Harvesting pineapples
Nguyen Van Dong said he had two hectares of pineapples, "The pineapples ripen very quickly because of the heat so we harvest the pineapples in the morning to avoid the scorching sun."
Le Van Thi's family has seven hectares of pineapples this year and hired dozens of people to help harvest 45 tonnes of pineapples per hectare.
Another farmer, Pham Ngoc Duy said he had to call for all family members and hire helpers to harvest the pineapples.
"I have five hectares of pineapples and all of it will be sold to agricultural products processing factory. The quality this year is very high and the price has increased by VND1,000 per kilo compared to last year harvest to VND4,800 per kilo," he said. "We earn about VND150m per hectare and profit over VND100m (USD4,300)."
Truong Van Hien, chairman of Quang Son Commune People's Committee, said most farmers sold the pineapple to Dong Giao Company. The pineapple prices once went up to VND10,000 (43 US cents) per kilo before.
People in Ninh Binh earn good money from pineapples
Freelancer Dinh Van Thanh said he could hardly find any jobs amid Covid-19. After knowing about the pineapple harvests in Quang Son, he immediately went there to find work.
"I was hired for VND300,000 to VND500,000 (USD22) a day. I used to work in the fields so this job is not too hard for me," he said.
Another freelancer, Phan Thanh Thuy, said, "Harvesting pineapples is better than being a bricklayer or porter for me. I only work in the early morning or late in the afternoon."
