Chili pepper farmers in the highlands province of Gia Lai are in despair as price of the fruit is falling drastically.
Farmers in the province said that price of the fruit in the early 2013 was VND50,000 (US$2.35) per kilogram but it is now sold at VND7,000-9,000 a kilogram (US$0.33- 0.42). so farmers suffer huge losses this year.
Frozen purchase of chili pepper by Chinese traders was blamed for drastic fall in price of the fruit. It is estimated that the province has nearly 3,000 hectare of chili farms. Chili farmers can earn profit of around VND20 million (US$ 943) per hectare in previous years.