Nghe An crab price increases every day

Farmers sell field crabs to traders right after they get out of the fields. Photo: Xuan Hoang

These hot weather days, the need to usefield crabsto process into nutritious, cool dishes is increasing, especially in Hanoi and some other cities. This is an opportunity for Nghe An farmers to go to the fields to hunt for field crabs to earn extra income. Therefore, at night, on the main roads, traders set up points to buy field crabs for people. Observations show that after the field crabs are selected and weighed, people have money immediately.

Mr. Trinh Ngoc in Dong Ban hamlet, Lang Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) excitedly said that, when the spring rice harvest had just finished, there were countless crabs in Dong Ban field. The couple only needed to search for 1-2 hours from dusk to 9pm to get about 10kg of crabs, but at that time, the crab price was bought by traders at 60,000-70,000 VND/kg.

Traders buy and collect field crabs, then send them to Hanoi for sale that same night. Photo: Xuan Hoang

At this time, the weather is hot and the fields have little water, so there are few crabs, causing the couple to only catch 3-4 kg each night, but in return, the purchase price oftradersincreased to 100,000 VND/kg in the past 3-4 days. "Although the price has increased, the quantity caught is less than before, so income has also decreased. However, for farmers, earning an additional 300,000 - 400,000 VND per day is enough for daily expenses," Mr. Ngoc shared.

According to the people here, for some unknown reason, Dong Ban field has more crabs than other fields, so during peak season, the whole village rushes to the field to catch crabs. People believe that "heaven's blessing" is for whoever goes, so the whole village rushes to the field to hunt crabs day and night, but catching crabs is easiest at night when the crabs crawl out of their burrows to look for food.

Field crabs grow naturally, so people consider this a "heavenly gift" that anyone can catch. Photo: Xuan Hoang

On Highway 7B from Dien Chau to Yen Thanh, we occasionally come across traders' crab purchasing points. Around 9 p.m., farmers of all ages, their hands and feet covered in mud, carry buckets of freshly caught crabs to sell to traders. Some get more than 1 kg, some get as little as 0.5 kg, all of which are purchased by traders.

Mr. Tan, a crab trader, said that every year, when the weather is hot, the price of crab increases day by day. 10 days ago, the price of crab was only 70,000 VND/kg, but in recent days it has increased to 90,000 and then 100,000 VND/kg, even big and beautiful crabs caught during the day, traders buy at 105,000 VND/kg.

"If the weather continueshot"And as the number of crabs caught is decreasing, the price will likely increase further, because the demand for field crabs to prepare Hanoi's specialty dishes is high," said Mr. Tan.

Crab noodle soup is made from field crab and is very popular in Hanoi.

Not only in Yen Thanh and Dien Chau, but farmers in many other districts in Nghe An also go to the fields to catch crabs for sale. Because field crabs grow quickly, are easy to catch, are consumed well, and have high prices, people take advantage of catching them to earn extra income to cover their living expenses./.

Xuan Hoang