In mid-May 2024, durians of many gardens in Dong Nai province began to be harvested. This is also the time when durian pickers hired by purchasing warehouses disperse to the gardens to harvest according to the agreement between the gardeners and warehouse owners.

Mr. Ut Nho (from Ben Tre province, residing in Xuan My commune, Cam My district, Dong Nai province) is "knocking" durian for hire. Photo: D.Phu

Durian is relatively heavy (from 1-5kg), anyone can pick 2-3 tons of durian in a day, but to ensure the fruit is evenly ripe is not easy, requiring the picker to have skills and experience.

Uneducated profession

Mr. Bay Chinh (residing in Song Nhan commune, Cam My district) had to spend 3 years following a group of friends from Tien Giang province who specialize in picking durian for hire in all areas of the district and province to master the technique of picking durian.

To master the technique of “knocking” durian, at first, Mr. Bay Chinh was only assigned to pick and collect durians from the person standing below to receive the fruit. This was the easiest job, anyone could do it. Next, the group of workers assigned him the task of catching fruit falling from above when the picker threw it down or used a hook to cut it. When he mastered this job, the picker let him climb the tree to pick and “knock” the fruits on the lower branches with signs of ripeness that were easily recognizable by the eye, such as: the skin, the thorns were stretched, and the fruit changed from dark green to dark yellow.

“This is just a normal level, durian garden owners all know it and if they don’t pick it, they just have to wait 3-4 more days for the fruit to ripen and fall. Meanwhile, with durian packed for export, these fruits cannot be used,” Mr. Bay Chinh confided.

Through the process of assisting the master worker in picking ripe durians, Mr. Bay Chinh learned and became a master worker. At this time, he mastered all the techniques such as "knock" sound: "pop pop" lightly is the best type when the flesh has not yet opened, but between the shell and the flesh there is a certain "gap" to recognize this sound. Particularly, the fruit that is knocked with a light "cốc ốc" sound is also qualified, but after picking, it requires additional incubation techniques.

After several heavy rains, the durians in the province have overcome the drought, so the fruit is large and ripens quickly. According to gardeners, this can easily cause the durians to ripen too quickly, making them hard and deceiving the pickers because they are still inexperienced.

Durian “knocker” Tu Tung (residing in Nam Cat Tien commune, Tan Phu district) with 9 years of experience explained that because the fruit has absorbed a lot of water, the flesh is juicy, and when knocked it makes a “pop” sound, but in fact the durian is not yet ripe. Once picked, even if incubated, it will not ripen, leading to having to sell ice cream (processed for flavoring) instead of being eaten.

“People who pick and knock durian with poor skills are easily fooled by the weather at this time. Once they pick fruit that does not meet the standards of ripeness, the buyer will suffer heavy losses. At that time, their reputation will decline and they will be less likely to be hired to pick durian,” Mr. Tu Tung confided.

Sought after in the harvest season

In May 2024, durian harvest began, and the durian picking job of hired durian pickers began to prosper.

With 7 years of experience in hiring durian “knockers”, Mr. Ut Nho (from Ben Tre province, residing in Xuan My commune, Cam My district) is considered by his friends in the group to have “golden” hands and ears in the profession. Therefore, when the durian harvest season begins, he is sought after by gardeners and durian buyers, so he is very busy.

“Depending on the size of the garden, I can harvest 1-3 tons per day. The salary is 1 million VND per ton, paid by the tenant right at the garden,” said Mr. Ut Nho.

Leaving the durian tree after the trunk only had young or slightly ripe fruits hanging from it, Mr. Hai Bien (residing in Xuan Lap ward, Long Khanh city) said that any profession requires time to "learn from a master", but with the durian picking profession, even if you meet a good teacher who can impart all his experience, the ability to feel, perceive the aroma of the durian flesh covered by the thick outer shell or feel it through the eyes, the sound emitted from the durian when "knocked", still depends on how quickly or slowly the apprentice grasps the profession.

According to Mr. Hai Bien, for those with good perception, they only need to be trained by a “master” for one durian season to be able to practice the profession. For those without this special ability, they can “knock” all their lives and still not be able to accurately identify.

This is the difference between amateurs and professionals. Because the wages for “knocking” durian are three times higher than those for picking the fruit (pickers are paid 300,000 VND/ton), many pickers, in order to be paid high wages and be sought after, call themselves professional durian “knockers”.

"When garden owners and purchasing warehouses encounter fake "knockers", that durian harvest is considered a heavy loss because the durian is not ripe enough to be returned," said Mr. Hai Bien.

The life of hired durian pickers is to move around to durian gardens in the commune, district, province and many other places. According to hired durian picker Chin Thia (residing in Nui Tuong commune, Tan Phu district), because durian seasons in the province vary from 10 days to a month, the hired durian picking job only lasts for 3 months/year. Therefore, when there is no more durian harvest in Tan Phu district, he moves to other districts or provinces to work for hire.

“One year, I went to the provinces of Binh Phuoc, Dak Nong, and Dak Lak to pick durian for hire. Because these places have large durian acreage and few skilled durian pickers, in addition to the wages, I also received extra compensation from the garden owners,” Mr. Chin Thia confided.