Bustling season of collecting 'heavenly gifts' on Lam River dike

Earning billions of dong from "worm fields"

In Chau Nhan commune, there are about 50 hectares of rice fields.earthwormsevery year, concentrated in hamlets 1, 2, 6 and 8. This is a traditional occupation in Chau Nhan, people here have known how to build banks to retain water and collect rươi for several decades. In the past ten years, people have started to hang green nets around the fields, both to "mark the territory" and to prevent rươi from going to other people's fields.

According to Mr. Phan Dinh Hoan - Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee: Every year, the whole commune collects about 5 tons of blood worms. During the peak season, traders bring cars to buy blood worms in styrofoam boxes and bring them to the city for consumption. In the commune, there are many households that collect 1-2 quintals of blood worms each crop, such as the families of Mr. Le Xuan Kiem and Dinh Nhu Khoa in Phu Xuan hamlet; Mr. Le Quang Vinh and Hoa Van Viet in hamlet 7...

The price of rươi fluctuates from year to year, but the average is usually 400,000 - 450,000 VND/kg, and in some years it is up to 500,000 VND/kg. However, this year, the wholesale price at the field is only 350,000 - 400,000 VND/kg. In the rươi field, people still grow two rice crops, with an average yield of 2.5 - 3 quintals/sao, but people do not use pesticides to protect the rươi.

"If there are many floods this year, next year the rươi crop will be very good because the soil is heavily alluvial. To increase the yield of rươi, after harvesting the summer-autumn rice, from September of the solar calendar, people plowed, loosened the soil and killed all the weeds so that rươi would grow more," said Mr. Phan Dinh Hoan.

Not as green as the rươi in the Northern Delta provinces such as Hai Duong, Hai Phong, the rươi Hung Nguyen is yellow, plump, very visually stimulating and is favored by customers in many places. Each rươi season, large households earn hundreds of millions, small households earn tens of millions from this "heavenly gift".

In addition to income from the fields, people in Chau Nhan commune and surrounding areas also have additional income from trading in earthworms. Buying wholesale at the field for 350,000 VND/kg, Ms. Hoang Thi Hoa sells at My market for 370,000 VND/kg. "I mainly sell to customers passing by on the Lam River route, an average of 10-15 kg of earthworms per day, which are sold out within a few hours. This time the earthworms are fat, with a beautiful red-yellow color, so they sell very quickly," Ms. Hoa said.

Not only live blood worms, but also with attractive dishes made from blood worms, the "blood worms specialized" restaurants in Hung Nguyen district have also become "brands" known and loved by gourmets near and far.

The hard work of collecting "heaven's blessings"

Starting to collect the worms from 8am, by 9am, Au Van Dinh, hamlet 7, Chau Nhan commune, had collected more than 1kg of worms. “The worms rise with the tide, the water rises for about an hour and then recedes, the worms float up. Usually the water rises in the evening, sometimes at 2am, 4am, but today the water rose at 7am,” said Mr. Dinh. After nearly 1 hour, on an area of ​​10m of rice field, he had only collected 1kg of worms. If he was lucky, there were days when he could collect 5-10kg, but sometimes he could only get a few ounces.

They start to appear gradually from September, but the peak season of the earthworms only begins from the beginning of the 10th lunar month. Every month, "lthe sky"Only allow in the days when the tide goes up and down around the full moon and the first day of the month. Rain and wind still make the rươi rise, so people here, regardless of rain or cold, as long as there are rươi, they go to the fields.

It is not an exaggeration to call the worms “heaven’s blessing” because after 2 rice crops, from the 10th lunar month onwards, the worms float on the fields, and farmers only need to use a net to collect them. However, in the fields, only the fields located near the ebb and flow of water have the worms. His family has 2 sao of “worm land”, and Nguyen Van Hoa usually collects 7-8 kg of worms every day, sometimes less.

“The season of rươi is the cold rainy season at the end of the year. On the days before and after the first and fifteenth of the lunar month, at around 1am the whole village gets up and goes to the fields to wait for the water to go down and for the rươi to float up to be collected. On lucky days, we get a lot, but on days when we are soaked in the rain and cold water for hours, we only get a few ounces of rươi,” Mr. Hoa shared.

However, despite the hardship and difficulty, earthworm farming is a significant source of income for people in flooded areas of Chau Nhan commune, with income many times higher than growing rice.