(VLO) As the 2024 Lunar New Year is approaching, many households in the traditional craft village of Phuoc Dinh yellow apricot (Binh Hoa Phuoc commune, Long Ho district) are busy picking leaves, pruning branches, and taking care of trees with the expectation that the apricot trees will have the most beautiful shape and bloom on time to supply the Tet market.
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| Picking mai leaves is very meticulous and skillful to avoid breaking branches and falling buds. |
Picking mai leaves increases income
Known as the yellow apricot capital of the Southwest region, Phuoc Dinh 2 Hamlet (Binh Hoa Phuoc Commune) these days is bustling with people, every household is preparing yellow apricot trees to welcome Tet. According to many households, the yellow apricot growing profession has been formed and developed in the locality for more than 60 years.
At first, people planted yellow apricot trees mainly to bloom beautifully on Tet holiday. Gradually, realizing the high economic efficiency of this tree, households expanded the planting area and developed it into a craft village as it is today.
Accordingly, the most commonly grown yellow apricot is the traditional 5-petal apricot along with some other varieties such as the great-loc apricot, the four-season apricot, the 24-petal apricot... Compared to other types of trees, the yellow apricot has high economic value, is easy to sell and traders come to buy at home. This year's Tet, Phuoc Dinh yellow apricot cooperative prepared about 300 apricot trees to participate in the Spring flower market in Vinh Long .
Having a garden of apricot trees in Phuoc Dinh 2 hamlet, Mr. Truong Minh Hien (Phu Phung commune, Cho Lach district, Ben Tre province) said: “I also participate in the cooperative here. I inherited this apricot tree growing profession from my family, plus my passion, so I also focus on keeping the profession.
My apricot garden has trees ranging in age from 10 to 60 years old. This year, traders coming to buy apricot trees are about 30% less than the same time last year.
According to Mr. Hien, from the 13th of the lunar month, he started hiring workers to pick apricot leaves. Because they are mainly old apricot trees, it takes 3 workers 5 days to pick 1 apricot tree. The fee for hiring apricot picking is 250,000 VND/day/female, 350,000 VND/day/male because men have to stand on high shelves to pick apricot leaves above.
Pointing to the mai tree that is being plucked, Mr. Hien shared: “This mai tree has a customer who has come to buy it for 60 million VND. After plucking the leaves, I will rent a car to deliver it to the customer. This Tet, besides selling on the spot, I will also bring it to the market in Ho Chi Minh City. This year, the mai tree has beautiful buds, there is no unseasonal rain, so it is predicted that the mai tree will bloom right on Tet.”
According to Mr. Le Van Ty - Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director of Phuoc Dinh Yellow Apricot Cooperative, this year the weather is quite favorable so the apricot blossoms grow well, people are also excited. Although purchasing power has decreased compared to previous years, in general, it still ensures the economic life of people.
Besides the apricot gardeners, this time near Tet, the apricot leaf picking business also brings in a good income. There is also a cooperative group that takes care of, bends, straightens, fixes the shape, and digs up apricot trees for customers.
With 7 years of experience in picking mai leaves, Ms. Huynh Thi Het (Phu Phung commune, Cho Lach district, Ben Tre province) said: “From December 12, I start picking mai leaves for hire, and finish around December 17-18. Picking mai leaves also requires careful picking, so as not to affect the buds and flowers. With a price of 250,000 VND/day, picking mai leaves during Tet also helps me earn extra money to cover expenses during Tet.”
Mr. Hien added: “For customers who do not have a large area or conditions to take care of the apricot tree, in January I will come to take the apricot tree back to the garden to take care of it for them. Near Tet - when the apricot flower has pulled its silk shell (around December 18-26), I will return it to the customer. The care fee is 30% of the value of the apricot tree.”
Wishing you a prosperous Tet season
According to many apricot growers, because 2023 has a leap month, if you want the apricot to bloom on time for Tet, you must look for trees with old leaves to remove from the middle of 2023 (around the 5th lunar month), otherwise the apricot flowers will break before Tet.
Apricot trees with small buds should start leafing out around December 12, and later trees should finish leafing out by December 18 at the latest. In addition, it is also important to pay attention to bud care and prevent leaf-eating insects because this is a time when they are very susceptible to insect attacks.
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| Apricot growers hope for a prosperous Tet season. |
During this time, Mr. Tieu Hung Minh’s family (Phuoc Dinh 2 Hamlet) has also been busy picking mai leaves to prepare for the production of their finished mai trees. In Mr. Minh’s mai garden, there are many ancient bonsai trees worth hundreds of millions of dong.
Mr. Minh said that in order to have the yellow apricot trees in time for Tet, his family had to hire 7 seasonal workers to pick the leaves. “To have a beautiful apricot tree that meets all the standards of “first base, second trunk, third branches, fourth buds” requires meticulous care over many years.
But in return, apricot blossoms always have a stable price at a high level, bringing a source of income to help people stabilize their lives. Just selling one apricot blossom tree is enough to have a prosperous Tet holiday" - Mr. Minh shared his experience after 40 years of growing yellow apricot blossoms.
Mr. Ty also said: "In order for apricot blossoms to bloom on time for Tet, in addition to the objective factor of weather, the experience of the grower is also very important.
For example, you must pay attention to the time of spreading fertilizer and spraying pesticides to avoid leaf-eating or bud-eating insects. When the plant buds, you must monitor it regularly to pick leaves for the flowers to bloom at the right time. Small buds should be picked early, and large buds should be picked a little later.
After picking the mai leaves, you have to squeeze the water, then pour the water in so that the mai blooms at the same time, without any gaps. Hopefully, this Tet, the people of the mai village here will have a prosperous Tet mai crop. In the future, the cooperative hopes to receive support from preferential policies, especially in terms of loans, to have more resources to expand production scale."
According to the People's Committee of Binh Hoa Phuoc commune, up to now, the experience of caring for and nurturing to create finished trees of local apricot growers has been improved.
In particular, members of Phuoc Dinh Golden Apricot Cooperative can create many beautiful apricot trees that sell at high prices, not inferior to artisans in other places.
Vice Chairman of Binh Hoa Phuoc Commune People's Committee - Tran Chi Cuong said: "The establishment of Phuoc Dinh yellow apricot cooperative has created conditions for people to improve their lives and increase their income. In particular, linking the development of yellow apricot with related industries such as establishing apricot tree transplanting and planting groups, apricot tree root repair and bending groups and pot making groups to serve the needs of members, especially during this Tet holiday".
| Phuoc Dinh yellow apricot was recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as a traditional craft village in 2009 and continued to develop into a cooperative in 2021. Currently, Phuoc Dinh yellow apricot cooperative has 45 members, with a total of about 5,000 large and small apricot trees. If calculated broadly, the whole Phuoc Dinh yellow apricot traditional craft village currently has about 130 apricot growing households, most concentrated in Phuoc Dinh 2 hamlet. Currently, the apricot village has up to 52,000 apricot trees, of which 800 trees are over 100 years old, 19,200 trees are from 50 to under 100 years old and about 32,000 trees are from a few years old to under 50 years old. |
Article and photos: PHI LONG
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