Currently, many provinces in the Central Highlands are entering the coffee harvest season. This year, coffee prices are good, so farmers are very excited.
To harvest on time, many gardeners choose contract harvesting (wages will be paid based on yield).
This form attracts a lot of workers, because the higher the productivity, the higher the income.
Following a group of contract coffee pickers in Ea Kpam commune (Cu M'gar district, Dak Lak), we witnessed their enthusiastic labor.
Mr. Y Nien Nie (Ea H'ding commune, Cu M'gar district) said that he has been working as a contract coffee picker for many years. During the coffee harvest season, he and his brothers and sisters in the village form a group to contract the garden.
According to Mr. Y Nien, picking coffee on a contract basis is tiring but in return the income is higher than the daily wage. “If you pick by the day, the garden owner pays 250,000 VND. With contract picking, you pick as much as you eat. I personally earn nearly 500,000 VND a day from contract picking,” Mr. Y Nien revealed.
To harvest effectively, Mr. Y Nien said, each group should have 4 people or more. Each member must be proactive, enthusiastic, know how to support each other and work together.
There must be a team leader. This person is usually experienced, good at speaking, has the prestige to negotiate with the garden owner and knows how to assign tasks to members. This way, the group will be more effective and receive more coffee gardens.
Ms. H’Sa Mlo (Ea Tul commune, Cu M’gar district) added that every form has its price. If paid daily, workers will harvest at a moderate speed, have breaks, and work exactly 8 hours before getting a break.
As for contract picking, workers will work at high speed, limit rest breaks and often leave early, come home late, even work at noon. Thus, contract picking is more tiring but in return the daily salary will be higher, even double.
According to Ms. H’Sa, for each kilogram of fresh coffee, the picker will be paid 1,200 VND. This price is higher than previous years, because currently, the price of green coffee has increased (more than 120,000 VND/kg). Therefore, the garden owner will increase the remuneration.
During the picking process, workers need to limit breaking branches, leaving too many fruits on the tree or spilling coffee on the ground without picking them all up. This will make the garden owner complain and later lose business.
Mr. Nguyen An Son (Quang Tien commune, Cu M’gar district, Dak Lak) has about 7 hectares of coffee entering the harvest season. According to Mr. Son, he is currently hiring workers to harvest under a contract.
He has maintained this form for many years because of its advantages such as: Mobilizing many workers at once. Moreover, the harvesting time is fast so that it can be dried on time, avoiding the case of over-ripe fruit falling off, reducing quality...
