Nghe An farmers brave the sun to collect by-products in the fields and earn tens of millions of dong

In the fields of Quynh Luu district, after harvesting, the straw is dried right in the fields, then people come to collect it. Photo: Viet Hung

These last days of May, in the fields of Quynh Luu district, people are in the winter-spring rice harvest season. This is also an opportunity for some people from other regions to come and collect straw.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, a straw buyer in Quynh Minh commune, said that before the rice harvest season, he went to the fields and met with the owners to discuss purchasing the straw after the harvest. It is estimated that during each rice harvest, he buys 20-30 carts of straw from the localities.

“In some areas, straw is considered a waste product, so we buy it at a cheap price. Every afternoon, when the straw in the field is dry, we bring a truck to pick it up and then sell it to households who need it,” said Mr. Hung.

From discarded waste, straw is collected by people to resell for high income. Photo: Viet Hung

Most of the straw after being purchased will be sold to households that raise livestock and grow vegetables in coastal communes of Quynh Luu such as Quynh Minh, Quynh Luong, Quynh Bang, Quynh Doi, Quynh Hong... Because in these communes their main occupation is growing vegetables, straw is a necessary source of raw materials to compost as fertilizer for crops. During the rice harvest season, each vegetable growing household buys from the collectors 5-7 carts of straw, each cart costs 400,000 - 600,000 VND to use throughout the year.

Straw collectors said that every spring crop is dry and clean straw, so in addition to their main job, this job brings them a good income of 10 - 15 million VND/crop. To get this income, straw collectors have to work in the sun for about 4 hours to collect a full cart of straw.

Mr. Ho Van Hung, a straw buyer in Quynh Minh commune (Quynh Luu), said that this cart of straw will be sold to local vegetable growers for 300,000 VND. Photo: Viet Hung

Mr. Ho Van Hai in Quynh Bang commune said that his family has 4 sao of vegetables and raises a cow to get fertilizer for the plants. Every winter-spring rice harvest, his family takes a cart to collect straw, around noon when the straw has started to dry, the step is to roll the straw and load it onto the cart. If we spend money to buy straw to use as fertilizer, it will cost about 3 - 4 million VND a year.

Not only in Quynh Luu, during this time, many people in Hoang Mai town also switched to collecting straw to resell for profit. In addition to investing in straw transport vehicles, they also hired machines and workers to roll the straw to transport home for resale.

Straw is transported home for use or sold to households raising livestock, growing mushrooms, or as fertilizer for vegetables. Photo: Viet Hung

From a by-product of rice plants, straw is now purchased by many people as a commodity. In addition to increasing farmers' income, straw purchasing also contributes to creating jobs for many workers from carrying and transporting; at the same time, limiting the situation of smoke and ash from burning straw in the fields.