If every year, at this time, salt farmers are busy harvesting salt at the beginning of the season, this year, salt farmers have just started to tidy up the salt fields to enter the new season. The reason is that the weather is erratic, with prolonged cold rain causing the salt production of Sa Huynh salt farmers to stagnate. While busy building embankments and cleaning the salt fields, Mr. Nguyen Van Tot, in Long Thanh 2 residential group, Pho Thanh ward, said that salt making is very hard work, depending a lot on weather conditions, leading to uneven productivity and output of salt, so prices are unstable. Currently, the price of salt is increasing, each 50kg bag of salt costs an average of 80,000 VND. Therefore, I and many salt farmers are urgently cleaning the fields, so that when the weather is sunny, we can quickly bring in seawater to make salt, in time to sell to the market.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong, in Long Thanh 1 residential group, Pho Thanh ward, has been involved in salt making for more than 30 years. Ms. Hong said that salt farmers always have to face the situation of good harvest but low price, good price but bad harvest. Currently, the price of salt is high, but most of us salt farmers are not happy because there is no salt to sell to the market. Salt making is extremely hard work, income is unstable, so most of us are only old people who stick with the job.
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| Salt farmers in Pho Thanh ward (Duc Pho town) clean and compact the salt fields to prepare for the production season. |
In order to improve the quality and productivity of salt, in recent years, many salt farmers in Sa Huynh have actively invested and applied the method of producing salt on tarpaulin. However, the infrastructure for production and processing has not been invested synchronously, and the warehouses for preserving and storing salt are not guaranteed. This causes salt farmers to produce sparingly, leading to a situation where during the main season, they sell at low prices, and after the season, the prices go up, but the salt farmers have no salt to sell.
In order to stabilize the price and output of Sa Huynh salt, Sa Huynh Salt Production Cooperative 2 is implementing a plan to build a salt storage yard to gather and purchase salt for salt farmers. Director of Sa Huynh Salt Production Cooperative 2 Nguyen Huu Chanh said that the cooperative has more than 200 member households participating in salt production with about 42 hectares. Not only accompanying salt farmers in production, the cooperative will also purchase salt, contributing to solving difficulties, supporting and improving the lives of salt farmers.
According to Vice Chairwoman of Pho Thanh Ward People's Committee Nguyen Thi Phuong, the whole ward has more than 500 salt-making households, with an area of about 120 hectares. Although Sa Huynh salt has established a brand in the market, salt farmers still face many difficulties. The reason is due to weather factors and limited consumption market. Currently, Sa Huynh salt farmers are participating in the project to Preserve the traditional Sa Huynh salt fields associated with developing community tourism . After the project is completed, it will be a premise for salt farmers to boldly change their production mindset and focus on preserving and developing the traditional salt-making profession.
“To maintain and improve the Sa Huynh salt industry, many fundamental and long-term solutions are needed. The local government hopes that the authorities will continue to pay attention, soon deploy investment, renovate infrastructure in the Sa Huynh salt fields and support capital sources for salt farmers to boldly apply scientific and technological advances in the production and processing of clean salt. At the same time, promote and expand connections with salt consuming businesses, helping Sa Huynh salt reach out to large markets and salt farmers feel secure in their profession,” Ms. Phuong suggested.
Article and photos: HAI CHAU
Source: https://baoquangngai.vn/kinh-te/bien-kinh-te-bien/202503/nghe-muoi-sa-huynh-van-con-kho-khan-5db1c2e/
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