The Central, Central Highlands, and Mekong Delta regions are now in the peak production season for the 2024-2025 sugarcane crop. This year, sugar mills are purchasing sugarcane at relatively high prices, providing farmers with greater profits and boosting their morale.
Mr. Nguyen Van Hao, Deputy Director of An Khe Sugar Factory in Gia Lai Province, on March 17, said that for the 2024-2025 season, the mill had purchased about 70 percent of the sugarcane output from farmers in eastern Gia Lai at an average price of VND1.3 million per ton of raw sugarcane. This price represents a 10-15 percent increase compared to previous seasons.
Eastern Gia Lai, which includes An Khe Town and the districts of Dak Po, Kbang, and Kong Chro, is home to nearly 32,000 hectares of sugarcane fields, making it the largest sugarcane-growing area in the country. On average, farmers in this region harvest about 80 tons of sugarcane per hectare.
In the South Central Coast, sugarcane growers are also optimistic. Phu Yen Province currently has three sugar mills operated by two companies, namely KCP Vietnam Industries Co., Ltd. (100 percent Indian-owned) and Tuy Hoa Sugar Cane and Sugar JSC. In the 2023-2024 season, sugarcane with a 10-CCS (Commercial Cane Sugar) content was purchased at VND1.3 million per ton. This season, mills are paying VND1.35 million per ton, an increase of VND50,000.
Meanwhile, in the Mekong Delta, several sugar mills signed contracts with farmers at the start of the 2024-2025 season to purchase sugarcane and provide agricultural input support until the cane is weighed. Thanks to the introduction of high-yield sugarcane varieties, farmers in Tra Vinh are seeing both strong harvests and good prices.
As a result, farming households earn about VND65-75 million per hectare per season. Between 2020 and 2022, falling sugarcane prices led to significant losses for farmers, discouraging cultivation. Many sugarcane fields in the Mekong Delta were converted to aquaculture, rice farming, or left idle.
Local authorities in the Central, Central Highlands, and Mekong Delta regions have announced that after the 2024-2025 harvest, they will review the total sugarcane-growing area to stabilize raw material supplies for processing plants, ensuring benefits for both farmers and businesses.
Additionally, the agricultural sector will continue researching and testing high-yield, high-quality sugarcane varieties suited to local weather and soil conditions, while implementing technical solutions to enhance production efficiency.
