After the first rains of the season, farmers in Gia Lai crept into the coffee and rubber gardens to hunt termites. Thanks to this “fortune heaven”, people earn millions every day.
According to people in Gia Lai, termites only appear once a year, in about 1-2 months, in the rainy season. Therefore, every year, at the beginning of the rainy season, people rush to hunt for this expensive mushroom, which is likened to “heavenly fortune”.
These days, people in the border district of Duc Co are busy carrying bags to pick mushrooms and sell them to traders. This year, mushrooms grow very quickly and grow in large flaps, so people do not have to search far.
Ms. Tran Thi Kim Phuong (group 4, Chu Ty town, Duc Co district) said that depending on the time of picking and growth, mushrooms have different prices. Umbrella mushrooms cost about 200,000 VND/kg; Mushrooms cost 250,000 VND/kg. If anyone is lucky enough to pick mushrooms, the price will be about 300,000-350,000 VND/kg.
Mushrooms often grow in large flaps, people harvest 4-5kg each time, selling more than 1 million dong.
From 3am, people in Ia Krieng commune, Duc Co district called each other to the coffee and rubber garden to find termites. This is the best time to pick mushrooms because the mushroom ears have not yet bloomed, the nutritional value is higher than the one that has bloomed. When it was early morning, everyone was able to sell to traders.
“Mushroom picking also needs experience, must know how to choose wet places, luxuriant trees are good places for mushrooms to grow. Mushroom picking is also thanks to luck and perseverance, sometimes finding it forever can’t find it, trying a little harder. I saw the mushroom flap again,” Phuong confided.
Every time in the mushroom season, Ms. Vo Thi Thu (village 1, Ia To commune, Ia Grai district, Gia Lai) temporarily put aside her daily work to pick mushrooms with her relatives in the village. Because she specializes in planting and taking care of coffee trees, Ms. Thu always knows how to choose the locations where mushrooms often grow. Thanks to that, there are days when Ms. Thu collects nearly 10kg of mushrooms, earning 2-3 million VND.
Ms. Thu confided: “In the past, I often went to work on coffee grass and saw termite mushrooms, so I picked them for my family to cook. In recent years, seeing that mushrooms are expensive, I picked them to sell. This dish was ordered by customers. So many traders wait at the village gates from early morning to buy.”
Ms. Tran Thi Yen (Ia Kla commune, Duc Co district) who specializes in purchasing termite mushrooms from people said: “Thanks to the development of social networks, every time it’s mushroom season, customers often order in advance. up to 400,000 VND/kg. Mushroom is a difficult food to preserve, so when the purchase is complete, it must be delivered to customers within the same day.”
In recent years, many households in Gia Lai have engaged in organic farming, intercropping with many crops to increase economic productivity and keep the ecological environment clean . As a result, plants and fungi thrive.
Before people rush to pick mushrooms, the local government recommends that people need to distinguish between poisonous mushrooms and edible mushrooms. At the same time, people should cultivate organically to create conditions for termite fungi to grow to preserve and develop local specialties
($1=24,000 VND)
Photo: Internet (Vinlove.net)