Nghe An: People earn nearly half a million each day by going into the forest to pick chestnuts.
(Baonghean.vn) - In November, when the weather starts to get cold, it is the time for people in Giang Son Dong commune (Do Luong) to go into the forest to pick up chestnuts. Because at this time, chestnuts fall the most, each person can earn nearly 500 thousand VND from picking chestnuts.
Nature has bestowed upon Giang Son Dong commune (Do Luong) a chestnut forest growing naturally amidst the vast, layered mountains. If anyone has been to the forest many times, but has not yet set foot in the chestnut forest, they will easily feel a strangely pleasant atmosphere. The scent of the chestnut forest is faintly cool and fragrant…
Currently, Giang Son Dong commune has a forest area of 1,150 hectares, of which 35 hectares are chestnut forests, mainly concentrated in Yen Tan, My Hoa, and Yen Luong hamlets. Yen Tan hamlet has the largest forest area, with the entire hamlet having 22.5 hectares. This forest area is protected by 31 households.
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| Mr. Nguyen Thanh Son - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Giang Son Dong commune said: Chestnut trees grow very slowly, this chestnut tree has a lifespan of nearly a hundred years. Photo: Ngoc Phuong |
From August to November is the season for people to harvest chestnuts. In November, the most chestnuts fall. On average, people harvest 150 kg of chestnuts per sao. Retail price is 40 thousand VND/kg, wholesale price is 35 thousand VND/kg.
Ms. Tran Thi Thuy in Yen Tan hamlet, Giang Son Dong commune said that each morning she picks about 6 kg of chestnuts, if she works hard all day she will get 12 kg, selling retail to customers she earns nearly 500 thousand VND/day.
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| Harvesting chestnuts. Photo: Ngoc Phuong |
Picking chestnuts with Ms. Thuy, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong added: "My family harvests 700 to 800 kg of chestnuts each year, thanks to which we have money to cover family expenses and send our children to school."
Thanks to the project, the roads separating the lots have been widened and made more open. The protection of this forest has always been a focus for the locals, each hamlet with a forest has a strict forest protection team.
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| Chestnuts fall the most in November; the kernels of Jiangshandong wild chestnuts are firm and pure white. Photo: Ngoc Phuong |
While forest areas in some places are being encroached upon, the protection and profiting from chestnut forests in the mountainous commune of Giang Son Dong is a good model because of the benefits chestnut trees bring.
Moreover, unlike timber forests, which must be cut down to make a profit, people only collect chestnut seeds from the ground. Therefore, the forest has been growing naturally for hundreds of years. Mr. Le Thanh Son - Chairman of the Commune Farmers' Association said: Our commune does not collect harvesting fees from people for this chestnut forest.
