(Baonghean.vn) - Every year, around the 9th, 10th, and 11th months of the lunar calendar, after the full moon and the 1st day of the lunar month, the people of hamlets 1, 6, 7, and 8 of Hung Nhan commune eagerly participate in the mudworm catching festival.
Each rice paddy is enclosed with embankments and nets according to the area of each household. When the tide recedes, the worms emerge from the soil to reproduce, and this is when the work of collecting them begins. Following the current, the worms gather in the nets, and the worm collectors simply scoop them up with their nets. The bustling scene continues from around 4 am until the water in the paddy fields dries up completely. During this tide, the people of Hung Nhan harvest about 1 ton of worms. With an average selling price of 350,000 VND/kg, the people earn about 350 million VND per night. It is estimated that one worm harvest here brings in several billion VND, three times more than growing rice. Because there is no need to raise or care for them, the locals call it "a gift from heaven."
Here are some photos of people in Hung Nhan commune (Hung Nguyen district) harvesting "gifts from nature" (photos taken on December 23):
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| Locals build embankments to harvest "gifts from nature". |
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| Scene of harvesting sea worms. |
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| Traders sort and buy the worms right in the rice fields. |
The joy after each time we harvest a "gift from nature". |
Cong Sang
