These days, when purple onions enter the harvest season early, at the purple onion purchasing and preliminary processing points of Vinh Chau Purple Onion Cooperative (Vinh Chau ward, Can Tho city), the working atmosphere becomes bustling from early morning. People choose onions, people bundle them, people sort, package,... each stage is associated with the livelihood and livelihood of people in the area.
Sitting bundled with purple onions, Ms. Ly Thi Tuyet (72 years old in Vinh Chau ward) shared: "I have been doing this job for 2 years now. I am old, no longer able to go to the fields to grow onions, so I started processing onions to earn income. Each kg earns 3,000 VND, I earn more than 100,000 VND a day, if there is money coming in, I am happy.
According to Ms. Tuyet, although the work is not as heavy as in the fields, it is also quite hard, having to sit continuously from about 7–8 am to late afternoon. "Old people should choose slowly, young people earn 200,000–300,000 VND per day is normal," she said with a smile.
Not only Ms. Tuyet, many other elderly workers also see bundling onions as a job suitable for their health. Ms. Thach Thi Lai (76 years old in Vinh Chau ward) said – every day she and her daughter work on about 50–60 kg of onions, with income ranging from 100,000–200,000 VND/day. "Working in the cool, rainy and sunny weather, I can do it, it's much better than going to the fields. If I'm tired, I rest, if I have a sore back, I go home," Ms. Lai said.
For younger workers, income from purple onions is even higher. Ms. Tang Thi Bong in Vinh Chau ward, who has been attached to this job for about 5 years, said – every day she makes about 60–70 kg of onions, with an average income of over 200,000 VND, some days it is even higher. "The family also grows a few onion seedlings, after watering in the morning, they go to process onions for hire, and then water them again in the afternoon. Thanks to that, I have money to cover living expenses," she shared.
According to Mr. Thach Dil - Director of Vinh Chau Purple Onion Cooperative, purple onion purchasing, preliminary processing, and processing activities at the Cooperative currently create regular jobs for about 30–40 local workers, and the peak season may be higher. Currently, the income of female workers ranges from 200,000–220,000 VND/day, and male workers are about 250,000–270,000 VND/day, contributing to improving the lives of people in onion growing areas.
In the onion growing season, many workers also participate in hired onion growing. Most of these workers are in difficult circumstances, do not have or have very little production land.
Ms. Ly Thi Thal in Vinh Chau ward, who has been attached to this job for more than 10 years, said that she goes to the fields from 7 am to about 2 pm every day. On average, 6 workers plant about 100 kg of onion seeds/day, the wage is about 170,000 - 200,000 VND/person.
To save time and travel costs, many workers bring rice and drinking water to the fields, taking advantage of eating and drinking during lunch breaks. "Women here are attached to the onion field all year round. When the seedling season comes, they go to plant tubers, when the onion is large, they weed, and when they are harvested, they pick onions for hire. Thanks to that, they do not have to go to work far away," said Ms. Thach Thi Sa Vy (in Vinh Chau ward).
Thanks to the characteristics of sandy soil, Vinh Chau purple onions have outstanding quality, planting 3 crops each year with a main crop area of about 5,000 hectares. In the crop season, it has contributed to solving jobs for thousands of workers in the locality.
