Tien Phuoc Areca Prices Rise, but Farmers Remain on Edge

The areca gardens of Tien Phuoc, described as a central Vietnam areca hub, are busy again this harvest season. Fresh areca now sells for about 25,000 to 28,000 dong per kilogram, after traders paid as much as 35,000 dong at the start of the season.

The recovery has brought relief after last year’s bleak harvest, when prices fell to record lows. The current level is still below the peak prices of earlier years, but it has given growers a more stable source of income.

Dang Thi Chin, 71, has grown areca in Tien Phuoc for more than 25 years. Her family has around 3,000 to 4,000 trees. She said they had sold three harvests this year. Prices began at about 35,000 dong per kilogram, then fell to 20,000 to 22,000 dong as traders became more selective, before recovering to the current range.

Bui Thuyen, 74, owns more than 1,000 areca trees. His family has harvested about 700 kilograms since the start of the season and earned more than 16 million dong. He said the current price was not especially high, but could support households that rely on areca as their main income.

The improved price has not removed the farmers’ worries. The fruit is smaller, denser and ripens faster this year, even though weather conditions have generally been favorable. Growers also say traders increasingly accept only round, medium-sized and straight fruit, rejecting fruit that is too large, too small or overripe. Combined with prices that change from day to day, those demands leave farmers dependent on decisions made by dealers and drying facilities.

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This year our family has sold three batches of areca. Traders initially announced a buying price of about 35,000 dong per kilogram, then it fell to 20,000 to 22,000 dong. Recently, it rose again to around 25,000 to 28,000 dong, so farmers are very happy.