The Department of Farm Produce Processing and Market Development has forecast that pepper prices will struggle to recover in July and the rest of the year.
Viet Nam''s pepper farmers are on pins and needles as pepper prices continue to decline. The industry, once known for its high profit margins, is in crisis due to unsustainable development, lack of strict control over production and unforeseeable speculation.
Within the last ten days, pepper price has fallen from an already low VND82,000 (US$3.65) to VND72,000 ($3.21) per kilogramme, much to the chagrin of pepper farmers in Central Highlands provinces yet they seem unfazed and continue to hold out...
Industry leaders have called on distraught and anxious pepper farmers to remain calm and refrain from selling their produce at low prices, saying the current price plunge is most likely a fleeting phenomenon.
