Cambodian farmers in Kampong Speu province encounter difficulties due to a steep drop in the prices of mangoes destined for export, as they are compelled to sell their mango products to Vietnamese merchants and export them to Vietnam at low prices, rather than to Chinese merchants because they set standards beyond the reach of farmers, causing huge losses to them, as well as their failure to pay for chemical fertilizers.
The farm Owner has mentioned for this year, her mango plantation is not profitable and the resale to traders is cheap, it should not be, because her farm is next to the main road, it should be more valuable.
According to the press, it should be expensive, everyone hopes it gets more valuable because there are many markets such as China, Korea, but in the end, it is not like what we expected. Selling mangoes don’t repay for the chemicals.
For the Vietnamese market, there is not much selection of mangoes, but the Chinese market is very selective. China buys 2 or 3 mangoes that weigh 1 kg, if not, they do not buy it, so farmers try their best to take care of the farm to meet the needs of the China market. There was a problem when the time to harvest mangoes came, so the farmers lost money because the Chinese did not buy their mangoes as the mangoes did not meet the set standards, so they were forced to throw away the mangoes.
Farmers are affected by business with China, it is very difficult. I am the owner of the plantation. I face a little bit of a problem because I have contracted with the farmer, the farmer is the one who gets the most relief, he doesn’t take care of it, buy fertilizer or pay the workers.
Last year, I leased my farm to a farmer. On harvest day the price was very low, so he ran away and didn’t give me any money. Previously, I could earn between $10,000 to $20,000, but today I only earn $500, so this year I planted only 3/10 of the whole plantation.
I am a farmer who contracted his farm, today is the day to harvest, but farmers like us do not sell for profit, we sell to getting back some money. It is very cheap.
When the Ministry of Agriculture advertised, mangoes were at good prices, but today mangoes sell for only $0.035 per kilo.
No Chinese came to buy our mangoes; they buy when our mangoes are clean and look nice.
It is complicated to do business with the Chinese because before they contract with us, they come to check 1 or 2 times, and each time, it takes many days to get the feedback. We can’t wait for the Chinese, if we wait, mango will ripen, so we will have to sell to Vietnam instead of china.
My mango depot name is Fulong. We buy mangoes and export them to China, Quang Shie province. Some days we export 20 to 60 tons of mangoes. We buy mangoes which are clean and look nice. The standard mangoes are glossy yellow and 2 or 3 mangoes weigh 1 kg.
If the Chinese border opens, the mango market will get good prices and farmers will be happy
Covid-19 has hit the business hard. Now, the Chinese border is closed, and in North China, all supermarkets do not accept mangoes from abroad, so it affects me.
Source: A24 News Agency
