Nghe An: 19 craft villages 'in crisis'

(Baonghean.vn) - Nghe An has 146 craft villages, of which 19 craft villages, accounting for 13%, are operating poorly or are 'dying'.

Many incense making machines at the Dien An incense village, Dien Chau district, cost tens of millions of dong to build, but are now rusted due to lack of regular use. Photo: Quang An

The incense making village in Hamlet 3, Dien An Commune, Dien Chau District has been established for more than 20 years. However, over time, the incense making profession has gradually faded away, and now there is only one household left in the village doing this job. That household is Mr. Cao Van Hoanh. He sighed: “In the past, people in the village came to my facility to make incense, at that time incense prices were high, and people were still interested in the profession. However, at present, only 3-4 people come to work every day. Many times I also want to quit the profession because the profit is only enough to pay for workers, buy raw materials and even electricity...”.

Mr. Cao Duc Dung - Vice Chairman of Dien An Commune People's Committee said: The main reason leading to the gradual decline of the local incense making craft village is because farmers have chosen new jobs with higher incomes such as labor export or working as construction workers, workers in companies, so they no longer want to stick with the profession.

Besides, making incense requires a lot of investment in machinery, raw materials, labor, etc. while the output is not stable, the price of incense is still low, so the owners do not have enough funds to cover long-term expenses.

Due to lack of workers, many bags containing incense materials at Mr. Hoanh's family in Hamlet 3, Dien An are covered with spider webs and dirt. Photo by Quang An

Da Lam weaving craft, Da Son commune (Do Luong) was recognized as a craft village by the Provincial People's Committee in 2005. The main product is bamboo panels woven from bamboo trunks, used to cover houses, bricks, tiles... However, since 2010, the Government has banned the production of construction bricks using manual kilns, so the bamboo weaving craft here has been lost and is now considered to have stopped operating.

Mr. Tran Dang Van - Head of Da Lam hamlet said: The weaving profession has been lost, people in the hamlet have converted to other professions such as carpentry and rice paper making. Currently, in the hamlet, there are about 30 households doing carpentry, specializing in making ceilings and 20 households doing rice paper making, creating jobs for about 250 workers.

The incense village in Dien Chau or the weaving village of Da Lam are just two of many craft villages in Nghe An that are "dying".

According to the provincial Cooperative Union, the province currently has 146 craft villages, with the following craft groups: bamboo and rattan weaving, silkworm weaving, crocheting, brocade weaving; ornamental tree growing, civil carpentry, incense making, incense production, food processing, mechanics, brick and tile production.

However, due to objective and subjective factors, there are up to 19 craft villages that are operating poorly or have stopped operating, such as: crocheting, silk reeling, incense production, fish sauce processing, rattan and bamboo weaving, and weaving.

Nghe An aims to achieve an average growth rate of 15% per year in the industry's production value by 2020, with exports reaching 285 million USD, accounting for 15% of the province's total export turnover.

X.Hoang - Q.An