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Ben Tre: An Thanh Tat coconut fiber craft village turns into a new crop

( Update: 08/05/2019 )

Bustling, busy, urgent, these are the things that we noted in An Thanh coconut fiber village (Mo Cay Nam district, Ben Tre province) in the early spring days of 2017.

A coconut collection point to get fiber.

An Thanh coir craft village is located about 20 km from the city center (TP) of Ben Tre (located on the highway 60). For a long time, people called this village "gold only" - the name of the name proves the eating, made from coconut shells on the homeland "Dong Khoi" Ben Tre in general, Mo Cay district in particular. At present, Mo Con district has been divided into 2 new districts namely Mo Cay Bac and Mo Cay Nam.

Up to now, there has been no official document to determine when this village has existed, but many residents in the commune said that there have been more than 70 years.

Ms. Vo Thi Thu Lai, who lives in An Dinh commune, who has been working for over 20 years, happily said: "There was a time when I thought I was" retired ", because the export output was" stuck ", we Unemployed sadness wants to die, luckily this profession "returns" back, happy to know ... ".

If in the past, all stages of trading, transporting through the waterway system, it was very convenient to follow the road thanks to Ham Luong Bridge and Co Chien Bridge. The procurement of raw materials and bringing products to places of consumption is easy, contributing to lowering costs.

Mr. Vo Thanh Thong, a native of Ben Tre City, a trader with a career in buying and selling coconut fiber for only 40 years, affirmed: "There is no good and good quality coconut fiber as in An Thanh. Export processing establishments are very interested in raw materials here, products are exported to Korea, India, Malaysia and China. "

Currently, this trade village produces different kinds of products such as only mattresses, hard fibers, carpets, mats, floor mats ... with thousands of workers who have jobs all year round, earning about 250,000 VND each - 280,000 VND / day depending on the work undertaken.

The coconut left after being collected will be peeled and put into peeling machines to get coconut fiber only. Next is the process of exposing fiber to the sun. In the rainy season, the exposure is very hard because of the wet weather, so it is dry for a long time. After that, it will only be distributed to purchasing agents. The work of buying left-hand coconut, peeling often depends on the water, the water on the new boat is easy to access the river. The truck by road to purchase, but there is less. Therefore, the working time of workers is not fixed. However, the profession of coconut fiber has helped hundreds of families have a very stable life, contributing to building a rich and beautiful homeland, effectively repelling all kinds of social evils.

Part of processing only coconut fiber.

Ms. Tran Thi Bay (living in Minh Duc commune) added: "The work started at midnight until the next afternoon. On average, I peeled about 1,600 coconuts a day, earning about VND 280,000, and found that money was not "sour", requiring agility, skill and familiarity. This occupation is also prone to arthritis. But what to do is nothing. Besides, the work is sometimes "stuck" because there are no dried coconuts ... ".

An Thanh craft village now has more than 90 production facilities. On average, a facility produces 10 tons of dry thread and from 3 to 4 tons only wet. This work not only brings high income for owners but also for employees, contributing to hunger eradication and poverty reduction in the locality, promoting typical products of Ben Tre's homeland to all areas inside and outside. country.