In the first days of the new year, when the weather changes, the wild sunshine on the hillsides in Gia Lai has caused the flowers to start changing from green to purple. The flowers are in full bloom. This is also the season when people in the highlands come to harvest the "forest gifts" given by nature, helping them have an additional source of income to support their lives.
A place to buy and dry bamboo shoots on the roadside of Ha Dong commune (Dak Doa). This place collects about 300-500kg of fresh bamboo shoots brought by people every day. Photo: Ta Vinh Yen
Along the road we took to Ha Dong commune (Dak Doa, Gia Lai), everywhere was bustling with people going to the forest to find good fortune. That was the "harvest" of the bamboo shoots changing from their green color to a slightly purple color (the old bamboo shoots were ready to be picked). Although in a very short period of time, these gifts from heaven brought a significant source of income to the people, especially during Tet.
It is the cassava season, but the villagers put aside their harvest to go and collect bamboo shoots. At the beginning of the season, people often collect bamboo shoots along the roadsides, fields or on slopes near the village. When the bamboo shoots are gone, they go further, up on high hills or in distant forests.
From early morning, Ms. Blai (Kon Nak village, Ha Dong) and her family of 5 climbed the hillside to pick bamboo shoots to return home early. Behind her was an 8-month-old baby. When we met, the whole family had picked more than 15kg of fresh bamboo shoots. Photo: Ta Vinh Yen
The flowering season is very short, only in December and January. Therefore, villagers "race" against the time to harvest. This is also the dry season, so the flowers of the trees quickly age and are no longer of economic value. The flowers are harvested and "imported" to sell to grocery stores in the village. Or there are warehouse owners who set up tents along the roadside to buy and sell to big owners.
Every day, hundreds of people from Kon Mahar, Kon Po Dram, Kon Nak, Kon Jot, Kon So Nglok villages (Ha Dong commune) gather in groups to go to the forest to collect the young shoots and sell them to traders to make brooms. On average, a person can pick 40-50 kg of fresh young shoots in one session, earning 200-250 thousand VND in just one session. If the whole family works together, it can reach up to a million VND...
There is only one season of dot flowers each year, so people go out to collect them in large numbers. If you work hard from morning to noon, you can get about 200 bunches (1 bunch has 9-10 dot flowers), selling for 1-1.2 thousand VND/bunch. If you find a place where the dot flowers are in full bloom, some people can pick 450-500 bunches/day, earning more than 500 thousand VND.
On all the hills and slopes in Ha Dong commune, the dot trees grow lush and green, the blooming dot flowers create a desolate scene all over the hillsides. The people of Ba Na villages have long considered the harvesting of dot flowers a seasonal activity but it brings in a considerable income.
With nearly 14 years of experience purchasing flowers from Kon Mahar villagers, Mr. Khong Minh Quy (Mang Yang, Gia Lai) said: Currently, the average purchase price of fresh flowers is 4-5 thousand VND/kg, beautiful flowers with the leaves peeled off cost 7-8 thousand VND/kg.
In particular, on Saturdays or Sundays, his grocery store buys nearly 1 ton of fresh bamboo shoots, while on weekdays it averages 500-600 kg. After collecting, he finds a place to dry them. After about a week, when the bamboo shoots are dry, he hires someone to measure them by meter and bundle them into bundles, waiting for traders to come and collect them at the same time as many other places in the commune.
After a day of climbing the forest, Ms. Len (64 years old, living in Kon Jot village) carried a bundle of about 7kg of bamboo to sell to a purchasing facility owned by Mr. Khong Minh Quy (Mang Yang, Gia Lai). The purchasing point is located right at the beginning of the road to the center of Ha Dong commune. Ms. Len said that because she is old, she no longer has the strength to climb high hills. She only goes along the edge of the forest to collect sparse bamboo hills, along the stream banks. Every day, the most is about a hundred thousand, the least is a few dozen, so she has money to buy food. Photo: Ta Vinh Yen
Linh (grade 6, holding a bundle of bamboo shoots) and Ren (16 years old) collected 43kg of fresh bamboo shoots in one day. Both of them took advantage of the bamboo shoot season and their free time to go to the forest to pick wild shoots. This is also the source of income for the two sisters to buy new clothes. Photo: Ta Vinh Yen
A truck carrying bamboo shoots from the forest passes through the residential area of Kon Nak village. In Ha Dong commune, this season is bustling with the scene of harvesting and transporting bamboo shoots for sale.
Children turn the straw drying area into a playground. Photo: Ta Vinh Yen
People select and dry the bamboo shoots before collecting them in large trucks and transporting them out of Ha Dong to broom making facilities. Photo: Ta Vinh Yen
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