Dong Tam broom making village

(Baonghean.vn) -Dong Tam village (Hamlet 4, Thanh Luong commune - Thanh Chuong) in addition to agricultural production and animal husbandry, also has the broom weaving profession which was formed and introduced before 1980. Up to now, the profession has been maintained and developed effectively...

Around March and April, households making brooms in hamlet 4, Thanh Luong commune, start purchasing brooms to store and dry as raw materials for production for the whole year. Brooms are ordered from the southern districts such as Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong... Previously, villagers only considered broom making as a sideline job, but now it has become the main job. Some households have focused on investing in expanding production facilities and collecting brooms locally to send to Thanh Hoa, Ninh Binh, Hanoi... for consumption.

Currently, the whole commune has 47 households making brooms, mainly concentrated in hamlet 4 with nearly 100 local workers participating. In addition, the broom making profession also attracts about 30 workers to participate in stages such as services, selling brooms on the street... The good thing is that broom making does not require much health, so women in their free time, even many students after school hours can help their parents. The income from broom making is not high, averaging from 1.6 to 1.8 million VND/person/month, but it is equal to the income of an entire sao of rice when the harvest is good, moreover, it is always stable and the investment cost of production is low. Therefore, it is said to be taking advantage, but most people when participating in broom making are passionate, following the profession all year round, only during busy harvest days do they take a few days off to plant and harvest. To ensure the source of raw materials for production, some people buy dozens of tons of fresh bamboo shoots, dry them, and store them until the "giap dot" day.

The broom making profession has created jobs and stable income for many people in Hamlet 4, Thanh Luong Commune (Thanh Chuong).

Visiting the family of Mr. Nguyen Sy Hoan (Hamlet 4 - Thanh Luong Commune), we saw that all 3 father and sons make brooms, the farm work is assigned to the wife. Asked about the business, Mr. Hoan said: "In addition to the 3 sao of rice fields contracted from the commune, the livelihood is making brooms. This job is not too hard, each day making 35 to 40 brooms will bring in an income of about 80,000 VND. To complete a broom, it must go through many stages, especially the stages of making the handle and braiding. The cotton also requires sunlight, has a greenish-white color, and is long for the broom to be durable. My family, like most families in the commune, thanks to making brooms, has a bowl to eat, a bowl to put away, and money to take care of the children's education".

January is the main season for bamboo shoots, the price of bamboo shoots is cheap and beautiful, so many families have invested in buying tons of bamboo shoots in reserve. And every 3 tons of fresh bamboo shoots after being dried will yield 1 ton of dry bamboo shoots, which through the hands of skilled craftsmen can make 1,800 brooms. While quickly finishing the brooms for customers to receive, Tran Thu Thuy - a 6th grade student said: "I have known how to make brooms for more than a year. At first, my brooms were not as beautiful as my mother's, but as I made them, my mother guided me so I have improved a lot. In addition to the time I spend in class, I work as an "assistant" for my mother. A day of hard work also makes 10 brooms".

The broom making profession in Thanh Luong is on the rise, but it is mainly a household economy, and depends largely on the intermediary market, so profits and production scale are still limited. Therefore, the problem of expanding the market and production scale, improving product quality is the condition for Dong Tam brooms to become a famous brand for customers to seek out.

Ngoc Anh