The whole village went to catch golden apple snails to save the rice.

(Baonghean.vn) - At this time, farmers in Hoa Son commune (Do Luong) are urgently going to the fields to catch golden apple snails that harm rice. Early in the morning, people are still busy catching snails in the fields.

From early morning, farmers in Hoa Son commune (Do Luong) were present in the fields to catch golden apple snails. Photo: Huy Thu

These days, Ms. Thai Thi Van in Minh Tho hamlet, Hoa Son commune has had to put aside other work to focus on working in the fields to deal with the golden apple snail problem.

Ms. Van said that her family has 3 fields, and the mother and daughter had to go catch snails at 4am. After nearly 4 hours, they had only caught more than half of the area, but the snails weighed nearly 50kg; these snails were brought home to feed the ducks.

"When harvesting spring rice, there were golden apple snails. When the fields were pounded, the snails were submerged. However, after planting summer-autumn rice for about 10-15 days, golden apple snails hatched in the middle of the field and grew very quickly. Now my field is full of snails, some as big as chicken eggs" - Ms. Van said.

According to farmers, catching snails by hand is time-consuming but safe for health and the environment. Photo: Huy Thu

Currently, throughout the fields in Hoa Son commune, especially in the hamlets of Minh Tho, Dong Xuan, Van Yen, Vu Vu, Khuon, Ho Sen... golden apple snails are growing densely in the fields and ditches...

From early morning, people and households called each other to the fields to bring buckets, basins, bags and wooden crates to catch snails, creating a nationwide movement to destroy golden apple snails. After catching snails, people dumped them on the road, put them in bags, left them in the sun to die or used them as food for ducks, fish...

Ms. Thai Thi Van in Minh Tho hamlet, Hoa Son commune catches golden apple snails to feed ducks and fish. Photo: Huy Thu

According to Ms. Chu Thi Luong in Minh Tho hamlet, there are snail killers sold on the market, but people do not use them because spraying them not only kills snails but also kills crabs, fish, and eels in the fields. Seeing this, everyone is afraid of the poison, the environmental pollution, and the impact on health. Catching snails by hand is time-consuming but safe.

"My family grows 3 sao of rice, and it takes one or two days to catch all the golden apple snails, so we have to catch them over and over again. If we don't spray pesticides, we have to be determined to catch them all because the snails hatch very quickly and will soon fill the field."

About 10-15 days after planting summer-autumn rice, golden apple snails have hatched in the middle of the field and grown very quickly. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Nguyen Cao Dong - Vice Chairman of Hoa Son Commune People's Committee said: "This summer-autumn crop, the whole commune has 303 hectares of rice. In the past few days, the fields of 10/10 hamlets have appeared with many golden apple snails. The commune has mobilized people to concentrate forces to destroy the snails. By June 20, the golden apple snail problem in the locality has been temporarily controlled."

Huy Thu