The seasons of melons in exile

At first, it was the communes in the district, then they moved to the neighboring district of Tan Ky... and in recent years, they even moved to the Nhu Xuan area (Thanh Hoa) to rent land to grow melons. For three whole months, they built huts right in the fields, living a nomadic life following the melon seasons, happy and sad according to the gains and losses of the melons...

Nomads and melons

Taking us to the Prison Camp area in Xuan Hoa commune (Nhu Xuan, Thanh Hoa) to witness the nomadic, exiled life of the melon farm owners, Mr. Tran Quoc Hong, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Nghia Son commune, shared: “Around 2002, 2003, the red melon plant began to take root in Nghia Son, bringing clear economic efficiency, 3-4 times higher than growing rice and other crops. But the difficulty of growing this type of melon is that it prefers strange fields, land that has been planted for 1-2 seasons, if planted for a third season, it will be very difficult to take care of, both in terms of yield and quality, not being able to sell at a good price, and income will decrease. Not willing to lose the economic benefits that watermelon brings, the people of Nghia Son actively thought of going to neighboring communes, districts in the province and even to other provinces to rent land to grow melons. At first, they also encountered difficulties and many obstacles. But with dynamism, perseverance, and hard work, they overcame obstacles, conquered foreign lands, and produced sweet melon seasons... The story of the nomadic melon growers in exile is long, journalists should go there, contact them to understand and feel. Under the scorching sun of the first days of June, following the Ho Chi Minh trail, we made our way to the land of Nhu Xuan (Thanh Hoa) to meet the nomads, growing melons in a foreign land...

The first person we met was Mr. Le Van Hien (Son Dong hamlet, Nghia Son commune). He is one of the first households in Nghia Son to go to other districts to rent land to grow melons. This old farmer has 15 years of experience wandering around following the melon seasons. With his “dusty” and weathered appearance, he seems to be suited to a nomadic life. He waved his hand to point to a nearly 2-hectare melon hill in harvest season, his voice clear: “This breed likes strange things and is picky about soil. Luckily, this Xuan Hoa land is suitable for it. Melons on this land grow well, have few pests and diseases, large fruits, high sugar content and a distinctive aroma. It likes strange soil, so growers have to “here today, there tomorrow” according to the melon seasons. This year, we rent this hill, build a hut here, but next year we pack up and find new land. Each melon season is a different land. For the past 15 years, each year we live in a different place, building up to 15 huts.” The first year, he rented land in Bai Tranh, bordering Nghia Son (his hometown), they had rented all the outside areas, he had to go to the deep area, where there was no electricity, no phone signal, life was almost isolated from the outside. After setting up the shack, he carried up there tons of rice, dried food and bought necessary items such as oil lamps, flashlights, generators. The generators, which consumed a lot of oil, only prioritized pumping water from streams and streams to water the melons. As for the people, they had to endure the heat, eating dinner under dim flashlights or flickering oil lamps. Men, who were used to their wives taking care of their meals and laundry, had to do everything themselves when they came here. Life with “rice in a pot, water in a jar” in a foreign land was difficult and miserable in every way. Rice cooked on a firewood stove was sometimes burnt, sometimes not; dried fish was fried salty and vegetables were boiled “both fast and convenient”. However, food was not a concern, what was more worrying was personal safety. “At first, I was a bit nervous. Alone in a foreign land, my possessions were not worth much, but if I met a bad person who was trying to harass me, who could I call? But luckily, the people here are kind, and I gradually got used to it. The melon farmers in the expatriate area are all from Nghia Son, so we are very united. If anything happens, we call each other. Now, it is more convenient with mobile phones, so we can contact each other immediately...”. In the following seasons, he often hired a few local young men, from 4.5 to 5 million VND per month, to work and guard the melon field, and only during important periods such as pollination, fruiting and harvesting did he move into the shack.

