People willing to spend millions
With 200 large and small apricot trees, Mr. Truong Minh Hien (Long Ho district, Vinh Long province) is busy taking care of his family's apricot garden. Accordingly, in order for the apricot garden to bloom in time for this year's Tet holiday, in addition to family members, he has to hire additional workers to help.
“Starting from December 12, I will hire more workers to help pick the apricot leaves, because if I don’t hire, only family members will not be able to pick them in time, affecting the flowering season. After that, I will also hire artisans to shape the tree. Within 3-4 days after picking is the right time to shape the tree. Once this time passes, the tree will sprout and it will be very difficult to work. In addition, after Tet, for the trees that have not been sold, I will also have to hire people to pick the apricot fruits to ensure that the apricot tree does not weaken,” said Mr. Hien.
Mr. Hien estimated that the cost of hiring workers to take care of his family's apricot garden each Tet season is about 40 million VND, including: leaf picking, apricot bending, fruit picking, etc. However, according to Mr. Hien, this is an amount of money that must be spent because each step must be done within a certain period of time, if it is late, the apricot tree will not be beautiful.
Accordingly, the labor force is mainly local people: “The hired workers are uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters in the neighborhood. Most of them are familiar with each other so everyone is skilled. The price for picking leaves and fruits is the same at 250,000 VND/person/day, while the price for shaping the tree is about 500,000 - 600,000 VND/person/day”.
Cost cutter
Due to economic difficulties, Mr. Le Thanh Vu (Long Ho district, Vinh Long province) chose to cut down on labor costs. Accordingly, the work of picking leaves, bending apricot trees, picking fruits, etc. is divided among family members.
“My family and I have started picking apricot leaves since December 12. This year, purchasing power has decreased, and I have not sold any trees in my garden yet, so I do not dare to spend money to hire workers to pick the leaves. Because I am worried that if the rental fee is high, I will not have the capital to pay the workers. Even bending the apricot and picking the fruit, I plan to do it myself to save money,” Mr. Vu shared.
Mr. Bui Thanh Dam (Long Ho district, Vinh Long province) said that from around the 10th lunar month, people in Phuoc Dinh yellow apricot village have started clearing grass and trash in their gardens. Then, around the 12th - 13th of December, everyone will pick leaves, and the whole apricot village becomes bustling. This year, due to the difficult economic situation, the number of apricot trees sold has decreased, so the atmosphere is also more quiet.
“Every year, households that grow a lot will hire workers to help them bloom in time for Tet and sell them to the market. But the current situation is that the apricot blossoms cannot be sold and prices are being forced down, so some people have cut back on this expense. Even if they hire, they will only find a small quantity, not as much as in previous years. As for my family, I have to rely on labor to make a profit, all the work is done by me and my family members,” Mr. Dam confided.
Currently, gardeners are busy with the final care to ensure the flowers bloom on time, serving people celebrating Tet. Accordingly, everyone hopes that in the days leading up to Tet, purchasing power will improve so that families can celebrate Tet in abundance.
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