Harvesters work in the sun and all night to harvest rice

While driving a harvester in the field, Mr. Cao Xuan Tuan, residing in Ngoc Son commune (Thanh Chuong), said that this harvest season he had just bought an old combine harvester for 200 million VND to hire out for local people.

Despite the hot weather, harvesters work continuously in the fields to help farmers harvest rice on time. Photo: Huy Thu

This is a trimmer-type harvester (cutting rice close to the roots, dropping straw in straight lines) so it only requires 1 driver and 1 assistant when dumping rice. The first week of bringing the machine to the field, there were many problems. One night, the machine broke down in the middle of the field and it took almost a whole day of repairs to fix it.

Like Mr. Tuan, Mr. Hoang Dinh Hue - a local resident bought an old combine harvester, but it was a Kubota type that spits out crushed straw. To operate this machine, Mr. Hue hired 3 workers (1 to drive the machine, 2 to pack the rice into bags) while he moved along the bank to receive the fields and guide the harvest.

Workers work tirelessly to keep up with the season. Photo: Huy Thu

Up to now, this crop season in Ngoc Son commune, there have been 4 harvesters purchased by locals to provide services. In addition, many other harvesters have been brought from other places, working busily in the fields. Farmers no longer have to worry about shortages.reaperlike previous years.

It can be said that the number of harvesters in the fields in Nghe An has increased rapidly in recent years, which means that the number of people working as harvesters is increasing. In the 2023 winter-spring rice harvest, it is estimated that each district in Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen, Do Luong, Yen Thanh, etc. has dozens of harvesters in operation.

In the past, some households bought combine harvesters but their work was not smooth and they had to sell them. Many households tried to overcome the initial difficulties and decided to continue their work until the end. According to harvesters, there are many different types of combine harvesters on the market, depending on the purpose of use, you can buy machines from 50, 70 or 95 horsepower.

Many harvesters work through the night. Photo: Huy Thu

With the need to harvest for hire, the harvester will operate at high intensity, requiring the purchase of a good machine. The quality combine harvester brands that are highly appreciated by harvesters today are those originating from Japan such as Kubota, Yanmar...

Most new combine harvesters usually cost from 500 to 900 million VND/unit. When buying a new machine, it will have a long-term warranty and of course, there will be less minor breakdowns. Buying a used machine can save money, only need to invest 100 to 250 million VND to have a harvester to harvest for hire. However, old harvesters are prone to problems and will cost a lot of money to repair during use.

Working as a hired harvester, the harvester only operates twice a year, during the winter-spring and summer-autumn seasons, each for about 10-15 days, the rest of the time is spent "laying down under a tarp and waiting". Therefore, in the middle of the harvest season, the harvesters always try to operate at full capacity. After harvesting the village fields, they will go to communes and districts in the province, even to distant provinces to practice their trade.

Transporting harvesters through localities by rescue vehicle. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Nguyen Tat Huynh - a harvester owner in My Son commune (Do Luong) said: This season, after finishing harvesting the local fields, he moved the machine to Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan: "Wherever there are fields and people need to harvest, I go. The harvest season passes very quickly, so I have to take advantage of every day."

Currently, due to the lack of harvesters in the province, the crops coming at the same time, the need for harvesting rice of the people is great, so many harvesters from the South and the North have come to Nghe An to harvest for hire. They often contact the locals in advance to arrange accommodation, harvest fields... The "machine brokers" are usually paid commission from 12,000 - 20,000 VND/sao.

Mr. Nguyen Trong Diep in Thanh Lien commune (Thanh Chuong) said that this harvest season he has brought a group of 4 harvesters from Hai Duong to his hometown to work for more than a week now. This is the second time this group of machines has come to Nghe An. After finishing harvesting the fields in the locality, these harvesters moved to Tao Son commune (Anh Son). The cost of transporting the harvesters by truck and rescue vehicle is also quite expensive. According to Mr. Diep, transporting 4 harvesters from Hai Duong to Nghe An cost more than 20 million VND, from Thanh Chuong to Anh Son cost nearly 5 million VND.

During harvest season, a broken harvester in the middle of the field is a big loss for the owner. Photo: Huy Thu

Harvesting the winter-spring rice crop during hot days, with warnings of heavy rain, means the machines have to work continuously “in the sun, all night long”. During the day, machine operators and bagging people work all day, despite the heat of 39-40 degrees Celsius, sometimes eating quickly or skipping meals in the fields.

In the early days of the crop, the rice ripens sporadically, and the harvesters operate at a slow pace. When the rice is fully ripe, the harvesters come out in unison, harvesting day and night. At this time, any harvester that breaks down or malfunctions is a huge loss for the machine owner.

Mr. Nguyen Dang Thuan in Ngoc Son commune (Thanh Chuong) said that while harvesting in the field at 2am, his group's machine broke down and had to be repaired until noon. After half a day of repairing, running back and forth, their hair was flying, and by the time the machine started working again, the fields around them had almost been harvested.

Harvesters gathered to fix the machine on the spot, trying to fix it as quickly as possible. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Bui Van Hung - a machine owner from Hai Duong shared: When the machine breaks down, the machine owner and machine operator have to roll, drag, crawl, and lean on the field for hours, even day and night to fix it, which is not only hard work, but also costly.

For example, when harvesting steel rods, the machine can easily break all the blades. If it is a reeling machine, each blade set must be replaced for 2 million VND, and a trimmer costs nearly 6 million VND. There are harvesters from far away provinces that are severely damaged as soon as they are put in the field, and it takes a whole week to replace and repair them, not only does the machine owner lose revenue, but he also has no money to transport the machine back to his hometown...

Harvesting for hire also has many potential dangers, especially driving the machine on small, high fields. Controlling the machine back and forth to get into the field, if not careful, can cause work accidents, leading to the machine tipping over, breaking down the machine, driver and assistant injuries, and even death. For example, the most recent case was the machine tipping over at the beginning of the harvest season in Thanh Thuy commune, causing the death of a harvester owner in Thanh Chi commune (Thanh Chuong).

Sometimes it takes hours, even days, to complete repairs. Photo: Huy Thu

Although it is hard, difficult, expensive and dangerous, the job of harvesting for hire also brings in a good income. According to the "harvesters", in mountainous terrain, small fields, difficult to move, a harvester working actively can harvest 5-8 acres per day, while in the plains, with convenient movement, the machine can harvest more.

With a price of 200,000 VND/sao, each harvester earns 10-15 million VND per day, of which fuel costs about 1.5-2 million VND. Machine operators are usually paid around 1 million VND/day, while workers who pack rice into bags earn 500,000 VND/day. The harvest season not only brings rice to farmers, but is also a business season for many "harvesters" in and outside the province.