These days, traditional rice harvesters in provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta region such as Can Tho, Hau Giang, etc. work tirelessly, earning extra income due to high demand.
Ms. Vo Thi Muoi (Long My district, Hau Giang province) who is hired to cut rice in a field that has been damaged by storms and rains said that the job looks simple but not everyone can do it. If you are not used to it, you will have back pain after cutting for a while or you will cut your hand.
According to Ms. Muoi, although the work is hard, the income is high compared to the standard of living in the countryside. “Currently, most people hire machines to cut rice, which is fast and cheap. This season, the rain and storms are erratic, the rice is falling and difficult to harvest, so hired rice cutters are sought after by field owners. On average, my daily salary from cutting rice is 250,000 VND,” Ms. Muoi shared.
In addition to the rice planting job, this year, Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan (Long My district, Hau Giang province) also earned an additional income of 300,000 VND/day by cutting rice for hire.
“Many rice fields have fallen down, the mowers cannot harvest, so the owners come to us to cut them in the traditional way. About 6 people are assigned to cut 5 hectares (1 hectare = 1,000 m2 - PV), it will take about 2 days to complete... In which, female workers earn from 200,000 - 250,000 VND/day, male workers earn from 250,000 - 300,000 VND/day,” said Mr. Tuan.
Through the review of the agricultural sector of Hau Giang province, farmers in the province have harvested nearly 74,000 hectares out of a total of nearly 74,200 hectares of summer-autumn rice that have been sown. With the remaining unharvested summer-autumn rice area only in Long My district, people are taking advantage of speeding up the rice cutting process when the weather is favorable to reduce yield losses.
In Can Tho, after harvesting their fields, many farmers also work as hired rice harvesters to earn extra income of 250,000 - 300,000 VND/day.
Mr. Le Chi Tam (Binh Thuy District, Can Tho City) confided: "The last storm and rain affected my rice field, the yield was only about 750kg/acre, plus the high cost of fertilizer and pesticides, so the profit was quite low."
Seeing that many people needed to hire workers to cut rice by hand, Mr. Tam accepted the job with an income of 300,000 VND/day. According to Mr. Tam, cutting rice for hire is hard work but he tries his best to increase his family's income.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Can Tho, this year's autumn-winter crop, the whole city planted more than 68,500 hectares, exceeding the plan by 8%. In the face of the complicated forecast of rain and flood, to proactively respond, the agricultural sector recommends that people apply balanced fertilizers, do not apply excess nitrogen, increase potassium fertilizer and supplement elements to limit lodging during the rainy and stormy season. People also need to apply the solution of alternating flooding and drying in water management.
