Gardeners in Ho Chi Minh City spend millions to hire people to pick mai leaves for Tet

With more than 10 days to go until Lunar New Year 2024, many apricot garden owners in Ho Chi Minh City are spending millions to hire seasonal workers to pick apricot leaves. This is a mandatory job for apricot growers so that the flowers bloom in time for Tet.

According to Dan Tri reporters, there are about 20 people working to pick mai leaves at Tu Sang mai garden (Hoc Mon district). It is known that most of them are seasonal workers in the area to earn extra income.

The work starts early in the morning and ends late in the afternoon. These people will be paid from 350,000 - 500,000 VND/day by the garden owner.

This job is easy but requires meticulousness and high concentration to avoid breaking branches or falling flower buds when picking leaves.

For trees over 2m high, plum pickers must use ladders to stand on to pick all the leaves at the top.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Sang (43 years old, owner of Tu Sang apricot garden) said that recently on the market there is a type of spray that makes the trees shed their leaves by themselves. Doing so will save money on hiring people to pick the leaves, but will more or less affect the longevity and health of the trees. With more than 1,000 apricot trees in the garden, spraying the leaves to make them fall by themselves only costs about 1 million VND, however, Mr. Sang still chooses to hire people to pick the leaves at a cost of more than 10 million VND for his entire apricot garden.

"I put my heart first in business. After selling the trees to customers for Tet, I have to make sure they can be used next year and the year after. Moreover, every year near Tet, my neighbors come here to ask for mai leaves, I also create conditions for them to do it, to earn a little extra money for Tet," Sang shared.

Each large pot of apricot blossoms usually takes 2 to 4 people to do, and it takes about 15 to 30 minutes to pick a pot of apricot blossoms.

"I have been doing this job for more than 20 years now. I am over 70 years old and still have a job to do to earn money. I am so happy," said Ms. Tong Ngoc Lai (71 years old).

To have time for a lunch break, most of the workers here bring their own lunch. "I cook at home last night and bring it with me for lunch. After eating, I rest and then go back to work," said Ms. Truong Thi Diem (48 years old).

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Le (58 years old) said that she has been working as a seasonal worker for more than 20 years. Every time Tet approaches, she goes from one apricot garden to another to ask for jobs picking leaves. After Tet, Ms. Le continues to work as a hired worker at a tobacco production facility.

"This job is like that, I do whatever I'm hired to do, as long as I have money and don't break the law, I'll do it. At my age, what else can I do to make money?", Ms. Le said.

At Sau Hai apricot garden (Thu Duc city), this year due to economic difficulties, the garden owner only hired 10 people to pick apricot leaves.

Mr. Huynh Van Hai (owner of Sau Hai apricot garden) said that due to economic difficulties, the price of apricot trees has decreased by more than 30% compared to previous years, so the gardener only hires acquaintances and neighbors to pick the leaves. Last year, Mr. Hai's apricot garden had to hire 30-40 people to finish the job.

To make the apricot blossoms bloom in time for Tet, the workers in Mr. Hai's garden have to work extra hours at night.

Normally, the job of picking mai leaves only lasts a few days to a week. Due to the hot weather in Ho Chi Minh City, this job often takes place quite late. In some localities with cool weather, this job often starts at the end of November.

Source link: https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/nha-vuon-o-tphcm-chi-tien-trieu-thue-nguoi-lat-la-mai-dip-tet-20240125004335292.htm