Fruit season in Dak Lak

In Dak Lak, during harvest season, people carry various kinds of fruits from their gardens in remote villages to Buon Ma Thuot city to sell, and everywhere you go you see an abundance of fruit. Many orchards are ablaze with the red of ripe rambutan or the green of avocados, and the fragrant aroma of ripening custard apples fills the air…

A bumper fruit harvest has left many households disappointed due to falling prices (Illustrative image).

Walking through central and smaller markets, you can easily spot people sitting in long rows selling fresh, delicious, and inexpensive fruits. Rambutan and custard apples cost from 5,000 to 15,000 VND/kg depending on the variety. Avocados and durians are a bit more expensive, priced from 10,000 to 60,000 VND/kg.

Ms. H'Tây MLô, a fruit vendor at the Buôn Ma Thuột Central Market, happily shared that she carries about 30kg of rambutan and custard apple from her garden to the market every day. Although each kilogram only sells for 5-7 thousand dong, she gradually earns a decent amount of money, which she uses to buy more clothes for her children for the new school year. Thanks to her hard work and perseverance, she earned several million dong from her orchard this season.

In fact, customers only need 20,000 VND to buy several kilograms of fruit at markets in Dak Lak. Moreover, if they go directly to the orchards, customers can eat as much as they want and get very "promotional" prices. Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung, from Tan Thanh ward, Buon Ma Thuot city, said: "Fruits in season are very cheap, delicious, and fresh. Especially, buying from ethnic minority people who carry them down to the city is more reassuring because the fruit is delicious and you don't have to worry about it being treated with growth stimulants."

Thanks to their abundant fruit orchards, many villages have become famous. Buôn D'Ha, in Hòa Thắng commune, Tân Lập ward, Buôn Ma Thuột city, is one such place. It has become an eco-tourism destination attracting many nature-loving tourists to visit and explore.

This year, thanks to abundant rain, fruit trees in Dak Lak have yielded a bumper crop. However, this bumper crop has also caused prices to plummet, affecting the income of many households. Ms. Le Thi Tam, from Tan Thanh ward, Buon Ma Thuot city, lamented, "This year's rambutan crop is abundant, but the selling price is too low, only 3-5 thousand dong per kilogram at the farm gate. Seeing traders offering such low prices breaks my heart." But she has no other choice; she has to sell at a loss because she knows this is a common situation for local fruit farmers whenever there is a bumper crop…

The Thanh