Raising silkworms as a "specialty" dish in Luu Son

Leading us through the nearly 11-hectare mulberry fields along the beach in the commune, Mr. Tran Dinh Lam, Chairman of the People's Committee of Luu Son commune, said that this area is the source of mulberry leaves for more than 50 silkworm raising households of the Luu Son people. Although the cradle of mulberry growing and silkworm raising in Luong village is Dang Son land, thanks to the flexibility in business, the Luu Son people have learned and brought the profession to the commune.

The silkworm farming profession has been associated with Luu Son for many generations, however, from 1990 to 1995, the profession fell into crisis due to the lack of market demand. As a result, people had to abandon the profession. Until 2001, when the commune had a policy to restore the silkworm farming profession, some people began to return to the profession.

However, it was only in recent years, when the direction of raising silkworms for food gradually affirmed its economic efficiency, that the profession attracted many people to participate. Currently, the whole commune has more than 50 households concentrated in 2 hamlets Hong Phong and Phu Tho engaged in commercial silkworm raising.

Currently, commercial silkworm farming is a new economic direction that brings economic efficiency to Luu Son people. Photo: Quynh Thanh

As one of the pioneer households to restore the silkworm farming profession, Mr. Nguyen Van Tien (65 years old, Hong Phong hamlet) said that his family and many people in the hamlet chose the Vietnamese golden cocoon silkworm breed to raise. This breed is mainly imported from Thai Binh with a price of about 70 thousand VND per round. The time from the incubation of the egg round until the silkworm is ripe for sale on the market lasts about 20 days. If it develops well, it can produce up to 55 kg of commercial silkworms. With the current selling price fluctuating from 70 to 80 thousand VND per kg of ripe silkworms, the income is about 4 million VND.

Each egg cycle produces about 55kg of commercial silkworms. Photo: Quynh Thanh

Mr. Tien said that in Luu Son, the advantage is that the land along the banks is less flooded, and if there is a flood, the water recedes faster, so people are more proactive in providing mulberry leaves for silkworms. For example, during the flood at the end of August, although many people in the banks along the Lam River had to dump a lot of silkworms because the flood water made it impossible to harvest mulberry leaves, most people in Luu Son were still able to maintain their products.

His family and neighbors chose the Vietnamese golden silkworm because this silkworm breed can withstand hot, humid weather and is less susceptible to disease. When it produces finished products for food, the quality is much higher than the white silkworm breed that is popular on the market. Thanks to the fatty, fragrant taste and high nutritional content of the silkworm when ripe, more and more traders come to the commune to buy the product.

Thanks to the advantage of the alluvial land, the people of Luu Son have proactively sourced mulberry leaves as food for silkworms. Photo: Quynh Thanh

Commercial silkworm farming does not go through the stage of waiting for silkworms to form cocoons, so it has shortened the production cycle time as well as minimized many risks for farmers. Along with that, thanks to low investment and taking advantage of surplus labor, this has become a suitable economic direction for households in the locality, bringing a good income to stabilize the lives of people in Luu Son.