Creating jobs for dozens of workers
In Dien Bien village, Tan Hung commune, Mr. Do Manh Hung, Dien Bien Longan Cooperative, has been attached to longan for more than 30 years. From the accumulated experience over many years, he not only maintains longan production but also grows longan, contributing to creating more jobs for local workers in each harvest season.
At peak times, the facility can hire about 40-50 workers to perform the longan making stages, including spinning the longan. This is an stage that requires skill and quickness to separate the longan part from the longan fruit.
Salary is calculated based on productivity. Fast-working people can earn about 700,000 - 800,000 VND/day, while slow-working people have lower incomes. The xoáy long profession creates jobs and income for many workers, including elderly people in the locality.
For longan growers, processing into longan is also a way to increase the value of fruit after harvest. Instead of only consuming fresh fruit for a short time, longan is processed into products that can be preserved longer and are convenient for transportation and consumption.
To make delicious longan, craftsmen must have experience from the stage of selecting fruit to processing and removing longan. These skills are accumulated through actual production, passed from person to person and gradually become unique knowledge of the longan region.
Mr. Hung also brought experience in growing longans to the southern provinces for production before returning to his hometown. According to him, wherever he goes, longan growing experience and techniques still originate from his homeland.
Making dragon fruit also requires craftsmanship. From choosing the right fruit, when spinning, you must be skillful, do it quickly but keep the dragon fruit. If your label is developed and cared for, you must also keep it. Everything you do must have a brand to have value" - Mr. Hung shared.
Linking traditional knowledge with science, building brands
Hung Yen currently has over 5,860ha of longan cultivation, concentrated in communes and wards such as: Tan Hung, Khoai Chau, Hong Quang, Son Nam, Tien Lu... About 80% of longan production is consumed in the form of fresh fruit, about 20% is processed into longan and other products.
The whole province currently has more than 400 households producing and processing longan. More than 20 longan and lotus-hugging longan products have been certified OCOP 3 stars, 4 stars. This is a direction that contributes to extending the preservation time, diversifying products and enhancing the value of longan fruit.
According to Vice Chairman of Hung Yen Provincial People's Committee Le Quang Hoa, in recent years, the province has made efforts to preserve and develop the longan brand through investing in developing specialty longan growing areas, producing according to VietGAP standards, organic production and building linkage models from production to processing and consumption.
On December 31, 2019, the Provincial People's Committee approved the Project "Preserving and developing specialty longan and lychee growing areas of Hung Yen province in the period 2020-2025, orientation to 2030". The Project focuses on researching, preserving, and exploiting the gene source of specialty longan; building intensive farming models; supporting and guiding techniques and bringing scientific advances into production; and at the same time strengthening links, trade promotion, brand building and product promotion.
From the experiences preserved by people through many generations to production processes standardized by science and technology, the knowledge of growing and processing longan is continuing to be promoted in new conditions. This is the foundation for Hung Yen to both preserve traditional cultural values and enhance the economic value of local characteristic products.
