Nghe An: 'Forest blessings' increase in price, highland people excited to sell for Tet

PV Group• DNUM_CBZABZCACC 14:40

(Baonghean.vn) - At this time, people in the highlands of Nghe An are busy collecting "forest gifts" to serve the Tet market. This year, items such as dong leaves and giang tubes have increased in price, so people are excited.

These days, to prepare for the Lunar New Year of the Tiger, people in the highlands of Ky Son, Que Phong, Tuong Duong districts... go into the forest to harvest dong leaves and giang tubes to sell to traders. This is the main source of income for many highland people every time Tet comes and Spring comes. Photo: Quang An

Bamboo shoots are used to split bamboo strips to wrap banh chung, so this is one of the products that is consumed strongly during Tet. Many households in the highlands have mobilized their family members to go into the forest to find bamboo bushes with straight, beautiful bamboo trees to bring back to sell for Tet. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Vu Ba Gio, Tay Son commune, Ky Son said: "Giang tubes are not difficult to find, however, you have to go into the forest for a long distance to find beautiful giang, the earlier you go, the more you can harvest, my family goes in the morning and returns in the evening. On average, my family collects about 300 giang tubes a day, and many families can collect thousands of tubes..." Photo: Quang An

Currently, each bamboo tube costs 1,500 VND, much higher than previous years (from 800 - 1,000 VND/tube). After being taken out of the forest, the bamboo tubes will be sawn into small pieces for easy transport downstream. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Besides giang bamboo, dong leaves are also a product that grows naturally in abundance in the forests of mountainous districts. At this time, people in the highlands are also busy going into the forest to pick dong leaves to serve the Tet market. After picking, dong leaves are wrapped into bundles of 20 - 50 leaves for easy import to traders. Photo: Quang An

Dong leaves grow naturally in the forest, so they are large and beautiful, and are popular in the market. Mr. Luong Van Hung in Ang village, Xa Luong commune (Tuong Duong) said that this year, dong leaves are more expensive than previous years. A bundle of 50 leaves sells for 25,000 VND, while last year it was only 20,000 VND. The reason is that the number of people picking them is lower than previous years due to the epidemic. In addition, to get beautiful leaves, you have to go far, the nearby areas have small dong leaves and are currently eaten by many buffaloes and cows... Photo: Xuan Hoang

Many traders from the lowlands have gone to the highland districts to import dong leaves for consumption during Tet. Photo: Quang An

Besides bamboo shoots, dong leaves... other "forest gifts" such as wild bananas, wild bamboo shoots... are also being picked by people in the highlands to bring back to sell for Tet. After a difficult year due to the pandemic and reduced income, "forest gifts" are currently the only source of income for many highland households during Tet this year. Photo: Xuan Hoang