In the market news this week, there is no purchase of dried betel nuts. The prices are not good, and cauliflower and potatoes are not getting a good price.
Dry betel nut prices depressed without buyers
Mon State It is known that the dried betel nuts produced in Ye Township are not traded in the market, so the betel nut farmers do not get the price.
A betel nut farmer said, "Now, betel nut buyers are not doing business. They don't buy to sell, so they don't get the money, so how can those who depend on the betel nut farm continue to survive?" he said.
A farm owner said that some traders in the area paid the price of betel nuts only 2,000 kyats and bought them at a low price, causing many farmers to suffer.
A betel nut buyer said, "Now local betel nut fairs only buy local betel nut orders. They don't invest much in betel nuts to buy and store. The roads on the foreign border are also closed, so betel nuts cannot be exported, and there is almost no trade," he said.
During the military coup d'état, dried betel nuts fetched a record price of more than 10,000 kyats, but now the price is only 2,000 kyats, and traders are not trading.
More than 100,000 tons of betel nuts are produced in the region, and not only domestically, but also in India, Bangladesh, China is the main buyer.
At the Chinese border, there are few buyers of Burmese melons and the prices are not good
Due to the arrival of the Chinese melon season, the 105-mile trade zone of Muse, which is a business terminal in the northeast of Myanmar, has seen fewer Myanmar melons entering and not getting good prices, according to fruit exporters.
Burmese watermelons exported to China only cost 1,000 to 1,200 Chinese yuan per ton, compared to 2,000 to 3,000 Chinese yuan per ton in previous years.
Daw Ri Ri Khaing, who is in charge of the Muse 105 Mile Commodity Depot, said, "It's the season of melon fruit on the Chinese side, so we can't get a good price on this side. They also prioritized their own fruit, so they bought less Myanmar fruit. Also, the freshness is still far away. Burmese fruit is not very fresh when it gets there due to travel delays. The main thing is to leave their side. On my side, the fruit is not yet harvested, so there are few Chinese traders who will buy it. Also, at this price, motorists will only have to pay for the road, so the hike will be less," he said.
Currently, only one jade car enters the Muse 105-mile trade zone a day, while previously there were less than 10 cars traded per day, he added.
A watermelon trader said that because the cost of exporting watermelons to the border is high and the prices are not good, traders are losing money.
“RMB 1,000 per ton is just the cost of transportation. 15 tons per car. If 1 ton of rice is removed, 14 tons will remain. 1 ton is about RMB 1,000 to RMB 1,200. A car costs about 70,000,000. The cost until reaching the border is about 70,000,000. I'm tired of reading. Many listen for a while. Some people think that the watermelon farmers are losing and the merchants are the ones who are profiting. That is a big mistake. "We are losing more than the farmers," he said.
From January to August 2023, more than 110,000 tons of melons were exported to China, according to border trade data.
Last February 2022, due to the closure of border trade by China under the pretext of Kovid-19, watermelons were damaged and Burmese watermelon traders suffered a lot of losses.
According to the statistics of the Department of Agriculture, in the fiscal year 2019-20, there are a total of 63,885 acres of watermelons, and the total yield is about 1,269,479 tons.
In Myanmar, watermelons are grown in Mandalay, horse farm Stomach swallow It is mainly cultivated in Beilin and Chaung U townships.
Cauliflower farmers are at a loss as the price is not good
Cauliflower is also not bought this week, so it is reported that the farmers are losing money without getting a good price.
The price of cauliflower, also known as turnip, is only 70 to 90 kyats per bag at the yard market, which has decreased by almost 800 kyats compared to July.
At the end of July, due to the weather conditions, the Asia road was damaged and the cauliflower farmers did not go to the border. Cauliflower farmers suffered losses, but they planted again in the hope that the price would recover if the transportation improved, but they lost again because the price was not good, said a Cauliflower farmer from Pintaya area.
"Before the collapse of Asia Road, the price was quite good. I got a 50-pound bag for almost 900. At that time, they planted again because the price was good. The road is broken and the price has dropped 10 times. I expected the price to recover after 10 months, but it is still not good. There are no buyers for some of the plots. "The cost of planting costs more than 20,000,000 per acre, but I can't even get back 10,000,000," he said.
A greengrocer in Aung Phang said that although cauliflower is being bought locally, it is only 1 in 10 compared to July.
"Previously, at least 10 12-wheeled vehicles leave from Aung Pang in Shan Mountain every day. If there are many purchases from the border, more than 15 vehicles are released. Now I only go out once a day. Shan Mountain's flower production is more than 100,000 hours a day, but now the sales are only 1000 hours a day, so traders and farmers are losing money because farmers are no longer buying," he said.
Cauliflower is grown in the southern regions of Shan State such as Naung Nhat, Tick, What? Aung Pa, It is mainly cultivated in Pintaya and Wen Dang areas, Kachin State, It is also cultivated in the villages on the east bank of Mithila and Chindin River.
In the past few days, Southern Shan State Pin Laung Township, Due to the heavy rains in the Nung Nhat area, the farmers are having to dig up the chin (ginger) planted prematurely, and they are facing difficulties.
Potato farmers at a loss
With the arrival of Chinese potatoes in the domestic market, potato farmers are losing money because there are no foreign buyers, the farmers said.
The selling price of local potato farmers was up to 2,500 kyats per 1 pound in August, but on October 19, the price dropped to 1,200 kyats per 1 pound.
A potato farmer in Pintaya said that because the price of potatoes was not good, he stopped selling them and kept them as seeds for next year.
"When the first batch was sold, it was very good. Now the batch is losing the Cup Cup Lan. I was about to lose, so I didn't sell it anymore. Before, there were only 18,000 bags of fertilizer, and even if the price of potatoes was 1,000, there was still a profit. Now it is 90,000 bags of fertilizer, so the price of potatoes will be above 2,000. The main Chinese potatoes are very expensive. Even in Mount Shan, they eat more Chinese potatoes than local potatoes."
Farmers should grow local potatoes to meet exportable standards, and border trade authorities should preserve Chinese potatoes, said an employee of the Department of Agriculture.
"Potatoes from Shan Mountain are usually of poor quality. It's not just because of the farmers. I didn't pay attention to adding fertilizer because I didn't get a good price. If the quality is good, chin (ginger), You can buy foreign market like onion. In order to be able to export this, the border trade authorities will need to be able to restrict Chinese potatoes. That will be convenient for farmers."
In Myanmar, potatoes are mainly grown in Shan State, which is irrigated, and rain potatoes, which are grown inland. In Mandalay and Magway regions, it is also cultivated on island land and sandy creeks.
