Salt purchasing price increases, Nghe An salt farmers stick to production

These days, taking advantage of the hot weather, salt farmers in the communeQuynh Thuango to the fields to produce salt. Not as busy and bustling as before, each family only has 1-2 workers going to the fields to produce to ensure social distancing, strictly following regulations on preventing the Covid-19 epidemic.

The weather is extremely hot, all salt farmers are "exposed" to the blazing sun to work, it is hard but in return, the stronger the sun, the more productive the salt is.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Quy in Hamlet 5, Quynh Thuan Commune said: “My family makes 3 layers of salt. On hot days like this, my husband and I go to the field early in the morning with buckets and then come back in the afternoon to scrape and harvest the salt. The sun is strong, the salt is productive, the family collects about 200 kg of salt per day. On this occasion, the price of salt purchased by traders is higher than in previous years, so the family earns about 300,000 VND per day.”

Salt farmers in Quynh Thuan commune (Quynh Luu) work hard to produce salt under the sun. Photo: Viet Hung

In the salt production area in Tan Thinh village (An Hoa), people are also taking advantage of this time to go to the fields.salt production, earning extra income during difficult times of the pandemic. Salt farmers shared that never before have people been so excited and enthusiastic about going to the fields to produce salt as this year.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet, a salt producer, said that for a long time, salt farmers have felt excited when their salt was purchased at a high price, especially in the past 5 years. In previous years, at this time, the price of salt was only 900 - 1,200 VND/kg; however, this year's salt crop, at the beginning of the season, traders bought it for 1,300 VND, but now it has increased to 1,600 VND/kg (an increase of 400 - 500 VND/kg compared to the same period last year).

Mr. Nguyen Van Chung - a salt buyer in An Hoa commune said that this year, the price of salt is high, so people are eager to stick with the sun to produce, our facility is focusing on purchasing salt for people at the price of 1,600 VND/kg at the field. Currently, due to the epidemic situation, the circulation of goods is somewhat difficult, so we are focusing on purchasing for people and storing salt in warehouses so that when the epidemic is stable, we can transport it to the North for consumption.

In recent days, the weather has been sunny, although the salt farmers in Quynh Luu have worked hard, they have achieved high salt productivity. Salt prices are high, each family producing salt earns about 300,000 VND/day. Photo: Viet Hung

The entire Quynh Luu district has about more than 500 hectares of salt production, concentrated in coastal communes such as: Quynh Yen, Quynh Minh, An Hoa, Quynh Thuan, Quynh Tho..., annual salt output reaches 67 - 68 thousand tons/year.

Currently, in Quynh Luu district, there are about 30 establishments providing salt purchasing services at the fields for local people. Along with that, many cooperatives in the salt production area have stood up to purchase products for local people, this is a condition and motivation to help local people feel secure in production and stick to the traditional salt profession of the locality.

Quynh Luu salt farmers both fight the epidemic and ensure economic development. Photo: Viet Hung

Mr. Tran Van Trung - Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Thuan Commune (Quynh Luu) said: "The whole Quynh Thuan commune has 125 hectares of salt production. According to traders, this year the salt price is higher than previous years because salt from the southern provinces is having difficulty in circulating to the North due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, so the market for salt products for Quynh Luu salt farmers has become more open.

In the context of the complicated developments of the Covid-19 epidemic, the commune has encouraged people to ensure production while complying with regulations on disease prevention and control. Vehicles transporting salt for consumption must register a QR code and the driver must have a certificate of negative Covid-19 rapid test results valid for 72 hours before being allowed to circulate, thereby contributing to both epidemic prevention and control and economic development in the locality.