The largest dong leaf growing village in Hanoi has good prices but bad harvest.

According to Lao Dong reporters on January 28, many households in Trang Cat village are currently busy cutting and arranging leaves to transport them to facilities that have placed pre-orders.

Going to the garden to cut dong leaves early in the morning, Mr. Le Hong Phong (Trang Cat village, Kim An commune) said that although it is almost Tet, there is not much work because this year the output of dong leaves is less than every year.

Mr. Phong goes to cut dong leaves from 7am. Photo: Le Tam

"I start cutting and transporting dong leaves from 7am, cutting about 30,000 leaves each day. Immediately after harvesting, the dong leaves will be washed with clean water by local households, then arranged into bundles to wait for traders to come and pick up the goods.

This year, the leaf output is not as much as every year because there are two months of February. Not only that, many dong leaf gardens are also sunburned due to the strong sunny days and erratic weather. Although entering the time near Tet, the demand for dong leaves is high but the supply is limited" - Mr. Phong said.

Mr. Tran Van Toan's family (Kim An commune, Thanh Oai district, Hanoi) has just harvested dong leaves and brought them home. Photo: Le Tam

Similarly, Mr. Tran Van Toan (Kim An commune, Thanh Oai district) shared that each sao of dong leaves this year, if the yield is good, will yield about 30,000 leaves, each sao will earn about 15-17 million VND/sao.

According to Mr. Toan, dong leaves here are divided into two types: dong leaves used for hand wrapping are smaller while dong leaves used for mold wrapping are larger. The average price will fluctuate from 80,000 - 120,000/100 dong leaves.

Mr. Toan said that this year the price of dong leaves here is higher but the harvest is not good. Last year, 1 sao would yield more than 30,000 leaves but this year it is only more than 20,000 leaves at most.

Many people in Trang Cat village shared that dong leaves are a profession that has existed since the village was founded, from around the 16th - 17th century. This is the "capital" that supplies dong leaves to the inner city of Hanoi and neighboring provinces near Tet. Accordingly, the last 10 days of the year will be the busiest time, people here will be busy going to the garden to cut leaves until around the 27th - 28th of Tet or sometimes until the morning of the 30th of Tet.