Farmers in Nghe An mountainous region are bustling during the bamboo shoot picking season.

Ms. Lo Thi Minh, Chieng Ban village, Chau Thang commune (Quy Chau) has been harvesting bamboo shoots for decades. In Chau Thang commune, the bamboo shoot season starts from July to October of the lunar calendar. Ms. Minh said that every day at 4am she goes to the forest to pick bamboo shoots. When she comes back, she cleans the shell, boils it, separates the bamboo shoots and dries them. Photo: HT

Taking advantage of the sunny weather, Ms. Minh brought bamboo shoots to the hydroelectric reservoir and dried them on the fish cage covers. Photo: TP

Every day, Minh and her husband harvest 2 baskets of fresh bamboo shoots, after processing, they will get 1.5 - 2kg of dried bamboo shoots. "The selling price is 170,000 VND/kg of dried bamboo shoots, traders buy them in the commune. Each bamboo shoot season, the family sells about 1 - 1.2 quintals of dried bamboo shoots, earning 18-20 million VND" - said Lo Thi Minh. Photo: HT

In Chau Nga commune (Quy Chau), August is also the time when people here harvest "forest blessings". Mr. Vi Van Dau in Mun village said that in the bamboo shoot picking season, the couple walks 3km early in the morning into the bamboo area to pick bamboo shoots. On average, the couple harvests about 70kg of fresh bamboo shoots each day. Mr. Dau said that after picking the bamboo shoots, they have to peel off all the skin, the old and hard parts, then put them in a pot and boil them. The time to boil the bamboo shoots is from 1-2 hours depending on the quantity. Photo: HT

After boiling, the bamboo shoots are separated into flat pieces and dried in the sun. “Every day, my wife and I pick about 70kg of fresh bamboo shoots. After drying them in the sun for 3-4 days, we get 5kg of dried bamboo shoots, which are purchased by traders for 180,000 VND/kg,” said Mr. Vi Van Dau. Photo: HT

Tan Ky district has long been famous for its loi bamboo shoots. This type of bamboo shoots grows in the Pu Loi and Pu Hoc mountains, Tien Ky commune. Mr. La Van Phuc - Vice Chairman of Tien Ky Commune People's Committee said that the commune has about 250 hectares of bamboo shoot forests. People exploit them from the 7th to the 10th lunar month, mainly by a bamboo shoot exploitation cooperative of 14 people. Bamboo shoots are picked and sold fresh, or boiled, salted, or pickled with chili. Each bamboo shoot season creates jobs for about 100 households with more than 300 workers. Each household harvests about 5 tons of fresh bamboo shoots after the bamboo shoot season, selling for 15-20 thousand VND/kg for an income of 60-70 million VND. With high income, during the loi bamboo shoot season, many households build huts at the foot of the mountain to "go to the bamboo shoots" for 5-7 days before returning. Photo: Xuan Hoang

In Tam Quang commune, Tuong Duong district, according to the Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune Kha Thi Hien, bamboo shoots are also a product that provides stable income for many households. Even each bamboo shoot picking season, if a family has many members who work hard to go into the forest to collect bamboo shoots, they can buy pigs and cows for tens of millions of VND from selling bamboo shoots. Like in other localities, the bamboo shoot picking season in Tam Quang (concentrated in the two villages of Tung Huong and Lien Huong) takes place from the 7th to the 10th lunar month. Each bamboo shoot season, Tam Quang people harvest about 10 tons of dried bamboo shoots, equivalent to about 40-45 tons of fresh bamboo shoots, including bamboo shoots and bamboo shoots. With an average selling price of about 150-170 thousand VND/kg of dried bamboo shoots, it also brings a stable income of hundreds of millions of VND each forest bamboo shoot season. Photo: HT

Bamboo shoots bring stable income to people in mountainous districts, but to exploit them sustainably while protecting forests, local authorities also need to guide people to exploit them properly, avoid destroying and affecting surrounding forests when entering the forest to pick bamboo shoots, process and preserve bamboo shoots. Photo: HT

People of Chau Thang commune dry bamboo shoots on the hydroelectric reservoir. Clip: Thu - Phuc

Source: https://baonghean.vn/nong-dan-mien-nui-nghe-an-nhon-nhip-vao-mua-hai-mang-post275410.html