Dong leaf growers are busy entering the Tet season.

These days, dong leaf growers in the communes of Trung Trac (Van Lam); Dong Ket (Khoai Chau), Quang Chau ( Hung Yen city) ... are busy harvesting and selling to customers to make Tet banh chung.

Farmers in Dong Ket commune harvest dong leaves.

In the sweet cold weather of the last days of the year, coming to Lac Thuy village, Dong Ket commune (Khoai Chau), we were attracted by the lush green color of this dong leaf growing area. From the beginning of December to the day before Tet is considered the "golden time" when dong leaves begin to enter the main harvest season. Everywhere on the big and small streets, we can see people and households sitting and selecting and classifying leaves. Although the work is busy, everyone's face is radiant. Currently, the whole commune has about 140 hectares of this plant, mainly concentrated in Lac Thuy village. Small households grow 1 - 2 sao, large households grow up to a whole mau. Lac Thuy village's dong leaves are famous for their green and large leaves, so they are very popular with buyers. In the commune, there are more than 10 facilities that purchase leaves for domestic sale and export.

Having been attached to dong leaves for many years, Mr. Ngo Trong Vu in Lac Thuy village said: Dong leaves are easy to grow, have few pests and diseases, especially during Tet, people have a significant source of income. After each time cutting the leaves, just clean the grass at the base and fertilize with phosphate and nitrogen, the tree will grow new leaves. After being cut from the garden, the leaves will be classified, then tied into separate bundles, each bundle has about 100 leaves. The largest and most beautiful leaves can be sold for 100,000 - 150,000 VND per bundle. On average, each sao of dong leaves brings my family an income of over 6 million VND/year.

Comrade Do Nguyen Cuong, Vice Chairman of Dong Ket Commune People's Committee, said: Thanks to bringing high income, in recent years, the area of dong leaf cultivation in the commune has been expanded. Dong Ket dong leaves are a type of pandan leaves, famous throughout the province and outside for their quality, so a number of companies have contacted the locality to learn about and connect to consume the product. In particular, a number of units have come to the locality to purchase and export. In the coming time, the commune will cooperate with companies that purchase and export dong leaves, coordinate with functional agencies and companies to organize propaganda, training, and instruct people on techniques for planting, caring for, and harvesting dong leaves...

The entire Quang Chau commune (Hung Yen city) currently has more than 20 hectares of dong leaves. People in the commune said that growing dong leaves is quite simple, just need to separate the branches and plant, then fertilize and wait for harvest. Dong leaves grow best in moist soil areas such as pond banks, ditches. The tree only needs to be planted once and will be harvested for many years, and can be intercropped with bananas, longans, apples, etc. On normal days, the leaves are cut and sold to serve sticky rice, sticky rice cakes, banh te, etc. The main crop is Tet, used to serve banh chung. Quang Chau dong leaves are famous in the market, favored by traders from Hanoi, Thai Binh, Ha Nam , etc. At this time, in the gardens, grade 1 dong leaves are sold for 800 to 1,000 VND/leaf, and closer to Tet, the price will increase.

Mr. Duong Van Tung, in village 4, Quang Chau commune, said: My family is currently growing 5 sao of dong leaves under the canopy of longan trees. Although it is a secondary crop, it is the main source of income for my family. Realizing that the locality has a large area of dong leaves, I buy leaves from people in the commune and then export them to provinces and cities in the country. In addition, I contact a number of companies that export dong leaves abroad to introduce local products. From the 9th lunar month until now, I have purchased and delivered to a number of export companies more than 10 trips, each trip about 100,000 dong leaves to markets in European and Asian countries. Leaves that meet export standards are purchased at a price about 15-20% higher than domestic consumption.

Comrade Nguyen Van Biet, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Quang Chau Commune, said: The whole commune currently has 5 establishments purchasing dong leaves. These establishments start purchasing in large quantities from the end of the 9th lunar month to promptly transport them to countries such as Japan, Korea, Russia, etc. to serve the Vietnamese community in wrapping banh chung to celebrate the traditional Tet holiday. For the Tet season, people focus on harvesting from the beginning of December until the eve of Tet. On average, each sao of dong leaves brings people an income of about 10 million VND/year.

Going to the localities growing a lot of dong leaves in the province today, the image of the elderly and young people busily harvesting dong leaves makes us feel like the traditional Tet holiday is near with joyful joy. Bundles of dong leaves from the countryside are carried by trucks back and forth everywhere, bringing the scent of early spring to everyone, every home...

Huong Giang

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