Garlic grown on volcanic soil on Ly Son island was once considered white gold, because garlic is sold for many times higher than other types of garlic in the mainland. The unique brand and flavor of garlic in the island has helped fishermen earn hundreds of millions after a garlic season. But for a few years now, garlic has “failed” and the price cannot move up.
Garlic dried in the yard of Mr. Nguyen Quan’s house. Photo: Van Chuong In early May, farmers on Ly Son island spread the last batch of dried garlic before putting it in bags to officially put agricultural products on the market. The old farmer Vo Tri Thoi has a smooth black skin and compares the story of garlic with high prices and waiting times, but the price does not go up by the story of picking garlic. Mr. Thoi ran to the stall to collect a handful of garlic sprinkled to make a stir-fry sound, then smiled wryly and said: “In the days when garlic was expensive, it only took a few handfuls of garlic to sell and it was enough money for a drink together with karaoke, But now I’ve collected half of the bamboo stalls and sold them, but it doesn’t work.” The people of Ly Son island have a bit of a sense of humour, especially the people on Be Island. The story of gathering garlic to sing karaoke is just a way for this farmer to liken the story of garlic to make me laugh. Because old farmer Thoi also admitted that his life was only fun with a few glasses of wine, and going to the shop to tip the youngest brother was just a joke to make the wives startle. Because working in garlic is very hard, you have to buy sand to cover it, then take care of it, rent a water machine to water it, stay up late and get up early, it’s very hard to get to the harvest day. Every time farmers in Ly Son island harvest garlic, the whole island immediately turns into an interesting picture. Many families spread garlic on the roof of the house to the yard and leave only a small road to go. The old farmers, after several months of struggling with the green garlic fields, now continue to dry the garlic in the sun, wait for the garlic to dry, then pack it, throw it in the mezzanine indoors and wait for the price. Life on the island during the garlic season is very busy, many people run up and down to ask for the price of 70 or 65 (70,000 VND or 65,000 VND). In the past years, fresh garlic harvested was often quoted by farmers at that price. If anyone accidentally talks about selling at a low price, their relatives will respond with a funny story, instead of talking too cheap, not selling. Mr. Vo Tri Thoi, said, 336ha of garlic growing on the island every year farmers collect more than 2,000 tons of garlic. If the dried garlic is sold at 70,000 VND/kg, it will make a profit. Currently, farmers on the island are not hoarding garlic, but keeping garlic dry to wait for the price, but the current price is difficult. Farmers in the island grow garlic on volcanic soil, so Ly Son garlic has a more spicy and aromatic taste than garlic grown in the mainland. At times, garlic is sold for 170,000 VND/kg of dried garlic. The current price of dried garlic is 40,000 VND/kg. At this price, many farmers share a loss, so they decided to keep, pin their goods and wait for the price to move up. However, the number of tourists to the island has decreased deeply, so farmers wait for garlic in inland markets to increase the price to bring garlic in. But the path of garlic from the island to the mainland is not easy. Because now, farmers Ly Son go to Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan provinces to grow garlic and this item is also falling in price, farmers complain because they can’t sell it. The price of garlic in this locality has dropped to only 17,000 VND/kg of fresh garlic. Because of the price difference of garlic, farmers in Khanh Hoa moved to Quang Ngai, and the press continued to report fake Ly Son garlic. This is a blow that makes it harder for real Ly Son garlic to price up and farmers have to wait again. Ly Son garlic market usually starts to get crowded at sunrise. Farmers bring garlic to the trading market so that buyers can take the garlic by train down to the mainland. Some professional garlic buyers shared the story that bringing garlic in the island to the shore cost a lot of money, but when they met the garlic stream in the south, the garlic looks quite similar, the quality is not equal, so the quality is not as good. harder to consume. At Mr. Nguyen Quan’s house located at the end of Ly Son island district, his 5 children spread 7 tons of garlic all over the yard, around the house and on the cement corrugated iron roof. Garlic market information in Quang Ngai city and in Khanh Hoa province is always updated by farmers. Mr. Pham Tan Thanh, 61 years old, a senior garlic grower said: “If garlic is low, then you must invest in growing onions, but basically farmers still rely on garlic.”
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