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Nghe An: The hard work of picking sour river fruits

Huy Thu • June 8, 2025 07:42

The river season lasts from May to July. Although climbing trees to pick fruit in the hot sun is hard and tiring, the people doing the job also have extra income.

bna_1(1).jpg — These days, people in Thanh My, Cat Van, Hanh Lam, Thanh Duc, Phong Thinh communes... in Thanh Chuong district are harvesting sour river fruit. Photo: Huy Thu

bna_2(1).jpg — According to local people, this year's harvest is better than last year, with many large fruits. River trees often produce many batches of fruit, so the harvest often lasts a long time. Each time they climb the tree, people only choose old, ripe fruits to pick. Photo: Huy Thu

bna_3(1).jpg — During the river season, people who pick fruits in Thanh My and Cat Van communes... often go in groups of 2-4 people. Each group usually has people climbing to pick, picking, transporting... If they pick actively, a group can pick 700kg - 1 ton of fruit/day. Photo: Huy Thu

bna_4(1).jpg — Harvesting sour river fruit is quite hard because the tree is tall and has a wide canopy, so only brave people can do this job. After climbing the tree, fruit pickers often use a long pole with a cloth net attached to the end to pull the fruit. Picking sour river fruit with a net has the advantage of being fast and not damaging the fruit... Although climbing tall trees and constantly changing branches, the sour river pickers are quite subjective, no one wears a safety belt to prevent accidents. Photo: Huy Thu

bna_5(1).jpg — Mr. Duong Ngoc Cuong, a young man who works as a river fruit picker in Tam Dong commune (Thanh Chuong) said: When the river fruit season comes, people who buy river fruits and also work as river fruit pickers often buy the whole garden of "crows" when the river is still young, then go pick them. On average, each river fruit picking group usually buys from 50 to 100 river fruit trees, continuously picking one tree after another. Photo: Huy Thu

bna_6(1).jpg — According to Mr. Duong Ngoc Thuy, who has decades of experience in the profession of picking river apples in Thanh My commune (Thanh Chuong), his group has been picking river apples for 20 days this season. Each harvest, his family picks about 50 - 60 tons of fruit. Since buying a pickup truck, picking river apples as well as buying and selling river apples has become more convenient. After each harvest, his son can drive a car to Dien Chau to import river apples. Photo: Huy Thu

bna_7..jpg — The river fruit looks quite similar to guava. When ripe, just a light touch will cause the fruit's flesh to split into many pieces as if being cut. The flesh of the river fruit has a sweet and sour taste, and tastes as good as mangosteen. The flesh of the river fruit has a sour taste, used as a spice, to cook sour soup, to soak in sugar and honey to make a beverage, good for health... Photo: Huy Thu

bna_8(1).jpg — River trees of the mangosteen family are perennial woody plants that grow naturally in forests or are planted by people in their gardens. This is a native, purebred tree that yields from 300 to 1.4 tons of fruit per tree. In localities with many rivers in Thanh Chuong, households with few trees have a few trees, while households with many have dozens of trees. For households with few river trees, river climbers who come to buy the fruit usually pick it down, weigh it, and then calculate the price. Photo: Huy Thu

bna_9(1).jpg — Previously, the river tree grew naturally and its fruits fell all over the gardens and forests, "giving them away for free", gradually becoming a specialty tree that brought income to many households in the mountainous areas. The river fruit weighs from 0.3 to 1.2 kg. When harvesting the river, people often carefully arrange the fruit in foam boxes or pack them in bags for transport. Each worker hired to pick and collect the river fruit usually earns several hundred thousand VND/day. Photo: Huy Thu

bna_10(1).jpg — Fresh river fruits at the beginning of the season are purchased locally by traders in Dien Chau at a price of around 6,000 VND/kg, about 1,000 VND/kg higher than last year. During this hot season, the price of river fruits is high, the goods are in high demand, and groups that specialize in picking river fruits cannot pick them in time to sell. Photo: Huy Thu

bna_11(1).jpg — Many families that have river trees or harvest river fruits often slice river fruits and dry them in the sun. On average, 10 kg of fresh river fruits will produce 1 kg of dried river fruits. The price of dried river fruits ranges from 50,000 - 60,000 VND/kg. According to local people, sliced dried river products in Thanh Chuong are often transported to Hanoi and Hai Phong for consumption. Photo: Huy Thu

People of Tam Dong commune, Thanh Chuong harvest river fruits. Video: Huy Thu

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