People in Vinh Phuc village (Duc Tho, Ha Tinh) are harvesting dong leaves during the Tet season. The type of leaves that make up the traditional Banh Chung helps gardeners earn millions of VND per day on this occasion.
Vinh Phuc village, Quang Vinh commune, Duc Tho district is known as the “capital” of the largest dong leaf growing in Ha Tinh province, with an area of more than 10 hectares. In the whole village of 150 households, more than 80 households grow this type of tree. Households have at least about 300m2 growing dong leaves, and many households have up to thousands of m2.
Dong leaves are an easy plant to grow, it does not take much care. On the occasion of the Lunar New Year, people everywhere have a need to use a large number of dong leaves to wrap Banh Chung, Banh Tet… These are traditional cakes that are considered the “soul” of Vietnamese Tet.
The occasion of Tet is the time when households in Vinh Phuc village enter the harvest season. The tree is now about 1-3m tall.
These days, Ms. Le Thi Xuyen (60 years old) starts to cut dong leaves to sell to customers who book early. Ms. Xuyen’s family has 500m2 of land to grow this tree.
“The profession of growing dong has been established in my hometown for a long time. We take advantage of garden land or the vacant land next to the house to plant. This tree helps people in my hometown have a full and cozy Tet”, Ms. Xuyen said. .
Ms. Chu Thi Hoai (50 years old) is also busy with harvesting dong leaves. With an area of 2 sao, her family will collect about 30,000 leaves this year. “This year, the price of dong leaves is lower than in previous years. Depending on the size and beauty of the leaves, the price ranges from 35,000-60,000 VND/bundle of 100 leaves,” Ms. Hoai said. ($1=25,000 VND)
Harvesting dong leaves is quite difficult. Hoai crept through each tree that grew close together, using a sickle to cut close to the stem.
After cutting, Hoai turned to her son to help sort and arrange leaves. “Take advantage of the time off from school, I go out to help my mother,” said male student Hoang Van Huong (grade 12).
After harvesting, the leaves are carefully arranged, tied into bundles and then transported home. During the Lunar New Year season, people in Vinh Phuc village have an average income of 10 – 20 million VND per household by selling dong leaves.($1=25,000 VND)
According to many people, the tree can be harvested three times a year, but such thick exploitation will make the tree small and not beautiful. To keep the brand, the majority of Vinh Phuc villagers only harvest once a year on the occasion of the Lunar New Year. The dong leaves here are popular with customers thanks to their large, beautiful green color, easy to pack cakes.
According (Dan Tri)