Nghe An black star apple has a good harvest and good price, but cannot be picked in time to sell.

Black canarium is mainly grown in home gardens and hill gardens. Most of the canarium trees that produce a lot of fruit today are purebred, perennial, tall trees with wide canopies and many fruits, scattered in mountainous communes of old districts such as Anh Son, Nam Dan, Do Luong, Tan Ky, etc., but are most concentrated in the old Thanh Chuong district, with an estimated output of several hundred tons of fruit per year.

Currently, the main fruiting trees are purebred canarium trees, growing naturally or planted by people in their gardens with the characteristic of tall trees of tens of meters, difficult to harvest. Mr. Nguyen The Ha (65 years old) in Hoa Quan commune (Thanh Huong commune, old Thanh Chuong district) said; This season, his garden has 19 fruiting trees. He has sold them to traders for 50 million VND. The expected amount of fruit harvested is about 1.3 - 1.4 tons, 3 - 4 quintals higher than last year. Photo: Huy Thu — The canarium tree is tall, has a wide canopy, and small fruit that is very difficult to harvest. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Nguyen The Ha (65 years old) in Hoa Quan commune (Thanh Huong commune, old Thanh Chuong district) said: This season, his garden has 19 canarium trees bearing fruit, of which 16 trees have been bearing fruit for more than 20 years. After deducting some trees to harvest for food, he sold most of the canarium garden to traders for 50 million VND.

The expected amount of fruit harvested from the whole garden is about 1.3 - 1.4 tons, 3 - 4 quintals higher than last year.

According to Mr. Ha, this year the weather is quite favorable, with a lot of rain, but no hail, few extreme storms, and scorching sun like previous years, so the canarium trees flower and bear fruit. The canarium trees in his garden bear a lot of fruit, large and beautiful. At this time, the canarium trees are ripening, and the strong sunshine creates favorable conditions for harvesting the fruit.

When the fruit is new, it is green, when it is ripe it turns black, and is covered with a thin layer of powder. From July to October is the harvest season for black canarium. When the canarium is ripe, it must be harvested at the right time. If you harvest it early, there will be many green fruits. If you harvest it too late, the canarium will be covered with a lot of resin, which is called "canarium stinks".

Mr. Nguyen Van Giap in Tam Dong commune (Thanh My commune, old Thanh Chuong district) said: His family has sold half of the canarium garden to traders for 20 million VND, and the family will harvest the other half. Currently, the canarium is ripe.

When the fruit is new, it is green, when it is ripe it turns black and is covered with a layer of white powder. From July to October is the harvest season for black canarium. Currently, most of the canarium fruit in the people's farm has been sold to traders. Mr. Nguyen Van Giap in Tam Dong commune (Thanh My commune, old Thanh Chuong district (Th) said; His family's canarium garden has sold half to traders for 20 million VND, now it is ripe and waiting to be harvested. Photo: Huy Thu — When the fruit is new, it is green and turns black when ripe, covered with a thin layer of powder. Photo: Huy Thu

These days, when visiting mountainous communes in the province, people who work as canarium pickers have entered the harvest season. They go in groups of 3-5 people each, carrying ladders, specialized poles, basins, baskets, nets, tarpaulins, bags...

The canarium harvest season has created jobs for many workers. Communes such as Cat Ngan, Tam Dong, Yen Xuan, Do Luong... each have hundreds of people harvesting canarium. Men and boys specialize in climbing to pick the fruit, women specialize in picking the fruit. Canarium pickers are paid from 500,000 to 700,000 VND/day, while canarium pickers are paid 300,000 VND/day.

The canarium tree has a tall trunk, wide canopy, and small fruit, making it very difficult to harvest. Canarium pickers have to climb the tree and use a pole to poke the fruit. Climbing the tree is difficult, but poking the fruit on the tree is even more difficult. Canarium climbers often wear safety belts before working to prevent accidents. Photo: Huy Thu — To harvest canarium fruits, people have to climb trees and use poles to poke them. Photo: Huy Thu

Experience shows that people who work as canarium climbers must be brave and in good health. Canarium trees have tall trunks, wide canopies, and small fruits that are very difficult to harvest. Canarium pickers must climb the trees and use poles to poke the fruit. Climbing the trees is difficult, but poking the canarium fruit on the trees is even more difficult. Canarium branches are brittle and break easily, so careful canarium climbers often wear safety belts to prevent accidents.

When harvesting canarium in steep, grassy, bushy terrain, canarium pickers often spread nets and tarps around the base of the tree. Thanks to the large nets, harvesting canarium near ponds and fences becomes simpler, less work to pick the fruit, and less loss.

