Vietnamese farmers give jicama to cows because prices hit rock bottom

Duong Quang village, Duc Thang commune (Mo Duc district) is a traditional jicama growing village of Quang Ngai province with 300/436 households growing on an area of 36 hectares. Local people often grow jicama in the off-season, starting to sow from around August-September to harvest and sell at the end of the year until Lunar New Year. Mr. Nguyen Tu, 64 years old, said that in previous years, trucks from the northern and southern provinces busily came to Duong Quang village to buy jicama at 7,000-8,000 VND per kg at the beginning of the season, 5,000 VND per kg at the end. season. But this year, the road to the village is deserted, without a single truck. Along the road, farmers use tortoise carts to carry newly harvested beans from their fields to gather for retail sale. "This year the price is only 1,500 VND per kg of bean tubers. The price has dropped to the bottom, but buyers are very few and only buy large ones," Mr. Tu said. Mr. Tu's family planted 10 acres (each pole is ...