As for Mr. Nguyen Van Cong, the three nephews and nieces have pooled capital to rent land to grow melons for a dozen years now. “Buy with friends, sell with partners,” the nephews and nieces came here to rent land to do business, having relatives helps them worry less about this and that. When we first came here, we were new to the land and the land, so we invited the locals to grow together, one took the land fund, one took the capital, and the profits were divided by percentage. But after only a few seasons, they withdrew because they saw that we were “risky”, pouring money into the land without knowing what we would gain or lose. In the end, the three nephews and nieces stayed. Each season, they rented a piece of land, set up a tent to plant seeds, grow melons and grow melons. During those 3 months, they took turns taking care of the melons. They woke up at 2am to water the melons. After watering 3 hectares of melons, it was already past noon, and then they had to worry about cooking. There were still small children at home, so the wife had to stay in the countryside to take care of the children. I am the only one staying here.” The hut of Cong’s nephew seems more solid than the other huts around. It has walls and a thatched roof, and there is electricity, a fan, and even a television. In addition, he also raises dogs and chickens “for fun and to make use of leftover food.” Their calendar is not based on days and months, but on the growth cycle of the melon plants, from planting to harvesting. Their joy is also wrapped up in the gains and losses of the melon seasons.

Sweet-bitterthe seasonsmelon

After 15 years of nomadic life, wandering around to make a living, living temporarily in a tent, but in return, thanks to growing melons, Mr. Hien was able to buy land to plant forests, open a restaurant and send his son to work abroad. He shared: “Thanks to melons. The abundant life today is thanks to the melon seasons. It is hard and miserable, but in return, he has a business. Now I am used to making melons, I am used to living nomadically, living in an unfamiliar place, my hands and feet are very bored”. Therefore, he handed over the restaurant to his wife to manage. He still wandered around the melon seasons. During those 15 melon seasons, there were seasons when he made a big profit. That was in 2008, 2 hectares of melons brought him 760 million VND in profit, he invested nearly 400 million VND to buy land to plant forests. But there were also many bitter melon seasons. “There are many losses. There were years when we rented bad land, planted seeds, the plants grew well, no pests or diseases, but when it came time to flower and bear fruit, they failed. Hundreds of millions of dong spent on land rent, plowing, seeds, fertilizer, hiring workers, and three months of living in tents and camps were all wasted. We lost everything! It was very bitter, but what could we do? Growing watermelons is like “gambling with the sky”, if the weather is favorable, the soil is fertile, and the water source is available, then we can “win everything”, otherwise we will lose. Doing business, we have to accept it”.

This year, Thuy Sy's family (Son Dong hamlet, Nghia Son commune) rented 3 hectares of land in Bai Tranh to grow melons. When the melon plants were ready to bear fruit, they suddenly dried up and withered for no apparent reason. So they were left empty-handed! There were also seasons when the melons had a good harvest, but due to falling prices and pressure from traders, they could not sell them, and the melon growers had to accept the loss.

The old farmer couple Tai Hoa (Son Lien hamlet, Nghia Son) has been renting land to grow melons for 7-8 years now. He and his wife are considered to have a "lucky hand" because they have never had a loss. This year, his family rented 1.2 hectares of land to grow melons. After 3 months, they harvested 35 tons of grade 1 melons. With the early season price of 6,000 VND/kg, his family earned 220 million VND, after deducting expenses, the net profit was 150 million VND. Mr. Tai shared: “The melon growing profession is very unstable. When the harvest is good, the price is low, when the price is good, the harvest is bad. Spending 70-80 million on the land, after 3 months, when the melons are transferred to the truck for traders, holding the money in hand, you will know the profit or loss. The main thing is to have a firm grasp of science and technology, choose the right good varieties, and take care of the melons according to the right process so that the melons grow well, are free of pests and diseases, and produce large, high-quality fruit. Secondly, when “opening the farm” (harvesting melons), it must be at the right time: when other fruits are not in season, on the weekdays (full moon, first day of the month), the melons are more expensive and easier to sell. Thanks to that, the income is higher.”

So we know, the story of people who spend all year round wandering to earn a living with the melon seasons is not always favorable, nor do they get to enjoy the sweet fruit seasons. Living a life here and there, taking care of it, investing capital, but there are melon seasons that are bitter, crying because the melons do not achieve productivity, sometimes the productivity is achieved but the price drops miserably...