Unripe betel nuts fetching good prices in Arakan State

By DMG 06 Jul 2022

DMG Newsroom
6 July 2022, Sittwe

Young betel nuts from Arakan State are fetching good prices thanks to high demand from China, Malaysia and Thailand, according to residents.

Previously, only betel nuts considered ripe were sold on the market, but due to demand from foreign markets, unripe betel nuts are being sold — and at better prices than ripe ones. A young betel nut is sold for K40 in the market, said betel nut palm grower Daw Than Than from Arakan State’s Manaung Township.

Previously, a ripe betel nut fetched only K25 in Manaung, said residents.

“It is good for betel nut palm plantation owners that they don’t have to wait for long to get betel nuts ripe, and unripe betel nuts are fetching better prices than ripe ones,” Daw Than Than said.

But another betel nut palm grower, Ko Than Myint, said he is concerned that harvesting unripe betel nuts will negatively affect the areca palms that they grow from.

“They offer good prices, but I dare not sell. I am concerned that palms will be negatively affected if we pluck young betel nuts,” he said.

Due to the high demand for young betel nuts, the prices of ripe betel nuts may increase when the harvest comes, said residents.

Among the buyers of young betel nuts from Arakan State are Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and China.

“In China, it is processed into food. I don’t know what other countries do with betel nuts. The price is K5,000 per viss in Yangon,” said a factory manager of a company that exports young betel nuts.