Salt farmers face difficulties because of salt

(Baonghean) - Currently, due to the limited application of science and technology, the productivity of the salt industry is low, requiring a lot of labor... In the long term, an effective solution is needed to develop the salt industry sustainably.

Going to the "salt barn" of An Hoa commune, Quynh Luu district these days, the salt fields are deserted. Mr. Tran Minh, a salt farmer in Hong Phong hamlet, said: Like every year, on the 4th day of Tet, people go to the salt fields to repair and take care of the salt fields, but today there is still no movement. If in the past, on a normal day in the salt fields in An Hoa, there were many young workers participating, now there are only women, children and the elderly. People are not interested in the salt industry because the price is too cheap, in 2013 - 2014, the price of salt was from 1,500 - 2,000 VND/kg, now it has dropped to 1,000 VND/kg. The salt industry is not able to support salt farmers.

Salt harvesting in Quynh Nghia, Quynh Luu.

In the salt fields of Bac Loi hamlet, An Hoa commune, there are currently many abandoned salt fields with overgrown grass, and salt storage warehouses that have not been used for a long time are dilapidated and leaky. Mr. Bui Van Trieu in Bac Loi hamlet shared: His family has 250m2 of salt fields, and in recent years, the State has supported 3 million VND to build channels, filters, etc. However, due to the low price of salt, we only have 120m2 and have had to switch to other industries to make a living. On that area, if we "plow" well, we can only get more than 10 tons of salt/year, earning 10 million VND; minus the input cost of 3 million VND, the remaining amount is not enough to buy rice.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Quyet - Chairman of An Hoa Commune People's Committee added: An Hoa has 145 hectares of salt, from 2013 to now, the commune has received over 1 billion VND from the State for salt farmers to maintain salt fields and build filters. Thanks to that, it has contributed to reducing labor in the salt fields. However, the way of making salt here is still the traditional way, all stages of making salt must be done by human power, low productivity, on average households participating in the salt industry only earn 7 - 10 million VND/year/2 workers. Up to this point, the whole commune has about 15 hectares of abandoned salt.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dinh - Head of Quynh Luu Agriculture Department shared: Quynh Luu has 560 hectares of salt, concentrated in the communes of Quynh Thuan, An Hoa, Quynh Tho... the annual salt output is about 65,000 hectares. The current difficulty for the salt industry is that credit sources brought to rural areas are the least accessible to salt farmers. Banks are very reluctant to lend to salt farmers because they do not have assets to mortgage. Enterprises also limit investment in the salt industry because it is not profitable, in the district there is only Vinh Ngoc Salt Enterprise, Quynh Yen commune, which produces and consumes more than 10,000 tons of salt per year.

People graze goats on abandoned salt fields.

Applying clean salt making technology, currently the whole Quynh Luu district has only over 10 hectares of salt covered with plastic tarpaulins, however, doing it this way is expensive, while the price of salt is cheap so people do not expand the area. From now until 2020, Quynh Luu district is continuing to review ineffective salt areas to convert to aquaculture and other purposes, about over 100 hectares.

In Dien Bich commune (Dien Chau), the salt industry is no less difficult. Mr. Nguyen Van Lien - Vice Chairman of Dien Bich Commune People's Committee said: The whole commune has 45 hectares of salt, there are 2 cooperatives working in the salt industry including Hai Trung Cooperative and Hai Bac Cooperative. Salt output in 2015 reached 2,100 tons, due to difficulty in consumption, in the salt warehouses of the people there are nearly 1,000 tons of salt remaining. In recent years, although the State has had policies to support people to invest in improving filtering and covering salt crystallization, the area covered with tarpaulin for clean salt production is still very small, the cost is high so people do not dare to invest. The problem now is that the commune is in great need of the State to continue to invest in upgrading the infrastructure of the salt industry such as ponds, ditches, especially the water canal system, traffic system...

According to the commune's plan, in 2017, the commune will complete the construction of 2 salt cooperatives according to the new cooperative model. The cooperative is responsible for supplying supplies and materials for salt producers, the cooperative will coordinate and link to find places to consume products. It is known that Dien Chau district has 190 hectares of salt, from 2013 to now, the district has converted over 40 hectares of salt in Dien Ngoc commune to the field of land for lease to develop commercial services. At this time, the district still has 150 hectares of salt in Dien Ky, Dien Bich, Dien Van, Dien Kim communes... Due to low salt prices, salt farmers do not produce intensively, output decreases, for example in 2015 the whole district only reached 8,000 tons of salt, a decrease of more than 1,000 tons compared to 2014.

Van Truong