Abandoned salt fields in Dien Chau

The irrigation ditch leading to the salt fields in Dien Bich commune (Dien Chau) is overgrown with weeds. Photo: Van Truong.

Present at the salt field of Hai Bac Cooperative, Dien Bich Commune (Dien Chau), saw vast weeds, the infrastructure for the salt industry has all degraded. Mr. Nguyen Van Nam in Hai Bac hamlet said: "My family has 3 sao of salt, but in recent years the price of salt has been too cheap, each worker can make 1 quintal of salt, sold at 1,100 VND/kg, earning only 110,000 VND/day, not to mention there are times when it cannot be sold, salt is in stock..., so we have to give up the salt industry to find another job to make a living."

According to Mr. Nguyen Tan - Chairman of Hai Bac Cooperative, in its prosperous period, the Cooperative produced 1,200 tons of salt per year, but now it only produces 150 tons per year. Currently, the Cooperative has over 20 hectares of salt production, but only 3 hectares are used for salt production, while the remaining 17 hectares are abandoned. The salt industry used to employ 410 workers, but now only 30 workers remain.

The salt warehouse was also damaged and degraded. Photo: Van Truong

The main reason is still because the price of salt is too cheap, only from 1,000 - 1,300 VND/kg of salt, calculating that it is a loss, so salt farmers give up their traditional profession, many people turn to bricklayers, young people go to industrial zones in the South to work for hire, there are also many cases of unemployment. Regretting the abandoned salt fields, some households have boldly converted salt fields to aquaculture fields, however, because the land has been saline for a long time, the farming efficiency is low.

Mr. Pham Than - Chairman of Dien Bich Commune People's Committee said: The whole commune has over 40 hectares of salt but 17 hectares are abandoned, currently only 23 hectares are used for salt production. In recent years, although the State has had policies to support people to invest in improving filtration and covering salt crystallization, the area covered with tarpaulin for clean salt production is still very small, the cost is high so people have not dared to invest.

Not to mention the low price of salt has led to the situation of salt farmers quitting the profession. For the 17 hectares of land that is currently abandoned, the local government is also considering converting the salt production land area to other purposes, such as planning to sell residential land...

The salt pond on Dien Bich salt field has been abandoned for a long time and is in disrepair. Photo: Van Truong

It is known that the whole Dien Chau district has 210 hectares of salt, from 2014 until now due to low efficiency, 90 hectares are not in production, of which 60 hectares are abandoned, 30 hectares of salt in Dien Ngoc commune are converted to other purposes; currently the whole district still has 120 hectares of salt in production.

Mr. Le The Hieu - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dien Chau added: Regarding the abandoned salt production area, the district is planning to convert the purpose to aquaculture and develop commercial services...

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