Saltiness - blandness of the salt industry

(Baonghean.vn) -Quynh Thuan Commune (Quynh Luu) has long been known as the salt region of Nghe An. According to the elders in the area, the salt making profession here has existed for hundreds of years.

In mid-May, when the summer sun is at its harshest, it is also the time of the "big season" of salt making. Turn from National Highway 1A at Cau Giat intersection, follow National Highway 48B towards the sea for about 4 kilometers to reach the Quynh Thuan salt area. In the dry wind, the salty taste of the sea blends with the flavors of stalls selling fish sauce, shrimp paste, dried fish, etc., set up along the road to serve the needs of visitors from far away.

National Highway 48B is currently being repaired and expanded to serve the high development needs of the industrial economy. And many households that used to make salt have now switched to services and trading because the salt industry is too hard while the economic value is not much. Therefore, the salt fields are gradually losing the people carrying white salt to the warehouse every late afternoon.

A corner of Quynh Thuan salt field (Quynh Luu). Photo: Nhu Suong

We met Mrs. Ho Thi Lan, who lives in Hamlet 5, because through research, we learned that Mrs. Lan has been in the salt industry for 50 years. She is also one of the "old salt farmers" who are still clinging to the salt fields because of the fear that the traditional profession will soon be abandoned. And then we were drawn into her story...

During the French colonial period, salt workers in Quynh Thuan waged many struggles to demand the rights of the people. Mrs. Lan’s grandfather was one of the pioneers who made demands in the denunciation that took place at Tam Mai communal house. “People in the salt region, when they were around 7-8 years old, were sent to the salt fields to help their parents with chores. Back then, I was often assigned the job of piling up salt every afternoon. Every day, whenever I saw salt white on the yard, I had to go and collect it.

As I grew up, instead of raking salt, I was gradually trained for other jobs. From raking soil to dry it, to carrying soil and carrying salt to the warehouse. Just like that, I learned and worked, and gradually accumulated experience until I mastered the profession" - Mrs. Lan excitedly said: "Using soil to make salt is a "short name" for convenience, when people use clay in the water filtration process, the important thing is in the filtration process, the salt water with high concentration will be separated and collected in a container before being brought to the drying yard. Using soil makes the salt concentration in the water lower and crystallization takes longer.

Ms. Lan talks about the salt industry in her hometown. Photo: Nhu Suong

Now, instead of using clay, sand is used. Using sea sand creates small channels to bring seawater into the drying yard, and also helps the water to penetrate faster, making the process of concentrating salt from seawater more effective. Then the salt in the sand is filtered again to bring it to the yard. This method can create the largest area possible. Therefore, the "golden age" of the salt industry is said to have begun when switching to this new method; it is estimated that the annual production output reaches approximately tens of thousands of tons, the area of ​​Quynh Thuan salt fields has expanded significantly, at times reaching 130 - 140 hectares; the price of salt also reached a "peak" of 2,000 - 2,500 VND/kg.

However, it is very difficult to maintain the traditional profession when the market expands and competition causes the price of salt to fall dramatically. And the salt that once helped salt workers have a comfortable life is now in a situation of losing value, a bowl of pho can be exchanged for a quintal of salt. And in recent years, the sad story of the salt village has not ended. Therefore, many salt workers have accepted to quit the profession to switch to jobs with better income. The remaining salt-producing households are all outside the working age group (the elderly and children) who work on sunny days to earn money to buy vegetables because they cannot find alternative jobs. Mrs. Ho Thi Lan's family is also one of those cases.

“My family has 3 children who all work as factory workers. Their income is just enough for them to cover their own living expenses. At home, there is only me and my nephew. Because I cannot do other jobs, I still have to go to the fields to earn extra money to buy rice. For the past 10 years, I have had diabetes and am also hard of hearing, so my strength has decreased a lot. The last time I was sick, it was not until today that I got better that I went to the fields to clean the yard to dry the rice,” said Ms. Lan.

In Quynh Thuan, many households have similar situations to Ms. Lan's family. They are all people who cannot find alternative jobs. For example, the family of Ms. Ho Thi An (62 years old, living in Hamlet 5, Quynh Thuan). Ms. An's family has 2 children, the first one works far away, and the second one has had spinal calcification since the age of 17. She has to work hard to take care of her children. Recently, her liver disease has worsened, so no one has worked on the drying yard. Then, Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan (born in 1973), who originally moved from another place to live, had to buy a salt drying yard because she had no land to produce salt. Because she had been carrying salt for a long time, her spine has degenerated while her child is sick all the time,...

Sparse salt workers on the salt fields. Photo: Nhu Suong

The salt-making industry has shrunk in area, so today's output is only about 1/3 compared to the golden age of Quynh Thuan salt. Because of that, the salt service has also gradually shrunk, households specializing in purchasing salt for salt farmers have also had to switch to other jobs. Mr. Dao Duc Chuyen, residing in Hamlet 4, is one of them. "In the past, on average, I purchased 700 - 800 tons of salt per crop, but in the 2016 salt crop, I only purchased 400 tons. And in the current crop, the estimated purchase amount is only 200 tons. Therefore, to be able to maintain life, I switched to the construction materials business...".

According to incomplete statistics, the current salt production area of ​​Quynh Thuan commune has decreased to only about 50% compared to before, if calculating in terms of output, it is only 40% compared to about 10 years ago. However, the price of salt is constantly decreasing every year, making salt farmers feel that the salt is "bland". Currently, it is the big season but the price of salt only fluctuates from 1,000 - 1,200 VND/kg. That gives people like Ms. Lan, Ms. An or the last salt farmers in the salt fields more reason to give up this long-standing traditional profession./.

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