The plunge in sweet potatoes prices

From the end of February 2021, many agricultural products in the Mekong Delta region come to harvest increased in prices suddenly. This helped farmers in this area have a bountiful harvest.

Just like cassava, sugarcane, watermelon, pepper, etc... the prices of sweet potatoes increased day by day, making people in the sweet potatoes growing area very excited because of the good season and the price.

Japanese sweet potatoes originate from Japan, have a very fragrant smell.  They are also loved by many people. This also provides a high source of nutrients.

According to localities, the price of sweet potatoes in the first months of 2021 increased at the highest level compared to the past 3 years. The low supply and strong increase in the traditional consumption market have helped push up purchasing prices.

However, in May 2021, sweet potato prices are on a strong downward trend. Supply is greater than demand which is the main reason for the sweet potatoes prices drop.

A new wave of Covid-19 broke out recently, causing many difficulties for agriculture in general and the export of Japanese sweet potatoes in particular. The Chinese market is entering the harvest season, directly causing the demand to buy potatoes in the Vietnamese market. As a result, the price of this crop fell sharply.

Sweet potatoes are one of the main crops in Binh Tan District, Vinh Long. Binh Tan has 13,000ha of sweet potatoes that provide 300,000 tonnes a year to export to Japan and South Korea.

Besides the Japanese market, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development sought to export sweet potatoes to China as demand for potatoes in this market has risen sharply in recent years.

In early November 2020, Vinh Long Province People's Committee approved the plan to develop a sweet potato supply chain to promote the products to international markets and to boost exports to China.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vinh Long province, the prices of sweet potatoes have decreased continuously in the past 3 weeks. The biggest drop is from Japanese purple potatoes price. This type is mainly exported to foreign markets.

In Binh Tan district, the price of Japanese purple sweet potato dropped to 1,500 VND per kg, down 1,800 VND per kg compared to the previous week, and nearly 2,500 VND per kg compared to the end of April 2021.

Other types, such as milk-white potato price is VND 4,667 per kg, paperwhite potato price is VND 3,833 per kg, and green pumpkin sweet potato price is VND 5,500 per kg, down VND 333 per kg compared to last week and VND 2,500-3,000 per kg compared to the end of April.

Mr. Nguyen Van Liem, Deputy Director of Vinh Long Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that Japanese purple sweet potatoes in Vinh Long are also exported to Cambodia and Thailand besides the Chinese market.

However, the complicated spread of the Covid-19 epidemic during this time has affected these two export markets.

Currently, Japanese purple sweet potatoes are mainly consumed domestically, if the sweet potatoes are looked good (type 1), they can be sold, others are sold for processing (starch).

In the winter-spring crop 2020-2021, Vinh Long farmers sowed 3,670 hectares, concentrated in Binh Tan district. Currently in the harvest season, due to low prices, many areas have to be anchored in the fields.

According to the International Trade Centre, the demand for sweet potatoes in Japan is still very high. China is the biggest seller to Japan with 5,300 tonnes of sweet potatoes in the first ten months of 2020, an increase of 11.9% on last year and accounted for 48.4% of Japan's total imported potato values.Vietnam is in second place with 3,500 tonnes of sweet potatoes, a decrease of 19.4% compared to the same period last year. Indonesia is in third place with 2,260 tonnes, a decrease of 16.5% on last year.