Pepper output from Vietnam's Phu Quoc Island, one of the nation's main growing areas, has halved on lower prices and higher costs, the Saigon Times Daily said, citing Luong Cong Chu, chair of the local Farmers' Union.
Islanders incurred heavy losses because of costlier bank debt and a 20% rise in fertiliser and labour costs, the newspaper said. Prices have halved to 32,000 dong (US$1.90) per kilogram (2.2 pounds) from a year earlier, the report said.
The number of families growing pepper in the island's southern province of Kien Giang has shrunk to 450, down by half from last year, Chu was cited as saying.
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