost only about 10 million VND per head.” 2 years of the Covid-19 epidemic, my family lost 4 crops in a succession, lost more than 1 billion VND, only recovered a few cases, then this case lost again, making melon like wagering, losing and winning erratically,” Thai Thanh Binh lamented.