Litchi Price Volatility and the Responses of Litchi Farm Households in Thanh Ha District, Hai Duong Province

Litchi is a major agricultural crop in Thanh Ha district, Hai Duong province. However, the lichi farm households have faced many difficulties in their livelihood stability in recent years due to the decrease in the litchi market price. This study aims to investigate the response of litchi farm households to the lichi price volatility and to propose several measures to help lichi farm households overcome the difficulties in their litchi industry in the coming time. The study results reveal that the responses of lichi farm households were very diverse such as the replacement of lichi crop by better efficient crops, the intercroping of annual crops, the application of selective harvests for better price, enhancement of drying lichi fruits, changes in sale mode, participation in litchi production and marketing association. The measures to help lichi farm households overcome the difficulties in their litchi industry included the replanning of the litchi production areas, the enhancment of applying techniques for lengthening the harvest time and post-harvest processing technologies, the improvement of linkages in product marketing, etc.,.