The hard work of tapping rubber trees.

While everyone else is fast asleep, amidst the biting cold night mist of the highlands, rubber tappers leave their homes and head to the rubber forests to begin a new day's work.

Around 2 AM, the lights came on in the small house of Ms. H'Ái Niê (a worker at Krông Búk Rubber Company Limited, Krông Năng commune). Changing out of their work clothes and putting on warm jackets, Ms. H'Ái and her husband grabbed their tool bags and headed to work. Nearly 20 years of working as rubber tappers has also meant countless nights spent working in the vast rubber forests.

Besides a tapping knife, a headlamp, and a bucket for collecting latex, rubber tappers like H'Ái and her husband usually carry some mosquito repellent incense, a bottle of medicated oil to protect against the cold, a bottle of drinking water, and a face mask.

Ms. H'Ái shared that rubber tapping is a very special profession, from the timing to the tapping methods. To get a lot of latex, they have to go out in the middle of the night, when it's still cold. The cuts made today heal by the next day, and the workers tap thin layers to allow the sap to flow out. It sounds simple, but it requires great skill to avoid damaging the tree. The tapping knife must be very sharp, and the tapping must be done correctly, at the prescribed depth, to extract the most latex without harming the tree. The tapping time depends on the weather throughout the year; in the dry season, tapping should be done as early as possible, while in the rainy season, they must wait until the tree is dry before starting to tap.

Ms. H'Doái Mlô meticulously works at tapping rubber to ensure a livelihood for her entire family.

“For many years, I’ve been taking care of and tapping rubber on 3 hectares with about 800 trees. Therefore, when tapping season comes, my husband and I usually wake up at over 2 a.m. to go into the plantation and start working to finish tapping all 800 trees by nightfall. On cold nights, my hands get numb, making it even more difficult to control the blade. In the morning, my husband goes to work, and I continue tapping the remaining rows of trees before collecting the latex and taking it to the company’s collection point to be weighed,” Ms. H’Ái recounted.

For Ms. H'Doái Mlô (from Krông Năng commune, a worker at Krông Búk Rubber Company Limited), over 17 years of working as a rubber tapper has made her accustomed to hardship, toil, and waking up around 3 a.m. “With 800 rubber trees under contract to care for, to finish tapping before dawn, my husband helps me tap rubber every night. Around 6 a.m., he comes home to prepare meals and get the children ready for school, while I stay to continue the unfinished work. After tapping, I quickly rush home to eat a quick meal before returning to the plantation to collect the latex. By the time I finish, it's already past noon. The most heartbreaking thing is that the children are still sound asleep while their parents are at work. When they were young, I had to leave them with relatives before going to work, but as they grew older, they took care of each other at home at night.”

Rubber latex flows best when temperatures are low and humidity is high, which is why rubber tappers have to start working before dawn. Working in these "paradoxical" hours, these tappers face many fears. "When I first started, working at night in the deserted forest, the sound of the wind whistling through the leaves scared me. But then, for the sake of making a living, I got used to it, and now it's normal. The unchangeable rule before making the first cut is to observe carefully, checking around the base of the tree to make sure there are no 'uninvited guests' lurking," H'Ái confided.

However, familiarity does not equate to safety. The job of tapping rubber trees is fraught with risks, from sharp knives that can cut deeply into the hand with just a slight misstep, to insects, snakes, and other reptiles lurking around, or security issues in the pitch-black night in the vast rubber forest, where only the occasional faint light from a colleague's flashlight can be seen in the distance.

Mr. Luong Van Du, Permanent Deputy General Director of the Company (far left) , shared words of encouragement with the rubber tapping workers of the unit.

In addition, their workspace is permeated with the pungent, distinctive smell of fresh latex. The hands of the rubber tappers are always stained black by dried latex clinging tightly to their skin, making it very difficult to wash off.

Despite the hardship, for H'Ái, H'Doái, and many other workers, this job is a stable source of income. H'Doái said that the work is strenuous, requiring sleepless nights, but in return, rubber tapping doesn't require any special skills. For unskilled laborers like her, the average monthly income of about 15 million VND is enough to cover her children's education and other living expenses. Moreover, after tapping, she takes a nap at noon, and in the afternoon she has time to prepare meals for her family and do extra work in the fields.

According to Mr. Luong Van Du, Permanent Deputy General Director of Krong Buk Rubber Company Limited, in recent years, the price of rubber latex has increased again, which is good news for the company and the rubber tappers, because the white latex is the lifeblood that sustains their dreams of a brighter future for their families and children.

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/xa-hoi/202601/vat-va-nghe-cao-mu-cao-su-d3c1527/