The canarium harvest season lasts from July to October, creating jobs for many workers. Communes such as Cat Ngan, Tam Dong, Yen Xuan, Do Luong... each have hundreds of people working in the canarium harvest. On average, each worker who picks canarium is paid about 300,000 VND/session. Photo: Huy Thu — The canarium harvest season has created jobs for many workers. Photo: Huy Thu

After being picked, canarium fruit is usually put into airy mesh bags for transport. According to the locals, on sunny days, people often pick canarium fruit early. The sooner they pick, the better, both for their health and to ensure that the canarium fruit does not ripen in the sun. Because there are few canarium fruit at the beginning of the season, the groups of canarium fruit pickers sell all they can. Traders sometimes have to come to the garden, wait for the fruit to be picked to buy.

Mr. Hoang Van Thuc from Kim Bang commune, who is climbing canarium in Bich Hao commune, said: This canarium crop, the two brothers spent several hundred million dong to buy young canarium. They have only been picking for 3 days. The two brothers climbed to pick, the two wives were in charge of picking the fruit.

Each morning of hard work will pick 100-1200 quintals of canarium. Usually, canarium pickers only pick in the morning, and rest in the afternoon to regain strength. The quantity of canarium bought is large, so the group has to pick for several months to finish. At the beginning of the season, they choose beautiful ripe trees to pick, in the middle of the season when the canarium is fully ripe, they pick all at once.

After being picked, canarium fruit is usually put into airy mesh bags for transport. According to the locals, on sunny days, people often pick canarium fruit early. The sooner they pick, the better, both for their health and to ensure that the canarium fruit does not ripen due to the sun. Because the first canarium fruit of the season is still young, the groups of canarium fruit pickers sell as much as they can. Traders sometimes have to come to the garden, waiting for the fruit to be picked to buy. Photo: Huy Thu — After being picked, canarium fruits are usually put into mesh bags or ventilated plastic bags for transportation. Photo: Huy Thu

According to those who work as canarium climbers, every year, when canarium flowers or bears young fruit, canarium traders go to different localities to find houses with canarium trees to buy. Once they have agreed on a price with the homeowner, they leave a small “deposit” and wait for the canarium trees to ripen, then pay and harvest. In the past, canarium trees were cheap and required little capital. Now, canarium trees are expensive, requiring a lot of capital and must be purchased early to have canarium trees to climb.

Each canarium season, a group of canarium traders must spend hundreds of millions of dong to buy canarium. When the canarium ripens, the canarium climbing groups harvest themselves or hire others to do so. Mr. Tran Van Mao (50 years old), a long-time canarium climber in Cat Ngan commune, shared: This year, his canarium picking group spent nearly 300 million dong to buy about 80 canarium trees in the communes of the two old districts of Thanh Chuong and Anh Son, to harvest gradually over several months.

There are some ancient, fruit-bearing canarium trees that he bought for 15 million VND, and harvested about 3-4 quintals of fruit. A typical example is the 'giant' canarium tree of Mr. Dao and Mrs. Chuyen's family in Yen Xuan commune (Linh Son commune, old Anh Son district).

Black plums are found in many communes of old districts such as Anh Son, Nam Dan, Do Luong, Tan Ky... but are most concentrated in the old Thanh Chuong district, with an estimated output of several hundred tons of fruit per year. Black plums are delicious, fatty, have a characteristic flavor, can be processed into many attractive dishes, and are loved by many people. Photo: Huy Thu — Black plum is delicious, fatty, has a unique flavor, can be processed into many attractive dishes, and is loved by many people. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Mao said: The canarium fruit season is good, productivity has increased, while the price of young canarium fruit is not much different from last year, but the wholesale price of ripe canarium fruit is high, so people who "sell whole canarium trees" make a profit.

Black plum is delicious, fatty, has a unique flavor, can be processed into many attractive dishes, and is loved by many people.

Canarium climbers who also sell whole canarium trees often buy canarium trees when they have just set fruit, waiting for them to ripen before harvesting. Many households and canarium climbing groups have spent hundreds of millions of dong to buy young canarium trees on the trees. Mr. Tran Van Mao (50 years old), a long-time canarium climber in Cat Ngan commune, shared: This year, his canarium picking group spent nearly 300 million dong to buy about 80 canarium trees in communes of the two old districts of Thanh Chuong and Anh Son, to harvest gradually over several months. According to Mr. Mao, there are canarium trees — Transporting black plums from the harvest site. Photo: Huy Thu

Nghe An black plum specialty not only serves local demand but is also transported to provinces and cities in the South and North for consumption. Online sales channels are used quite effectively by plum traders.

The retail price of canarium in rural markets ranges from 100,000 - 135,000 VND/kg, depending on the type of canarium. The bumper season and good prices are bringing excitement to canarium growers, canarium climbers and canarium traders in the province.

Hard work in the black star apple harvest season. Video : Huy Thu

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