Farmers in the mountainous region of Ha Tinh have lost their crops because the fruit known as "black gold" has had an unprecedented crop failure.

"Black gold" of the mountainous region

These days, when black plums begin to ripen, farmers are busy harvesting the fruit to sell to the market. Unlike the bustling scene of traders' vehicles going to the localities to buy black plums, this year the black plum output has decreased sharply, many families have nothing to sell, and traders rarely come to buy, causing people to be in trouble.

Black star fruit is grown a lot in Huong Son district, Ha Tinh province. Black star fruit is a woody tree, when mature it is 10-30m tall, suitable for the soil and climate in Huong Son district (Ha Tinh), producing large, dark purple fruit, with a characteristic rich, fatty, and creamy flavor, so it is chosen by many families to grow.

In the past, the canarium tree had little value. At harvest time, many places had black canarium fruits falling from the ground, but no one picked them up. Many poor families used to preserve the fruit by salting it to eat throughout the year.

In recent years, when the area for growing black plums has shrunk, the price of this fruit has suddenly increased to 130,000 - 150,000 VND/kg. In addition to its economic value, black plums also have culinary and medicinal value with a fairly high nutritional source, and are considered by people as "black gold" to help farmers in Huong Son district increase their income.

In Son Ninh commune (Huong Son district), there are about 500 black canarium trees planted by nearly 100 households. Mr. Le Ngoc Huan - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Son Ninh commune said: "Son Ninh is the locality that grows the most black canarium trees in the district, this is a perennial tree that brings the best economic benefits to the locality.

Farmers "distorted" because of crop failure

On average, each household growing canarium earns about 20-25 million VND per year, with some households growing a lot earning 80 million VND per year. However, this year, due to the hot weather, canarium productivity has dropped sharply, reaching only about 30-40% of the output compared to previous years. There are families whose canarium trees do not bear fruit, and we have never seen such a large canarium crop failure as we do now."

Looking at his family's canarium trees, Mr. Nguyen Van Han (residing in Ta Son village, Son Ninh commune) said: "This is the main harvest season of black canarium fruit. In previous years, traders were always busy running around the village to buy. However, this year, the fruit yield has seriously decreased, and traders are not interested in buying. Last year, the income from 7 canarium trees was more than 10 million, but this year it is only 4 million."

Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh's family (residing in Son Ninh commune, Huong Son) said: "My family has 8 long-standing black canarium trees. Previously, each tree yielded an average of nearly 100kg of fruit per year, with a total income of about 35 million VND per year. This year, due to the weather, the trees yielded very little fruit. Because of the low yield, it is difficult to find traders to buy. If we sell the whole garden, we will only earn 1-2 million VND. My family considers this year's canarium crop a total loss."

Although the output has decreased sharply, the price of canarium has not increased much. The average price in 2023 was 110,000 - 130,000 VND/kg, this year it has only "increased" by about 150,000 VND/kg. With this selling price, canarium growers in Huong Son district still suffer losses.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien (living in Son Ninh commune) said: "In previous years, her family hired people to pick canarium fruits at a cost of 1 million VND/day. However, this year if we continue to do so, the money from selling canarium fruits will not be enough to pay the workers, so her family will harvest directly."

Ms. Hien's husband, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hoanh (51 years old), will climb up a tall canarium tree and use a bamboo pole over 10m long, with a sickle attached to the front, to hook branches with fallen fruit to the ground. On the ground, Ms. Hien uses a basket to collect canarium.

"Every year during the black plum season, we hire people to go to the plum gardens of the commune to buy raw materials to process into salted plum and dried plum products. Last year, my facility bought about 8 tons of plum from the people, this year due to a bad harvest, we are estimated to only buy 2.5 tons.

Currently, there are many orders for canarium products, but I am afraid that there will not be enough raw materials. We try to buy quality canarium products to maintain our processing facility," said Ms. Dang Thi Khanh Ly - owner of Hung Ly black canarium processing facility in Tra Son village, Son Ninh commune.

Kim Hoa Commune, Huong Son District, Ha Tinh is also a locality with a large number of black canarium trees in Huong Son District with over 400 trees, distributed in 20 villages. Of which, the most are in the villages: Chau Lam, Hong Thuy, Trung Hoa, Hoi Son. This is the harvest season but according to the people, this year's output has decreased sharply compared to 2023.

Talking to Dan Viet reporter, Mr. Tran Quang Hoa, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Huong Son district said: "Canarium is a typical fruit of Huong Son district, currently distributed in many communes such as Son Ninh, Son Bang, Son Tien, Son Phu, Kim Hoa, An Hoa Thinh...

Black star apple is not the main economic tree of the district. However, it still provides a large source of income, contributing to promoting the local economy. This year, star apple growers have had a bad harvest, which has significantly affected their income. This is a native tree species, and after decades of planting, it can be harvested. People do not take much care of it, so they rely on nature."