Picking durians earns millions every day

Early in the morning at the end of November, the 4,000 m2 durian garden in Phu Quy commune, Cai Lay town, echoed with the sound of “picking piles” mixed with the laughter of harvesting workers. Above the tree, Dang Quoc Tan, 28 years old, used the handle of a knife to tap around the durian fruit, then used the knife to cut the stem. The falling old fruit was caught by another person standing below using a plastic basket.

Tien Giang is the durian “capital” in the West with an area of ​​18,000 hectares, in Cai Be, Cai Lay, Chau Thanh districts and Cai Lay town. There are currently 10,000 hectares of fruit with an average yield of 26.4 tons per hectare. Gardeners here are in the off-season durian harvest season, which lasts until January next year, with an output of about 200,000 tons. Monthong durians are purchased by traders at the garden at prices ranging from 130,000-145,000 VND per kilogram.

After about 4 hours, Tan and a group of 5-6 people finished harvesting nearly 4 tons of ripe durian. Even with protective gloves, this young man’s hands are still covered with scars from thorns after many years. The unprotected arms and legs were scratched and torn by thorns in many places.

4 years ago, Tan was a truck driver transporting durian to traders. Many times he met a group of high-income durian pickers and asked to follow them to learn. Initially, apprentices like Tan were assigned the task of standing under the tree and using baskets to catch fruit. The cutter will step by step show them how to distinguish between ripe, old and young durians based on the sound when tapping on the shell.

“The ripe fruit’s skin is dry and shriveled, and there are hollow spaces inside, so when tapped, it makes a clicking sound that resonates far away. On the contrary, young fruit has a dense intestine, so it makes a popping sound,” Tan said, adding that the cutter also Distinguishing ripe durian by yellow or green skin, spiny feet, dry and dark spine tips, blooming stem neck as well as some specific characteristics of each type of durian.

Normally, the purchasing unit will set a limit allowing each ton of durian to contain 30-50 kg of low quality durian, not accepting young fruits. However, many new and inexperienced workers often mistakenly cut young durians, so they have to compensate. “It takes about 2 years to become a professional durian cutter,” Tan said, adding that in addition to being a cutter, he also buys small durians from the garden, about 4-7 tons a day and resells them to customers. warehouses.

According to Mr. Tan, each durian garden in season will be divided into two harvesting periods, each about a week apart. In addition to the main season, the area of ​​durian in the off-season also increases rapidly, so most cutters have work all year round. When the durian season ends in Tien Giang, after Lunar New Year they will continue to operate in Can Tho and Soc Trang areas, and at the end of the season will go to Dak Lak, Lam Dong.

Although there are still cutters in other areas, durian prices are high at peak times. When purchasing, traders often bring along a team of local cutters who have worked together for many years. “At the price of 130,000 VND per kilogram, a 5-6 kg durian costs 600,000-800,000 VND, so traders still use familiar workers due to trust,” Mr. Tan said.

With more than 9 years of experience, durian cutter Nguyen Tan My, 26 years old, from Hoi Xuan commune, said that the durian area in the East is large, hundreds of tons can be harvested every day, so the worker will charge a fee for cutting. by sign. Depending on whether the durian is harvested on site or transported to the warehouse, the wage per kilo ranges from 1,500 VND to 3,000 VND and the worker will have to compensate for the entire amount of durian accidentally cut prematurely.

If the tree is not too tall, every day a veteran worker like Mr. My can cut up to about 10 tons of durian. On the contrary, in the West durian output is less, workers often charge by the day, at 1-1.5 million VND.

Because the salary is quite attractive, many young people in the area who are ornamental tree pruners have also begun to learn the profession of durian cutting. But for skilled cutters like Mr. My, this job also has many potential risks. A week ago, while climbing a tree at a height of about 3 m, he lost his footing but luckily fell on a branch, so he only suffered minor scratches.

“Last year, a member of the group was standing hidden in the foliage. The cutter above couldn’t see him, so he threw a durian fruit that hit his face, requiring nearly 10 stitches,” Mr. My said.

The job of climbing trees to pick durian

Hoang Nam