These days, in the communes along the Hau River of An Giang province, the seasonal labor atmosphere is quite bustling. From early morning, many groups of workers have been present at acacia mango gardens to carry out the work of wrapping mangoes in specialized paper bags. This is an important step to limit pests and diseases, ensure the design and quality of fruits before entering the peak harvest season.
According to garden owners, fruit bags not only help make mangoes look beautiful and uniform, but also significantly reduce the use of pesticides. Therefore, during peak seasons, the demand for hiring workers to wrap fruit bags increases sharply. In many localities, workers work as much as they can, even not enough people to meet the needs of gardeners.
Reporters' records show that the seasonal labor wage in communes along the Hau River currently ranges from 300,000 - 350,000 VND/day, in some places higher depending on the number of fruits and the hardship of the work.
Compared to a few years ago, this income level has increased significantly. The main reason is that the young labor force in rural areas is increasingly fewer, many people leave their hometowns to go to cities and industrial parks to work, while the area of fruit trees in the locality is continuously expanding.
Despite increasing labor costs, many garden owners still accept renting at high prices to ensure production progress. "Fruit packaging must be done at the right time, if late, pests and diseases attack, affecting quality. Therefore, even though the wages are higher than before, we still have to rent in time," said Mr. Dao Van Nhieu - a mango garden owner in Phu Huu commune (An Giang province).
While many industrial parks set quite strict requirements on age, qualifications and profiles, rural workers have more job opportunities, just need to be healthy and hardworking. Jobs such as harvesting and harvesting agricultural products, although hard, are suitable for many middle-aged and freelance workers in rural areas.
Mr. Nguyen Hoang Bao Phuc (resident of Khanh Binh commune, An Giang province) said that for more than a month now he has almost no days off. “Every day I pack fruit for hire, harvesting mangoes for gardens in the area. I have to climb a lot, it's hot, but in return, the wages are higher than before, so everyone is excited,” Mr. Phuc shared.
According to Mr. Phuc, in the past, the salary for packing fruit was only about 250,000 - 280,000 VND/day. However, in recent years, the mango area has increased rapidly, while local labor is increasingly scarce, so the labor cost has increased to 300,000 - 350,000 VND/day. "Garden owners are now most afraid of not having people to work. Those who are familiar with the job and diligent are called regularly, sometimes working continuously for a whole month," Mr. Phuc said.
Mr. Tran Thanh Nghi - Chairman of Phu Huu Commune People's Committee (An Giang province) - said that the total mango output in 2025 in the harvested area is estimated at 17,070 - 22,760 tons, selling price from 5,500 - 19,000 VND/kg, yield reaching 30 - 40 tons/ha. After deducting expenses, people have a mango growing profit of 30 - 50 million VND/ha/year.
Mango trees have helped people in the commune escape poverty and become quite rich. Especially since mangoes were exported, the selling price is very good, farmers make a lot of profit. Since then, the economy has improved, helping the security and order situation to become more stable, and the rural face is increasingly renewed," Mr. Nghi said.
According to statistics, the mango growing area in An Phu district, former An Giang province (now 5 communes including: Khanh Binh, Nhon Hoi, Phu Huu, An Phu and Vinh Hau in An Giang province) to date is about 2,000 ha. In which, Khanh Binh commune has an acacia mango growing area of 900ha.
