Dong leaf growing for wrapping cakes is on the rise in a commune in the Northern Nghe region.
(Baonghean.vn) - The garden dong leaf plant was spontaneously planted by people in Quynh Thach commune, Quynh Luu district quite a long time ago, but now it has become a tree that brings in a good income for many households.
Dong leaves are used to wrap cakes. Mr. Nguyen Ba Quynh's family in Hamlet 2, Quynh Thach Commune is one of many households that have grown dong leaves for many years in Quynh Thach Commune. Mr. Quynh said: Dong is an easy-going, hardy plant that grows wild and likes shade.
Therefore, he often chooses shady places in his garden and digs trenches 30-40 cm lower than the ground to plant cassava. This helps to create constant moisture in the soil, helping the plant grow quickly. Every year, he only needs to fertilize with nitrogen once so that the plant is always green and healthy.
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| Dong leaves are trimmed and sold year round by Quynh Thach people. |
In addition, dong leaves have the advantage of being free of pests and diseases, and there are no weeds growing under the roots, so it requires very little care and investment costs. Dong leaves are green, thick, and flexible, so when used to wrap cakes, they do not break or tear, and are easy to wrap.
That's why his dong leaves are always in demand, traders come to his garden to buy and sell to households making all kinds of cakes. With an area of 300 m3He grows cassava but the tree gives his family leaves to harvest all year round. On normal days, he sells for 60,000 VND/100 cassava leaves, but on Tet, 100 leaves cost up to 200,000 VND.
As for Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga in Quynh Thach commune, she shared: With 250 m2Dong leaves are grown but always enough to serve the family's rice cake making business and also to sell to the market. On normal days of the year when there are orders, she cuts enough dong leaves to pack 500 - 1,000 leaf cakes. To help the dong leaves grow well and stay green to meet the needs of the job, she regularly waters them, helping the plants absorb nutrients in the soil well. At the same time, clean up the dry leaves at the base to create ventilation between the dong clusters.
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| Households that grow cassava often clear dry leaves from the base of the tree to create ventilation between the clusters. |
Every year, in the 8th lunar month, she stops cutting leaves to make cakes to take care of them and fertilize them with phosphate fertilizer to make them big and long to serve the needs of people wrapping banh chung during Tet. According to Ms. Nga, wrapping cakes with homegrown dong leaves will give the cakes a beautiful natural green color and an attractive aroma after boiling. Therefore, these dong leaves are often many times more expensive during Tet than wild dong leaves. Thanks to that, her family has a high income during Tet.
Most of the area of arrow plants is planted by Quynh Thach people under the shade of green trees in their gardens, to limit the sunlight from burning the leaves. This is a plant that likes high humidity, branches strongly, each year a tree can produce dozens of branches, each branch can harvest from 5 - 6 leaves.
In particular, only need to plant dong once to harvest leaves for decades. For Quynh Thach commune, planting dong not only sells to the market but also meets the demand for leaves to serve the traditional local leaf cake making profession. Currently, the commune is planning to build a leaf cake making craft village in hamlets 1 and 2. Therefore, all levels and sectors actively encourage people to expand the area to meet the local leaf material source.
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| Most of the cassava area is chosen by people to grow under the shade of trees. |
Mr. Tran Van Cuong - Vice Chairman of Quynh Thach Commune People's Committee said:First of all, the Commune People's Committee assigned the Cooperative to plan the agricultural production area, including the area for growing dong leaves to serve the purpose of wrapping cakes and selling them to the market during Tet.
Arrowroot is grown and pruned by locals all year round. In previous years, after harvesting, Quynh Thach locals had to take the crop to the market for consumption. However, due to the scarcity of wild arrowroot and high demand, locals now have a good income from this crop.
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