Mango harvest season in 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, sat down to rest.

Mr. Hoang said: “I have been working as a mango carrier for nearly 10 years. I start working from 7am to 3pm then rest, earning 450,000 VND/day, the garden owner takes care of meals. This job requires strength because most of the mangoes are grown on the mountain, there are many rocks, the road is steep and narrow 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 down the mountain, I cracked my knee bone.”

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoang brings mangoes to traders.

Entering the mango garden, I heard the sound of laughter and chatter. Many people were hanging from the treetops, using nets to harvest mangoes, with baskets and ropes nearby 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. He has been working in the mango growing industry for ten years, and thanks to this job, he has a stable income to support 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 the 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. At 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 mango bags and put them in baskets for the mango carriers to carry them to the transport vehicle. The mango peelers are also the ones who select the mangoes, they remove the damaged ones and arrange the mangoes into grades 1, 2, 3 as requested by the traders so that the garden owners 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/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 mango workers work. 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 the 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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