Ha Van Mung from Chu Prong District’s Lung Van Village has cleared half of his family’s three-hectare cashew garden. He said that over the past three years, cashew nut prices have dropped by nearly half.
Many households in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai have cut down cashew trees because of falling prices
Mung’s family previously earned some VND200 million (USD8,510) from their cashew garden. However, cashew nut prices have been on the decrease, so they decided to reduce their cultivation area. Instead, they have considered growing rice.
The widespread move has massively affected Gia Lai’s border communes of Ia Lau, Ia Ga and Ia Pior. In Ia Pior Commune alone, since late 2022, around 300 hectares of cashew trees have been removed to give way to the plantation of other crops such as rice and corn.
Bui Van Tien, chairman of Ia Pior Commune, said that the locality had not yet worked out a specific orientation for farmers in terms of cultivating other crops. Growing short-term plants is just a temporary solution.
Gia Lai farmers have also cleared rubber, pepper and coffee trees in the past.
