Published: 14:24 Monday - July 23, 2012

The beautiful photos of Plum Harvest in Moc Chau

For the Mong people in Moc Chau District, Son La province, the plum tree is a gift endowed by nature because this variety of tree grows very well on soil in the highlands and does not need to be tended carefully. Moreover, it brings high economic value.

The tree often blossoms in spring and is laden with fruits in early summer. This year, there is a bumper crop of plums in Moc Chau so the whole area has become busy with local people picking plums and traders buying the products.

Plums are a speciality in Moc Chau.

A Mong family in Loong Sap pick plums.

Mong girls go to pick plums together.

Mua A Lua in Loong Sap Commune, Moc Chau District said that although now it is the early harvest, many merchants from different provinces in the North such as Hung Yen, Bac Giang and Hanoi flock to Loong Sap Commune to buy fresh plums each day. This year, plums are sold at about 7,000 – 8,500VND/kg, which is higher than last year. Thus, the locals feel encouraged to harvest plums.

Like Loong Sap Commune, Long Luong Commune also has lots of fields of plum trees so hundreds of tonnes of plums are harvested every day. “In the lowland, plums are now selling well so we use lorries to go to the local people’s orchards to buy plums. I transport each day over 20 tonnes of plums to Hanoi, but it is not enough to sell to customers,” said Bui Van Nam, a merchant from Hanoi.

Recently, besides the economic value from selling plums, the Mong people in Moc Chau can take more advantage of engaging in community-ecotourism. As reported, the management department of Moc Chau Tourism Area is investing in building a unique tourism program. The tourism model will take travelers to eat, live and harvest plums with the locals. After the harvest, the tourists in Vietnam tours are paid for picking plums.