Luong honey granary during Tet season
(Baonghean.vn) - These days, people in Giang Son Dong commune (Do Luong) are entering the season of sugarcane pressing and making molasses for Tet. This year, sugarcane productivity is not high, but molasses is quite expensive.
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| Taking advantage of the warm sunny days, many families growing sugarcane in Giang Son Dong commune are actively harvesting sugarcane, pressing sugarcane, and cooking molasses. Mr. Nguyen Trong Nhat (51 years old) in Nam Tan hamlet said that his family grows about 6 sao of sugarcane, and last year they cooked 10 barrels of molasses (2,000 liters). This year, because the sugarcane is affected by planthoppers, the plants are small, and the sugar content is low, the molasses output is expected to be lower than last year. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| The number of households growing sugarcane and the area of sugarcane in Giang Son Dong commune has decreased significantly this year. In addition to the fields, there are no longer endless sugarcane fields, instead there are "dripping" sugarcane fields interspersed with many types of crops. Sugarcane pressing services have also "declined", many households with pressing machines have sold their machines or are not operating. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| In the entire Nam Tan hamlet, there is only one household that maintains the sugarcane pressing profession, so during the sugarcane season, machines are quite scarce. The pressing machine is attached to an engine and is moved by buffalo cart to households with sugarcane to press. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Mr. Pham Hong Nam - head of Nam Tan hamlet said that the whole hamlet has more than 200 households, of which about 40 households still maintain the profession of growing sugarcane and making molasses, the few households grow 2-3 sao, the many households grow 5-6 sao. In the photo: Local people dry sugarcane bagasse to make molasses. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Families who grow sugarcane and make molasses in Giang Son Dong often build a solid molasses furnace system in their house consisting of 2-3 pans. When the sugarcane season comes, people clean the pans and the stove to prepare to make molasses. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai (44 years old) in Nam Tan hamlet said that this sugarcane crop, her family planted more than 3 sao, and has only harvested nearly 1 sao. Last year, the sugarcane plot in the garden yielded 13 pans of sugarcane juice, but this year, it yielded only 8 pans. For each pan, she paid the juicer owner 50,000 VND. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| The process of cooking molasses is quite important. When cooking, you have to skim off all the dirty foam. The dirtier the sugarcane, the more foam there is; the more carefully you skim off, the brighter and more beautiful the finished molasses will be. When the molasses pan boils, people often use a bamboo rim to frame the molasses on top of the pan to prevent it from spilling out. Photo: Huy Thu |
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According to local people, to cook a batch of delicious molasses, you must have good ingredients. "Sugarcane with high sugar content will cook molasses well." You must keep the fire in the furnace stable, stir the molasses evenly, and carefully sift the molasses... Photo: Huy Thu |
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| After boiling for about 3 - 4 hours, the molasses will gradually dry up, turn brown and give off a fragrant aroma, the molasses cooking process is considered complete. Each pot of sugarcane juice can usually cook 20 liters of molasses. Photo: Huy Thu |
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People in Giang Son Dong often scoop the finished molasses into jars for storage, each jar holds about 200 liters. The price of molasses sold at home at the beginning of the season is from 25,000 - 30,000 VND/liter, an increase of 5,000 - 10,000 VND/liter compared to 2021. This sugarcane crop, families that grow a lot of sugarcane can cook several tons of molasses, earning tens of millions of VND. Mr. Le Thanh Son - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Giang Son Dong commune shared: Currently, the whole commune has 6/9 hamlets still maintaining the profession of growing sugarcane, both sugarcane to cook molasses and sugarcane trees for refreshment. Because in previous years, growing sugarcane and cooking molasses was difficult to sell, this year the sugarcane area has decreased, the whole commune has 25 hectares. This year, the price of molasses is good, so people are quite excited. Photo: Huy Thu |
Pressing sugarcane to make molasses to serve Tet holiday in Giang Son Dong commune (Do Luong). Video: Huy Thu |
