Once famous product
In the 1990s, Ky Son district had hundreds of hectares of ant wings. The red ant wing farming profession appeared in many communes such as Nam Can, Pha Danh, Keng Du, Huoi Tu... Many households escaped poverty, even became well-off thanks to ant wings. In remote forests, there were many "bosses" who raised ant wings on hundreds of host trees, with a harvest of tons of resin such as Mr. Luong Phia Chan in Keo Luc 1 village (Pha Danh commune), Mr. Moong Pho My in Huoi Phuon 2 village (Keng Du commune)...
Raising red ants is a traditional occupation from our ancestors. In the forests, ants are raised on resinous trees such as pit nien, dau thieu, co khiet, co phen, and even fig trees. Lac resin is the sap secreted by ants on tree trunks.
This job does not require too much sophistication, some people still breed red aphids themselves. In October, people start to release seeds, transplanting red aphids into the trunk of the host tree, the aphids gradually spread and stick to the branches in white patches. The season for releasing red aphids is concentrated in April every year, and harvest is in October, or from the end of the year to the following summer.
There were times when, during the harvest season, traders were busy buying, and the dried lac sap was collected immediately. But now, when you come to this remote border district, few people are excited to talk about raising lac, as the red lac farming profession is gradually shrinking.
Households once known as “kings of ants” such as Mr. Cut Bun Ma, in Noong De village, Nam Can commune, at one time his family planted more than 500 pit nieng trees on 1 hectare of hill garden to raise ants, collecting tons of resin each year. However, since 2002, due to lack of seeds and unstable prices, his family has cut down nearly 300 trees.
Great potential gone
To learn about the ant farming profession in Ky Son district, we traveled more than 50 km to Na Loi commune, one of the few communes where people still work in the ant farming profession for resin. Climbing up the high forest, this season leeches are jumping around underfoot. While checking the tree trunks where red aphids are clinging, Mr. Vi Van Binh in Na village, Huu Lap commune, told us about the ant farming profession.
Living in Huu Lap commune, he went all the way to Na Loi commune to raise wing ants on more than 100 host trees. “I only released these more than 100 host trees for less than a week, only in years when the aphids die do I have to release them again. A host tree usually yields about 5-15 kg of resin, the yield depends on the size of the tree, the type of tree with more or less resin, in some cases, large trees yield hundreds of tons of resin per year. The collected resin is dried in the yard and then sold, it can be kept from year to year without spoiling,” Mr. Binh said.
In Na Loi commune, there are now only 5-6 households raising lac. Currently, lac resin is sold at 50,000 - 60,000 VND/kg, but there were times 5-6 years ago when the price dropped to 15,000 - 20,000 VND/kg, and there were years when the price went up to over 1.5 million VND/kg.
According to Mr. Nguyen Sy Son - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ky Son district, while people's knowledge of raising red ants is limited, deforestation is the source of red ants and the area of host trees is narrowed, the instability and fluctuation of the consumer market is causing the red ants raising profession of ethnic minorities in Ky Son to gradually fade away and shrink.
Ky Son currently has over 150 hectares of red ant host trees in a scattered form that are suitable for breeding and raising ant wings, and if it develops again like the "golden age", Ky Son district will need at least 10 tons of red ant wings each year. It is clear that the green economic method has existed in Ky Son district for a long time, but due to lack of perseverance and limited application of science and technology, great potential has been lost...
With many uses, lac resin is especially popular and in high demand in the market. In medicine, it has the properties of cooling and detoxifying. In industry, lac resin is used to make dyes, paints and plating products that require resistance to heat, acid and the effects of harsh climates. Products from lac are also used in the aviation industry to produce and manufacture aircraft and high-end electronics; widely used in pharmaceuticals, food, cosmetics...
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