'Mechanization' in clam harvesting in Quynh Luu
(Baonghean.vn) - Clam farmers in Quynh Luu district (Nghe An) are in the harvest season for commercial clams and clam seeds; some households have brought in machines to harvest, shortening the time and reducing labor.
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| Quynh Luu district currently has 130 hectares of commercial clam farming area concentrated in the communes of Quynh Tho, Son Hai, Quynh Thuan, and An Hoa. Entering the second lunar month, clam farmers begin to go down to the tidal flats to harvest, lasting until the tenth lunar month, but the main season is from April to June. Photo: Hong Dien |
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| In recent years, clam farmers in Quynh Luu have introduced aeration and rinsing machines into the harvesting process. Mr. Thai Ba Khang in Hamlet 8, Son Hai Commune said that his family has 20 hectares of commercial clams and clam seeds; when harvesting, he divides a group of machines from 17 to 20 people, each day can collect clams in an area of 5,000 m2, much faster than doing it manually. Photo: Hong Dien |
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| Before using the machine to rinse, the net must be spread out first, then the clam seeds are scooped up and placed on the net. This is an important step, requiring each worker to have long-term technical skills, because if the scooping is not done properly, the soil will not be even, and the clam seeds will easily be crushed. Photo: Hong Dien |
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| When harvesting clam seeds, households choose a location for the machine near a stream for convenient pumping of water and install two water taps hundreds of meters long, 7.5 cm in diameter. Then, two strong workers are needed to hold the taps to wash the mud in 60 - 70 m long nets with clams in them. Photo: Hong Dien |
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| One day, a group of people harvesting clam seeds by machine can harvest about 10 tons of small clams and 13 tons of meat clams. Notably, the wages of workers are quite high, from 500,000 - 600,000 VND/person/day, while the wages of workers harvesting by hand are only from 100,000 - 150,000 VND/person/day. Photo: Hong Dien |
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| After harvesting, some of the clam seeds are released by households on their own farming areas, while the rest are sold to markets in the North and Central regions. Photo: Hong Dien |
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| Mr. Bui Xuan Truc - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quynh Luu district said: Clam farming in the locality is increasingly developing; each year, people earn tens of billions of VND. Recently, some clam farming households have applied mechanization in production, thus saving time and labor costs. The district is promoting propaganda and mobilizing farming households to apply synchronous machinery to improve clam farming efficiency. Photo: Hong Dien |
| Clip of harvesting clams by machine |
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| According to farmers, this year's clam harvest yielded good yields and good prices; the average yield reached 30 tons/ha, with a local selling price of 12,000 VND/kg (2,000 - 3,000 VND/kg higher than in 2017), bringing people a profit of 360 million VND/ha. Photo: Hong Dien |
