Mango harvest season in the land of the island

In the middle and end of the seventh lunar month every year, in Tho Son commune, Hon Dat district, the biggest mango harvest of the year takes place. Traders from Tien Giang, Dong Thap, Can Tho ... come early to buy mangoes. At the mango garden of Mr. Lam Tan, residing in Hon Dat hamlet, Tho Son commune, many people carry heavy baskets of mangoes to the car to deliver to traders. After carrying 6 baskets of mangoes, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoang, residing in Hon Me hamlet, Tho Son commune, sits down to rest.

Mr. Hoang said: “I have been carrying mangoes for nearly 10 years. I start working from 7am to 3pm then rest, earning 450,000 VND/day, the garden owner takes care of food and drink. This job requires strength because most of the mangoes are grown on the mountain, there are many rocks, steep and narrow roads so it is difficult to carry. When carrying mangoes, you have to be skillful to avoid falling, not letting the mangoes get crushed. Each time, a person has to carry 60-70kg of mangoes on their shoulders, each day they can carry nearly 1 ton of mangoes. Once, I collided with another mango carrier, we both fell from the mountain, I cracked my knee bone.”

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoang brings mangoes to traders.

Entering the mango orchard, I heard the sound of laughter and chatter. Many people hung themselves from the tall trees using nets to harvest mangoes, next to them were baskets and ropes to lower the mangoes from the trees to the ground. Mr. Nguyen Van Tho, residing in Hon Dat hamlet, Tho Son commune, is both a fruit bagger and a mango harvester, having been involved in the mango growing profession for ten years, thanks to this job he has a stable income to take care of his family.

“I bag the fruit, then harvest the mangoes for the garden owner. It’s easy to find and pick the fruit on short mango trees, but on tall mango trees we have to use a ladder. It’s normal to get stung by bees and bitten by ants while doing this job. I often fall from trees, but luckily the ground is soft so I’m not seriously injured. The income of a mango picker is about 350,000 VND/day,” said Tho. During peak times, mango pickers sometimes have to drink water and eat on the trees to harvest in time for traders.

After the mangoes are taken down from the tree, a group of 4-5 people will sit and peel the mangoes and put them in baskets for the mango carrier to carry them to the truck. The mango peelers are also the ones who select the mangoes, they remove the damaged ones and arrange the mangoes into grades 1, 2, and 3 as requested by the traders so that the garden owner can easily quote the price. This year, the price of Hoa Loc sand mangoes in Tho Son commune is good, traders buy from 65,000-70,000 VND/kg, leaving only the damaged ones, thus increasing the income of mango growers.

Mr. Lam Tan - owner of a mango garden of more than 1 hectare shared: “This year, mango prices are good, so workers are paid higher wages. We take advantage of the harvest to deliver on time and avoid the rain. I work with everyone so I understand how hard it is for mango workers. At the end of the day, I buy delicious food to treat my colleagues. We gather together in the middle of the mango garden, share about our work and encourage each other to try. After the harvest, we clean up and take care of the mango trees to prepare for the Lunar New Year.”

Article and photos: TUONG VI

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