Chinese brokers ask to buy leaves, not sweet potato tubers
A group of Chinese brokers have recently asked to buy from the sweet potato growers in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long the plant’s leaves rather that their tubers, an offer that raises suspicion among authorities.In some cases, there were also Vietnamese brokers who came to place huge orders for the sweet potato leaves, according to the Thanh Loi vegetable-growing cooperative in Binh Tan District.
The brokers asked to buy 20 tons of leaves at VND10,000 a kg, said Le Van Trung, head of the cooperative.
They asked local farmers to cut and gather the leaves at one place, where the Chinese nations would send trucks to get them. Farmers will also receive a commission of VND1,000 per kg, Trung added.
The mysterious brokers also paid VND20 million in deposits for the cooperative, a move Trung deemed abnormal and thus rejected the offer, saying he had to ask the members of the cooperative on the matter.
Some of the foreign brokers did not choose to contact the cooperative but offer to buy directly from the sweet potato growers.
What’s noteworthy is that they only want to buy fresh leaves cut from the plants rather than those left after the crops have been harvested.
The provincial government of Vinh Long has ordered the province’s department of agriculture and local authorities in Binh Minh and Binh Tan districts to encourage farmers not to sell sweet potato leaves to the brokers.
Even though they offer to pay high prices for the leaves, farmers should be wary of such unusual and suspicious business, the order reads.
Cutting leaves when the sweet potatoes have yet to reach harvest time will reduce their productivity by up to 50 percent, agriculture experts warn.
Some other Chinese nationals have also offered to buy green ladyfingers at higher than market rates from farmers in Vinh Long. But these brokers refused to buy with a contract.
This is not the first time Chinese nationals offer to buy abnormal agricultural products from Vietnamese farmers.
The unusual buying list includes golden apple snails, leeches, dried cashew leaves, and dried coconuts.
The common trick is that they first created false demand for the produce by offering to buy at high prices, sending farmers to collect the products for them.
When supply for the produce was huge, the Chinese suddenly vanished, leaving the farmers crying with so many the unsold products.
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