Soc Trang province has an annual rice growing area of over 330,000 hectares, with an output of over 2 million tons. This has also created jobs for thousands of local workers.
Mr. Nguyen Van Tam in Dai Tam commune (My Xuyen district, Soc Trang province) said that he used to work as a worker in Binh Duong province, but because he had to rent a house and the cost of living was high, his income was not much anymore. After that, he decided to return to his hometown to find another job.
“Here, people grow rice, so there is year-round work. After the planting season, I spray pesticides and fertilize, and when it’s time to harvest, I carry rice for hire. There is no shortage of work in the countryside. The average income is 200,000 - 500,000 VND/day. After 3 years of returning to my hometown, I have not thought about working far away anymore,” said Mr. Tam.
Mr. Hua Thanh Nghia - Head of Dai Thanh Agricultural Cooperative Group, Dai Tam Commune (My Xuyen District, Soc Trang Province) - said that every year, over 100 hectares of certified rice seeds are produced with strict cultivation processes from land preparation, sowing, care to harvesting. This service helps many local workers have jobs, earning hundreds of thousands of VND per day.
She used to work as a worker in Binh Duong province, but due to the company reducing orders and cutting workers, Ms. Son Thi Quyen returned to her hometown in Tran De district (Soc Trang province) to find another job. Right at the time when the rice fields here were in the planting season, she worked as a hired worker to earn money to support her life.
“Every day, I go to the field from 6am to 2pm to finish my work, earning 200,000 VND. After about 30 days of farming, I earn 6 million VND. In the countryside, this income is quite good,” said Ms. Quyen.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tu in Ho Dac Kien commune (Chau Thanh district, Soc Trang province) said that for more than 20 years, drying rice for hire has been her family's main source of income. "There is a unit here that buys rice to resell to traders, so we need workers to dry it. The work is year-round. The salary is 5,000 VND/bag of rice. Every month, I earn about 3 million VND, enough to cover my family's living expenses and send my children to school," Ms. Tu said.
