Dong leaf trees are grown a lot by people in Vinh Phuc village to sell for extra income - Photo: LE MINH
Dong leaf growing capital Ha Tinh
These days, reporters returning to Vinh Phuc village (Quang Vinh commune, Duc Tho district) recorded that every household's garden was covered in green by dong leaves. On the roads, traders occasionally stopped their vehicles to ask which households in the village sold dong leaves so they could come and buy them.
Vinh Phuc village is known as the capital of growing dong leaves, one of the largest in Ha Tinh. Dong leaves grow everywhere here, are green and have large leaves, and are very popular with traders to buy to wrap banh chung or to sell retail in traditional markets.
Talking about the origin of Vinh Phuc village becoming the capital of growing dong leaves, Ms. Nguyen Thi Vien (78 years old, living in Vinh Phuc village, Quang Vinh commune), said that the dong leaves in the locality were brought from the forest by our ancestors long ago, and over time, they were domesticated and adapted to the soil, so the trees grew well.
Mrs. Nguyen Thi Vien next to her family's dong leaf garden
Decades ago, in Vinh Phuc village, only a few families planted dong leaves. At first, they planted them to wrap banh chung (square sticky rice cakes) for their family needs. Later, dong leaves had a high market value, so people planted them en masse. At the end of the year, they cut them and sold them to earn extra income for Tet.
Ms. Vien is currently one of the households growing the most dong leaves in Vinh Phuc village with an area of about 1,200m2 . In 2023, she sold 30,000 dong leaves, earning 18 million VND. This year, she plans to sell about 25,000 dong leaves, the current market value is around 60,000 VND/100 leaves, she is estimated to earn about 15 million VND.
About 500m from Mrs. Vien's house, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ha (50 years old, living in Vinh Son village, Quang Vinh commune) is also busy these days cleaning up the garden to make a path to prepare to cut dong leaves to deliver to traders. Mrs. Ha's family's dong leaf garden is more than 300m2 wide, this year's output is about 10,000 leaves. A week ago, she sold them to traders for 6 million VND.
Selling dong leaves during Tet helps Mrs. Ha's family have extra income.
Additional income for Tet spending
Growing dong leaves does not cost much or require much care, making it convenient for farmers. Therefore, almost every household in Vinh Phuc village grows this tree to use for wrapping banh chung during Tet and to sell it on the market for additional income.
People who want to grow dong leaves only need to ask for a little "bait" (tree roots) from another family, then bring it home to plant in the garden, they fertilize with phosphate, manure, nitrogen, lime to prevent pests and diseases, after a while the tree will sprout and bear leaves.
Each year, the dong tree will produce two crops of leaves for people to harvest. However, harvesting too much will cause the tree to produce small, unattractive leaves, so people in Vinh Phuc village often harvest the leaves during Tet.
The special thing about the dong leaves of Vinh Son village is that they are dark green and do not turn yellow after cutting. The banh chung wrapped with dong leaves of this village, after being cooked, still has a dark green color. The fragrance of the dong leaves blends with the aroma of sticky rice, very characteristic.
Dong leaves grown in Vinh Phuc village are big and green, so they are very popular with traders.
According to Ms. Vien, people growing dong leaves in Vinh Phuc village have a very favorable situation because they do not need to cut them and sell them in the market. Every time near Tet, traders from inside and outside the province come to the gardens to buy them. Green, large dong leaves are more valuable than small, stunted dong leaves.
“In addition to farming, people here take advantage of vacant land in their gardens to grow dong leaves. At the end of each year, people cut dong leaves to sell, earning a considerable amount of income for shopping and spending during Tet,” said Ms. Vien.
Dong leaves grown in Vinh Phuc village are big and green, so they are very popular with traders.
According to the leader of Quang Vinh Commune People's Committee, the whole commune currently has about 100 households specializing in growing dong leaves, with an area of over 10 hectares.
The smallest households grow about 300 square meters , while the largest ones grow thousands of square meters. Every year, during Tet, households harvest dong leaves to sell, bringing in a significant income, thereby contributing to poverty reduction, helping people celebrate Tet more joyfully.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ban-la-dong-nguoi-dan-them-nguon-tien-sam-tet-2025010908572917.htm
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