Construction worker by day, hunting for '8-legged, 2-claw' fish at night, Nghe An farmer makes a lot of money

From 9pm every day, crab purchasing points in Yen Thanh, Do Luong... are bustling with people coming to sell crabs. Photo: Xuan Hoang

At this time, although the weather is cold and the fields are in the stage of preparing the land for spring planting, farmers in Yen Thanh and Do Luong districts... still work hard at night to go out to the fields with lights to "hunt" for "8 legs, 2 claws" (field crabs) to sell to traders to transport to Hanoi for consumption.

Around 9pm, people bring products from the fields.field crabsto sell to traders. Observations at the crab purchasing point along National Highway 7B in Yen Thanh district show that, in addition to adults and women, there are also young people and teenagers participating in catching field crabs.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Xe in Nam Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) excitedly said that there are quite a lot of field crabs at this time, you only need to go about 2 hours to catch a full bucket. So almost every night the 3 of us go catching field crabs together. On the evening of January 8, the 3 of us caught more than 6 kg, sold them to traders for 60,000 VND/kg, earning nearly 400,000 VND.

Field crabs grow naturally, so the quality is good, and most of them are consumed in the Hanoi market. Photo: Xuan Hoang

"During the day, I work as a construction worker for the construction workers, and at night I work hard in the fields for 2 hours (from 7pm to 9pm) to earn hundreds of thousands of dong. That amount of money is enough to cover my family's expenses, and the rest of the money I earn as a construction worker is used for other expenses" - Ms. Xe shared.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Tan,tradersCrab buyers said that naturally grown field crabs have good quality, due to high demand in the Hanoi market, people in Yen Thanh, Do Luong, Dien Chau districts... hunt them all year round. However, the price depends on the time. In the summer, the price of field crabs can sometimes go up to more than 100,000 VND/kg, but in this winter it drops to 60,000 VND/kg. However, although the price is different, the income is equivalent, because in the summer there are many people catching crabs, so it is more scarce; on the contrary, in this season, although the price is low, the number of people catching crabs decreases, so each person catches a large quantity.

Field crabs are caught by farmers all year round. Photo: Xuan Hoang

"Crabs are caught naturally in the fields, the tools used are the same, all are using lights, catching by hand, but not everyone can catch a lot. Some people can catch 3-4 kg every night, selling them for 200-300 thousand VND, earning as much as working as a construction worker all day. There are many people catching crabs, every night I can buy hundreds of kilograms of crabs, transport them to Hanoi to sell that same night", Mr. Tan said./.