In the days leading up to Tet, the harvesting atmosphere in the star apple export growing areas in Can Tho City becomes bustling. In the lush green gardens, local workers are busy with harvesting and packaging work.
Thach Khang (19 years old, Thoi An Hoi commune, Can Tho city) said that before, every rice harvest season, he followed a rice harvester to cut rice for hire. At the end of the season, there was no job left, income was precarious. Since Xom Dong 2 Agricultural Cooperative promoted star apple exports, the demand for labor increased, so he applied to work.
“Every day I get 300,000 VND, overtime for one hour adds 50,000 VND, the cooperative also includes lunch and drinking water. Working near Tet, I also have extra money to take care of my family,” Khang shared.
Not only young workers, many people who had left their hometowns to work far away have now returned to stick with their fields and gardens. Mr. Kim Sang (Thoi An Hoi commune, Can Tho city) said that in the past, his family only had 5 acres of rice fields, and during his spare time he had to go to Binh Duong to work as a hired laborer.
“Now in the countryside, there is work all year round, each year, the star apple crop lasts about 6 months. Jobs such as washing trees, weeding, mud filling... are all paid 300,000 VND/day. Working near home, the cost is less and the income is more stable,” Mr. Sang said.
Mr. Tran Van Phuong - Director of Xom Dong 2 Agricultural Cooperative, Thoi An Hoi commune (Can Tho City) - said that the unit currently creates regular jobs for more than 20 workers, with peak times reaching 30-34 people. The jobs include weeding, taking care of roots, fruit bags, picking fruits, preliminary processing and packaging. Workers work about 8 hours/day, with an average income of 300,000 VND/day; if overtime, they will be paid extra. Meals are all taken care of by the Cooperative.
According to Mr. Su Quoc Loc - Director of Loc Mai Agricultural Cooperative, An Lac Thon commune (Can Tho City), each star apple export season requires more than 30 workers to perform the stages of preliminary processing, fruit selection, and boxing for export.
“In cooperatives, jobs are organized in a rotating form. Whoever needs labor, cooperative members support each other, doing one garden after another. Thanks to that, many jobs are created for cooperative members and local workers,” Mr. Loc shared.
Also according to Mr. Loc, currently, many workers in the locality no longer have to work as workers far from home, but work for cooperatives and then return to continue to take care of their family's garden, creating a double source of income and long-term stability.
Attached to the job for the past 5 years, Ms. Nguyen Thi Be An - the person in charge of checking the appearance of star apples at Loc Mai Agricultural Cooperative - said that the job is seasonal but the income is quite good. "When it's fruit season, I go to choose star apples to export to the US, after the season, I go back to work in my garden. One season lasts about 6 months, the total income is also a few tens of millions of VND," Ms. An shared.
Meanwhile, Mr. Tran Van Phuc - representative of San Tien Co., Ltd. (Cu Lao Dung commune, Can Tho city) - said that in the San Tien pink plum specialized area of more than 40 hectares, there are about 50-80 local workers working regularly every day, at peak times it can be up to nearly 100 workers/day, with an income of 8-12 million VND/month.
Workers are fully participating in insurance policies, taking on stages from care, harvesting to post-harvest preservation, packaging and transportation.
The greatest joy is that people have jobs right in their hometowns, without having to leave their hometowns to work far away. When creating value on their own land, they will have conditions to hire labor and develop the local economy," Mr. Phuc shared.
