The sunnier the place, the happier the farmers are.
For salt farmers in the coastal area of Nghe An, hot days of 39-40 degrees Celsius are the happiest days for the people here because the salt crystallizes quickly, the grains are beautiful, and sell for more value.
Quynh Thuan Commune, Quynh Luu District is a traditional and long-standing salt granary. The whole commune currently has about 100 hectares of salt with nearly 300 households participating in production. In recent days, the hot weather with temperatures ranging from 38 - 40 degrees Celsius has made the salt making work of the people here difficult, however, the stronger the sun, the more beautiful the salt, the higher the productivity. Therefore, taking advantage of the hot sunny days, salt farmers here are urgently going to the fields to make salt.
Taking a break while waiting for the salt to crystallize, Mr. Dao Van Luyen in Truong Thinh village, Quynh Thuan commune said that his family has 4 salt plots. In the morning, they go to the field to pour water on the plots and wait for the sun to crystallize into salt. Around 2 pm, the couple returns to scrape the salt and prepare for the next day's production.
“The salt industry depends a lot on the weather, so production usually peaks during the dry season, from April to June. The past few days have been the hottest in this year’s salt season, so everyone is excited. Although it’s hard work, the salt grains are beautiful and white, and the productivity is high. With 4 salt slabs, my husband and I make about 250kg of salt per day, earning more than 350,000 VND.”
Only by being present in the salt fields during the hottest days of late June can one fully appreciate the hardships of salt workers. They have to expose their backs to the hot sun, facing the salty steam rising up. Despite the scorching sun, salt workers in the coastal communes of Quynh Thuan, Quynh Nghia, An Hoa... still wish for the sun to be stronger and last longer so that the salt can crystallize faster, the grains will be more beautiful, and the quality will be better.
“The stronger the sun, the faster the salt crystallizes, the saltiness is moderate, there is no acrid taste and especially it can be preserved longer. My family has 5 salt plots, before the season, the sun was light so the productivity was only about 230-250kg per day, however, during the recent days of strong sunshine, the productivity reached about 300kg of salt, from which the income also increased”, said Ms. Nguyen Thi Hue in An Hoa commune.
To make salt, one must go through many difficult steps. First, the ground must be treated to be very compact to minimize seawater seepage into the ground. Next, the sand that has been soaked in seawater will be dried. When the sand is dry, small salt grains will crystallize on each grain of sand. People use shovels to scoop the dried sand into the holes and compact it tightly. Then, seawater is poured in and the salt water is allowed to settle. Finally, the salt water that has settled is poured into the cement field. After drying for nearly a day, the salt will form grains, which is also the time to harvest.
According to salt farmers in Quynh Luu district, the current price of salt purchased by traders at the field is 1,500 VND/kg, lower than at this time last year. “This job is very hard, but the people who do it are mainly old people. Young people now no longer follow this job but go to work for companies because they cannot stand the hardship and heat,” said Nguyen Thi Xinh (60 years old) in An Hoa commune.
Quynh Luu is a district with a large salt production area in Nghe An province with more than 600 hectares in 9 communes with 12 cooperatives and 1 enterprise. According to statistics from the district's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, since the beginning of the season, Quynh Luu salt farmers have produced about 30,000 tons/plan of 50,000 tons of salt with a revenue of over 3 billion VND.
According to Mr. Bui Xuan Truc, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quynh Luu district, in previous years, this area was much larger, but because salt making was hard work and the income was low, many people gave up the job. Currently, the local government has been making efforts to rebuild the agricultural sector, especially the salt industry, contributing to building the brand and quality of Quynh Luu salt and creating stable, long-term income for the people.
