Putting aside the holidays, Nghe An farmers go to the fields to cut 'young corn' to sell for a good income!

Currently, along the communes in the regionLam River alluvial landin Hung Nguyen district, is entering the biomass corn harvest season. Biomass corn is being harvested by field owners in the communes of Hung Linh, Chau Nhan, Long Xa, Xan Lam, Hung Thanh, Hung Loi, Hung Nguyen district, to sell to livestock farms.

Corn biomassThe corn is sold by the people in the field, each corn biomass costs from 900,000 VND to 1.4 million VND. To harvest, the corn buyer must hire local farmers to cut it in the field, then load it onto a truck and transport it to the farm to be used as animal feed.

Corn is sold to buyers by the acre, and in order to be able to bring it home to use as animal feed, they have to hire people to cut it right in the field. Photo: TD

Ms. Tran Thi Lan, communeThuong Tan Loc(Nam Dan), taking advantage of the off-season, went to Hung Nguyen to harvest corn for traders. Ms. Lan said that for each ton of fresh corn, workers are paid 50,000 VND, working from morning to night, if they work hard, each person can earn about 200,000 VND.

For each ton of corn, the hired cutters are paid 50,000 VND. If the corn is broken due to storms, it is even harder. Photo: TD

Corn harvesters like Ms. Lan usually gather in teams of about 6 people each, harvesting an average of 12 sao of corn each day. Each sao of fresh corn is estimated to weigh about 2 tons, and after cutting, they are paid by the purchasing agents right in the field.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuong - residing in Trung Phuc Cuong commune (Nam Dan), who is also often present in the Lam River alluvial area these days to receive corn cutting for traders, added that the job of cutting corn for hire is harder than harvesting rice, especially at this time due to thunderstorms, so the corn area is broken a lot, making harvesting more difficult. Meanwhile, the price of harvesting fallen corn as well as harvesting corn in intact rows, straight, is the same, only 50,000 VND/ton.

If they work hard, each person can earn 200,000 VND a day, which is the main source of income for farmers during the off-season. Photo: TD

Normally, hired corn harvesting teams will have one person to act as a contact point with the buyer. Because corn harvesting must be done manually, cutting with a sickle, it is much harder than harvesting rice.

The biomass corn season usually lasts about 2 months, from March to the end of April, so it becomes the main source of income for many farmers during this time.