The whole village in Hai Phong went to the fields to collect the dense floating earthworms. The price of fresh earthworms was low but everyone was very happy.

There is no need to raise and feed them every day like other pets. Every year, at the end of September and the beginning of October of the lunar calendar, the earthworms appear. This "heaven-sent treasure" has brought many households in the estuary of Hai Phong a large income, especially when the weather and tides are favorable.

Clip: The steps that farmers in Vinh Bao district, Hai Phong city take to collect earthworms, a specialty considered a "heavenly treasure". By: Thu Thuy

Clean the field to welcome the earthworms - play for fun and win for real

Since the beginning of September, farmers growing rươi in the riverside areas of Hai Phong have been busily preparing, waiting for the tide to return to collect "heavenly gifts".

Mr. Nguyen Van Viet's family, Kim Ngan village (Vinh An commune, Vinh Bao district, Hai Phong) has a tradition of cultivating rươi. He said that his family has 7 sao of riverside pond that has been renovated, previously used for both growing and harvesting rươi.

But in recent years, the family has not planted rice but only cleared weeds and plowed the soil to make it loose so that at the end of the year they can harvest and sell the earthworms.

This year, the whole commune has been harvesting earthworms since September. The earthworm crop has not failed, but the earthworms are small and not as big as in previous years.

Mr. Viet's family expects to harvest about 60-70kg/sao, selling right at the lagoon at a price ranging from 270-300 thousand/kg.

With the above price, households that sell rươi still have an income of several tens of millions to several hundreds of millions depending on the family's farming area.

The earthworms have been cleaned by the people of Vinh An commune, Vinh Bao district, Hai Phong, weighed, packed in trays and transported for consumption. Photo: Thu Thuy

Mr. Nguyen Van Viet, Kim Ngan village (Vinh An commune, Vinh Bao district, Hai Phong) is harvesting earthworms in the pond. Photo: Thu Thuy.

"To help the worms multiply, my family invested in buying chicken manure and rice husks, composted them, and sprinkled them into the pond. Then, we plowed the soil to make it loose so the worms would have a place to live and make nests.

Occasionally, weed and sprinkle corn bran to provide more nutrients for the soil to grow worms. Then, at the end of the year, waiting for the water level in September and October to rise, the family will drain the water from the pond.

"Then the worms float up and swim with the water into the net. My family just needs to pour the worms from the net into a basin, pick up all the grass and trash, then weigh them for the trader," Mr. Viet said excitedly.

Ms. Pham Thi Min, who lives in the same village as Mr. Nguyen Van Viet, shared with Dan Viet reporter about the joy of the households making rươi here.

Mrs. Min said that in the past, her hometown's rice fields were undulating and unplanned. Every time the water level reached the level of the earthworms, the farmers would call each other to manually collect them with a net as small as a hand. The households that could collect them would eat them, and the households that could not collect them would starve. At that time, there were not as many earthworms as there are now, one year there were some and the other year there were none, very erratic.

Traders from all over come to the fields to buy earthworms from farmers in Vinh An commune, Vinh Bao district (Hai Phong). Photo: Thu Thuy.

In recent years, riverside lagoons have been planned, built, managed, renovated, applied techniques and developed into a profession, so the output of rươi is quite stable. Many families have become rich thanks to rươi.

"To create an environment for the worms to grow, any household that builds a worm pond must keep the soil in the pond clean. Any place that grows rice must only grow one crop.

During the cultivation process, let the rice grow naturally, absolutely do not use any pesticides or chemical fertilizers. If you do not plant, leave the field as it is, still add organic fertilizer, rice husks, and bran to make the soil fertile and loose.

"Plan to build dams, build banks, dig a system of canals to lead water from the river into the lagoon, build sluices to regulate water in and out according to the tide. The family that invests well in renovation, the cleaner and more porous the soil, the more, bigger and tastier the worms will be" - Ms. Min said.

Season of earthworms, season of specialty - A gift from heaven

As a rule, earthworms only appear in large numbers during the high tide from the beginning of September to the 11th lunar month, with each tide having 2-3 days of earthworms floating.

As the water rose, the worms floated up. As the water receded, the worms followed them out to the river but were caught when they passed through the net. When they entered the water, the worms were both more numerous and bigger.

Inside the earthworm is a thick powder that looks like condensed milk. If you don't know how to preserve it, it will be crushed and broken.

Therefore, when scooped up from the water, people will clean the worms right in the field. Traders just put the worms in a styrofoam tray, add some ice water so that the worms will not be crushed during the transportation process.

In addition to selling rươi to small traders in the market and people, pond owners also sell rươi to Chinese traders.

Styrofoam trays are used to preserve the earthworms during the transportation process to places of consumption. Price of fresh earthworms: Photo: Thu Thuy.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tuyen, Giang Bien commune (Vinh Bao district, Hai Phong city) - one of the households that have been growing rươi for many years shared that since investing in renovating the rươi pond, his family has had an additional source of income.

This year, the price of rươi is unstable, increasing and decreasing by the day, even by the hour. In the beginning of the 10th lunar month, there were 3 days when rươi appeared, but the first day was gone and the last day there were few rươi, only the middle day, then the price was unstable.

The day before, my family was selling steadily at the price of 300,000 - 320,000 VND/kg, but the next day it was forced down to 260,000 - 270,000 VND/kg.

In 2024, the earthworms in Giang Bien commune (Vinh Bao district, Hai Phong city) are not as big as in previous years, and the price of earthworms is also lower than previous years. Photo: Thu Thuy

"Still in the cycle of 'good price, bad harvest, good harvest, low price'. However, the earthworm is still a significant source of income for many households living along the river," Mr. Tuyen affirmed.

Source: https://danviet.vn/ca-lang-o-hai-phong-ra-dong-vot-con-ruoi-noi-day-dac-gia-ruoi-tuoi-co-thap-ma-ai-nay-deu-vui-lam-20241106223122235.htm