Reviving the silkworm farming profession

(Baonghean) -In the 70s of the last century, Khanh Son commune (Nam Dan) was known as the silkworm capital of the province with a total mulberry growing area of ​​up to 130 hectares; there were 2 silkworm breeding cooperatives and nearly 700 households participating in the profession. However, due to the "ship running aground" incident, the business losses of Nghe An Silkworm Company led to deadlocked output of products, by 1995, Khanh Son land was almost devoid of mulberry trees, farmers had to give up the "standing rice" profession... From the beginning of 2012 until now, the price of silkworm cocoons in the province has increased and has a stable output, creating motivation for many households in Khanh Son to return to the traditional mulberry growing and silkworm raising profession; the mulberry growing area has gradually been restored and expanded.

Mulberry growing and silkworm raising in Khanh Son commune (Nam Dan) is gradually being restored.

No one knows when the mulberry growing and silkworm raising profession began in Nam Hoanh (now Khanh Son commune). They only know that in the memories of the elderly, there were once vast green mulberry fields stretching far and wide, supporting an entire craft village. At that time, experienced silkworm farmers in the village could clearly identify male and female silkworms to pair them up for breeding, in order to select good silkworms that spin beautiful cocoons and have high productivity... Mr. Ho De, head of hamlet 9 - one of the households with a large mulberry growing area in the commune (more than 5 sao of mulberry) said: "Since 2011, due to the good price of silkworm cocoons, the income from growing mulberry and raising silkworms is higher than that from growing corn and peanuts. In the first silkworm crop of 2014, we were very excited because the silkworm cocoons were both in season and had good prices; the average cocoon yield reached 12 - 15 kg/egg cycle, the local consumption price reached 60,000 - 70,000 VND/kg of golden cocoons, the price of commercial silkworms also reached 60,000 VND/kg; more than 5 sao of mulberry brought in about 20 million VND/year.

Normally, the growth cycle of a silkworm is within 25 days to harvest a batch of cocoons. Although the profit from raising silkworms is not as large as other types of farming, it provides a regular income because it lasts from February to October, with an average of 9-10 batches per year. If unfortunately, we encounter a batch of diseased silkworms with low productivity, or damaged silkworms that cannot be harvested, it is a waste of effort because the capital is not much. In addition to selling commercial silkworms and cocoons, we also harvest by-products such as silkworm manure, which is very good for agricultural production.

Even though there were times when they were "struggling" because there was no outlet, and traders forced the price of cocoons down to only a few tens of thousands of VND/kg, many people who had raised silkworms still affirmed: For farmers in the coastal areas, there is hardly any job as suitable and effective as growing mulberry and raising silkworms. The persuasiveness is not necessarily because this is a job from the "old days", but this job requires investment, low cost, and takes advantage of surplus labor, including the elderly and children. As someone who is famous for "making a living" thanks to growing mulberry and raising silkworms, Ms. Nguyen Thi Van (in hamlet 10 - Khanh Son I) shared her experience: Raising silkworms is not leisurely and not easy. Because the life span of silkworms is very short, disease prevention must be carried out right from the stage of bringing eggs back to raise. They often suffer from diseases such as swelling, calcification...

The simple way to prevent the disease is to keep clean, place the cage in a cool place; the mulberry leaves must be green, clean, dry, and uncontaminated. In the past, we often bought silkworm eggs from Nghe An Silk Company, the quality of which was always guaranteed. Later, the company dissolved, and people could only rely on private traders. White silkworm eggs imported from China for many years affected the quality of the cocoons, causing low prices or slowing down the season. Normally, each round of eggs can be divided into 15 silkworm baskets, but depending on each round, sometimes they are divided enough, sometimes they are not. And the quality of the eggs is not always guaranteed. My family raised 3 rounds of eggs in the last batch, but they hatched poorly and had to be discarded."

Mr. Dang Van Viet - Chairman of Khanh Son Commune People's Committee added: As a locality with a large area of ​​riverside alluvial land, the amount of alluvial deposits every year is large, so mulberry is really a key crop, just need to plant mulberry branches in the ground, turn around and the mulberry leaves will be lush and green. Especially when floods come, mulberry is also a crop that prevents erosion, leaching, and retains alluvium to increase the fertility of the alluvial land. And since 2010, with positive signals in the market, along with the policy of restoring and developing the traditional mulberry growing and silkworm raising profession of Nam Dan district, Khanh Son has actively participated in building the Project "Restoring and developing the traditional mulberry growing and silkworm raising profession"; expanding the mulberry growing area to 15 hectares in Soi sandbank area, riverside land.

For new planting areas, in addition to the province's policy (if planting Sa Nhi Luan mulberry, support 100 VND/tree, equivalent to 4.8 million VND/ha), the district also supports 50 VND/tree, the commune reduces 50% of service fees for 2 years on the mulberry planting area. The commune's policy for the spring crop of 2015 will be to hold meetings with people in hamlets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - Khanh Son II, continue to plan to plant about 20 hectares of mulberry in Soi beach and Trung Giang and Trung My fields.

In addition to expanding the mulberry growing area, taking good care of the mulberry trees to produce many leaves and high productivity is a very important factor. According to many households in the profession, in the past, planting was mainly based on experience, so the growth and development of mulberry trees were unstable. There were seasons when a large area of ​​mulberry trees were infected with diseases, the trees had fungus and curled leaves, leading to insufficient food for silkworms. In the past 3 years, people have focused on learning and applying science and technology from pest control, fertilizing mulberry fields, or cleaning disease prevention and cleaning silkworm raising tools with specialized drugs, how to preserve eggs in a cool, airy place, or paying attention not to let strange chemicals and insects into the silkworm raising area... Currently, the whole commune has 120 households following the profession, mainly concentrated in hamlets 8, 9, 10 (Khanh Son I); the annual output reaches nearly 15 tons of cocoons.

There are 4 households specializing in supplying silkworm eggs, disease prevention drugs and purchasing silkworm cocoons in the region for sale to Do Luong, Thanh Chuong... so people are somewhat more assured about the output. Mulberry and silkworm farming households are very excited this year, because since the beginning of the year, silkworms have produced beautiful cocoons and sold them at good prices. If there are no risks, the average income of mulberry and silkworm farming households is 15 million VND/year, with some households earning over 20 million VND, such as the family of Mr. Pham Viet Nam in Hamlet 8 (growing 7 sao of mulberry, raising 12-15 batches/year), Mr. Pham Sy in Hamlet 9 (growing 5 sao of mulberry), Mr. Le Ky in Hamlet 10 (growing 4 sao of mulberry)... However, the most difficult thing now is that the supply of silkworm eggs and product output are all through private traders, so it is inevitable that there will be cases of price pressure; floating silkworm eggs are not inspected by competent authorities, so it is difficult to ensure quality"...

The return of mulberry cultivation and silkworm breeding in Khanh Son is a good thing, not only meaning the restoration of a traditional craft village but also a step to develop a suitable household economy in the locality, bringing a good income compared to the average income of rural areas. This is also a correct policy that needs to be paid attention to by authorities at all levels, supporting people to find ways to overcome difficulties. First of all, it is to help people with quality silkworm seeds, have a clearer policy for planning craft villages with mulberry specialized areas, and widely plant mulberry varieties with high productivity and good resistance to pests and diseases. And moreover, maintain the operation of the Nam Son mulberry and silkworm cooperative with a model combining many types of services to serve and encourage people to maintain the traditional silkworm profession.

Ngoc Anh