Highlanders in Nghe An go to the forest to 'pick leaves to count money'

In Chau Nga commune, Quy Chau district, with a geographical location near planted forests and protected natural forests, people have year-round income from collecting secondary forest products such as bamboo shoots, dong leaves, medicinal plants, etc. The first days of the twelfth lunar month are the peak time for people to go into the forest to collect dong leaves.

Mr. Vi Van Dau in Man village, Chau Nga commune said that from early morning, he and some nearby households formed a group to go into the forest to collect dong leaves. They had to ride their motorbikes for about 20 minutes, then leave their motorbikes at the edge of the forest, and walk about 2 km more to reach the forest area where many dong trees grow and have beautiful leaves.

Groups of 3-5 people carry knives, baskets, bags and motorbikes to collect and transport the leaves to the commune center to sell to traders. After selling, it is already dark, then they return home.

“Depending on the amount of forest, each person can collect 200-300 leaves in a day, bring them back to the village and sell them to retail customers for 1,000 VND/leaf. The leaves are tied into bundles of 50 leaves/bundle. Selling to wholesale customers is cheaper, but in Chau Nga commune, they are mainly sold to retail customers to make cakes for Tet,” said Vi Van Dau.

The peak season for collecting dong leaves is usually from the beginning of the 12th lunar month to around the 20th of the 12th lunar month, which is before the Kitchen Gods' Day. If you are diligent, you can earn an extra 3-5 million VND for Tet shopping from selling dong leaves.

Like in Chau Nga commune and many other mountainous areas, the villages living near the forest where dong leaves grow naturally, people from early morning actively go into the forest to collect and sell to serve the Tet market.

In Huoi Mu village, Huoi Tu commune, where the Mong people mainly live, during this time, most households here also go up the mountains and down the streams to find forests with naturally growing dong leaves to harvest. Ms. Vu Y Xi in Huoi Mu village said that during this time, people still go to the fields to grow vegetables, take care of buffaloes and cows, and take advantage of finding forests with dong leaves to harvest.

One day, “I went to the field when the fog was still thick and it was not yet dawn, I had to walk a long way to pick a bunch, about 5-6 bundles, and sell them along the road, or sell them according to orders from acquaintances for 18,000 VND/bundle. A bundle has 50 leaves” – Ms. Vu Y Xi said.

Like Ms. Y Xi, many other women in Huoi Tu commune also take advantage of this opportunity to find areas of dong leaves to harvest, earning an additional income of 100,000 - 200,000 VND per day. Some households with both husband and wife, and children going together, the whole family can earn 300,000 - 500,000 VND per day.

Ms. Y Ma - a person who often buys dong leaves, said that she and some other households buy dong leaves from local people for 18,000 VND/bundle and sell them to passersby for 25,000 VND/bundle, and import them wholesale to traders who come to buy them at the place for 20,000 VND/bundle of 50 leaves.

It is the peak season for harvesting dong leaves, but according to the people of Pha Xac village, people here do not plant but collect naturally grown leaves, so for many years now the amount of dong leaves has been decreasing, because more and more people are collecting them. "The mountainous forest area with dong leaves in Pha Xac village is very small, almost all of them are harvested in the first few days. People have to go to the neighboring villages to get leaves to collect" - Ms. Vu Y Ma said.

In the Western districts, dong leaves grow naturally in many high mountainous areas, near wet streams and creeks far from residential areas. For many years now, due to excessive exploitation, the amount of dong leaves has been decreasing. Along with that, the mountainous areas are affected by floods and landslides, so the development of plants, including dong leaves, is also affected and grows poorly. Therefore, during the peak harvest season of dong leaves, households take advantage of the opportunity to pick leaves to sell before Tet.