8X Nghe An spends billions to 'build a house' for 'heavenly blessings' to grow

The alluvial land of Phu Xuan hamlet (Trung Phuc Cuong commune) was previously left wild, with reeds higher than a person's head due to being both isolated from the river and frequently flooded. By chance, Phan Ngoc Anh (born in 1987, Hung Thanh commune, Hung Nguyen district) discovered that this alluvial land had a lot of "ma" (ruby nests) of earthworms. He rented the alluvial land in Trung Phuc Cuong commune and converted it into a pond for raising earthworms.

“My hometown is in Hung Thanh commune, near Chau Nhan area, famous for its specialty of rươi. When the rươi is scarce, the price is up to 700,000-800,000 VND/kg, equivalent to 100 kg of rice. However, this source of income is completely passive, the gain or loss depends on the weather and we just have to wait for the season to collect the “luck”. Due to the nature of my job, I have a lot of contact with Hai Duong people, directly visit and experience the “rươi warehouse” of Tu Ky, Thanh Ha and get to know Mr. Nguyen Van Suu from Hai Duong, so the two of us came up with the idea of ​​going to Nghe An to start a business by raising rươi”, Ngoc Anh shared.

After renting the land, the two brothers poured billions of dong into the tens of hectares of alluvial land to improve the land. The swampy, deep alluvial areas full of sedge and weeds were leveled and built into plots. Working hard day and night, dozens of workers used trowels and iron rakes to level the mud and soil… for a whole year, the new plots and plots became the shape of a worm pond.

“It is called raising earthworms but in fact it is nurturing and taking care of earthworms. Earthworms are already present in the soil, we just improve the fields, build houses for earthworms, create a favorable environment for earthworms to live and develop. Weeds and sedges are crushed into humus by a tiller to feed the earthworms. The land is plowed deeply, leveled, and made loose so that the earthworms have a place to live, and with food available, the earthworms will grow bigger, fatter, and sell for a higher price,” said Mr. Ngoc Anh.

According to Mr. Ngoc Anh's estimate, if 8 roe ponds are renovated, it will cost 4-5 billion VND to invest in building water channels, installing sluice gates, improving the soil, and using organic humus as base fertilizer under the ponds. Spending a lot of capital, but if successful, the income from roe is not small.

Instead of depending on luck, with decades of experience raising earthworms in Hai Duong, Mr. Nguyen Van Suu said: “You have to know how to “call” the earthworms back, know how to raise them to be big and fat. That is to grow organic rice for one crop, both to earn income from rice and to create a natural source of nutrition for the earthworms, helping the soil to be loose so that the earthworms can easily land and grow. Before, because there was no embankment, the earthworms floated with the water, and if you couldn’t catch them in time, they would all be lost. Now, the embankment is firmly reinforced, there is a culvert to catch the earthworms, when the earthworms come up, when the price is good, you scoop them up to sell; and when the earthworms are cheap, you close the culvert, “store the earthworms”, wait for the price to increase, drain the water, scoop them up to sell”.

In addition, earthworm farmers must clearly understand the growth and development characteristics of earthworms to know how to exploit them properly. In fact, earthworms are available all year round. Earthworms only grow and develop well in areas with salinity of about three parts per thousand.

The process of floating of the earthworm is actually the reproductive process. At that time, the earthworm is only as small as a toothpick, sometimes up to half a meter long, concentrating all its nutrients on its head and then breaking off, then finding its way from underground to the surface of the water. In its head are eggs, when it encounters salt water, they break, the earthworm eggs mix with the water bubbles, return to the pond to continue a new growth cycle.

The season for rươi is concentrated in the 9th and 11th lunar months, but it is still available in other months of the year, just in smaller quantities. Every month, around the 1st and 15th of the lunar month, the two times the water rises, rươi can still be found. At this time, rươi is less but the price is good.

According to Ngoc Anh's plan, in the near future, after completing the renovation of the pond, delicious rice varieties will be grown organically, both to generate income from rice and to create food for the earthworms. Also from the earthworm fields, there will be additional income from shrimp, goby fish, clams, crabs, etc.

“The most important thing is to adhere to the completely organic principle because the earthworm is a “monster” species, sensitive to chemicals. To preserve the earthworm, the only way is to build a house for the earthworm, such as building embankments, improving the bottom of the lagoon, making the field surface porous and completely eliminating the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers,” said Mr. Ngoc Anh.

And to turn this deserted alluvial land into a rich earthworm farming area, the output for the earthworms is also very important. Therefore, in addition to selling fresh earthworms to wholesalers, he is completing the factory to process earthworms into specialties such as: earthworm paste, earthworm patties, fish sauce, and earthworm patties exploited from earthworm fields. On the other hand, he has registered to build an OCOP "starred" product, connecting consumption in the domestic market and aiming for export. In addition, Ngoc Anh also cherishes the plan for eco-tourism from the earthworm pond, both creating a source of income and promoting the unique culinary features and specialties of the Lam River alluvial land.

However, investing billions in the field of rươi is still "risky" according to many people. Because, the area of ​​alluvial land outside the dike is agricultural land used for public purposes managed by the commune (5% land), leased by bidding (maximum period of 5 years according to regulations). Meanwhile, the time to renovate the land and build a rươi farming area takes up to 2 years with a cost of up to 4-5 billion VND. Therefore, if only exploited for 3 years, it is very difficult to make a profit, if the weather is not favorable, it is considered a failure.

Mr. Phan Ngoc Anh confided: “I really hope that the local government will create conditions for long-term land lease by extending the time so that earthworm farmers like us can confidently invest long-term funds to develop earthworm farming. In addition to preserving a local endemic aquatic species, developing it into a specialty, a commodity, earthworm farming itself will promote the advantages of the alluvial plain area, creating regular jobs for local workers. To maintain this earthworm pond, we still have to hire 15-20 workers every day with a salary of 350,000 VND/day.”