Busy for the "white gold" harvest

It was only 5am, the sky was still foggy and not yet fully light, but Mr. Thanh from Lac Tanh town, Tanh Linh had already prepared his tools to go to the rubber plantation in Gia Huynh commune. The tools he brought with him were cups to hold latex, pieces of waterproof rubber, and a rubber scraper.

He said that the fertilizer was heavy and plentiful, so it was transported by pickup trucks to fertilize the trees since last week. These new cups replace the old broken cups, with rubber pieces stuck above the latex tapping line to prevent rainwater from flowing into the latex... For more than half a month now, Binh Thuan has had a lot of rain and heavy rain, so rubber growers have taken advantage of the opportunity to weed and fertilize. When the rubber trees absorb the fertilizer and are strong, they can tap the latex. Mr. Thanh's family has 5 hectares of rubber, which is not much compared to other households in the area, because some people usually have 10-30 hectares of rubber. Each year, the rubber garden gives him an income of several hundred million VND, and if the price is right, it will bring in a revenue of billions of VND.

Rubber tappers.

Unlike previous years at this time, rubber farmers rarely pay attention to their gardens because the latex price is low, only about 2.3 - 2.5 million VND/ton. The low price means that large rubber growers only fertilize sparingly to nourish the trees, not tapping the latex because the income cannot cover the expenses. Only small-scale growers of 3 hectares or less tap the latex for labor and profit. However, the situation has been completely different in the past 2 years, the price of rubber latex has increased from the beginning of the season, so people have been busy taking better care of their gardens so that the rubber has the best latex. Due to heavy rainfall, the soil has been deeply soaked, and the gardens have been weeded and fertilized by people, so most of the rubber forests have lush, green leaves, signaling that the trees have enough nutrients and are ready to produce latex.

Mr. Kiet, who has a 7-hectare rubber garden near Mr. Thanh's garden, said: "My garden has 4 hectares that have been tapped for 5 years, and 3 hectares have just opened this year, so it's even harder... From 5 to 7 a.m., hundreds of people ride motorbikes carrying tools to serve the latex tapping in the Gia Huynh - Suoi Kiet rubber area, the key area of ​​the province, making the country road bustling and different. Greetings or asking about the garden that has opened its mouth yet has not been rushed, creating a more bustling atmosphere. According to Mr. Kiet, the Tanh Linh - Duc Linh rubber area this year had early rains, so the latex tapping season started early. At the end of May, many people opened their rubber trees, and in early June, the latex began to be harvested. The price of rubber latex that traders buy at the garden is currently fluctuating between 39 - 41 million VND/ton (depending on the latex level). This is a much higher price at the beginning of the season than in previous years and higher than the beginning of the 2024 season (38 - 39 million VND/ton). Compared to the middle of At the beginning of the season and at the end of the 2024 crop, the price will be at 44 - 48 million VND/ton, so with the high price at the beginning of the season, rubber growers are expecting rubber latex prices to increase sharply in the near future.

The province currently has about 45,000 hectares of rubber, of which nearly 3/4 of the area is for harvest, with an average latex yield of 15-17 quintals/ha, and in some areas with good soil and proper care, the yield is 18-20 quintals/ha. In the province, there are about 10 large and small establishments that buy and process rubber latex, mostly concentrated in Tanh Linh and Duc Linh. The processing establishments have improved the quality of latex for export, creating higher-value rubber latex products. Rubber latex is expensive, so the gardens invest heavily in exploitation. This means that farmers have more job opportunities, especially rural workers who tap and drain latex for hire for local people. The current price for tapping latex is 450 - 500 VND/tree. If you work hard from 10pm to tap latex and from 3am to 7am in the morning, you can collect 2,000 - 3,000 trees, and the salary is also from 400,000 - 600,000 VND. This is a high income in rural areas, especially in ethnic minority areas such as La Da, Dong Giang, Dong Tien...

In the new rubber latex harvest season, the high latex price is a good sign for people harvesting "white gold"...

Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/tat-bat-cho-vu-thu-vang-trang-130810.html