It's time to give life back to the land!

The television report "Returning life to the land" by reporter Tra My and her colleagues won the B Prize - News, reportage, and documentary award (Television) at the 8th National Press Awards - 2023.

The network of shivers

Arriving in a remote hamlet in a mountainous commune in Thanh Son district, Tra My and a group of reporters, posing as people who wanted to open an earthworm processing workshop, were warmly welcomed by a dealer of electric shock equipment and worm dissection machines. In a small area of ​​only a few dozen square meters, electric shock equipment, worm dissection machines, and drying houses were all fully equipped like a processing workshop.

"The owner of the facility quickly plugged the electric shock into the ground so that her husband could demonstrate how to dissect the worms. In just a few dozen minutes, all the tricks were enthusiastically taught, from how to electrocute, dissect the worms to how to dry the worms," ​​said reporter Tra My.

According to the Phu Tho Radio and Television Station reporters, this facility has been operating for more than 4 years and is one of the major trading centers for earthworms and related machinery in Phu Tho province.

The processing facilities work until morning to ensure sufficient supply, and the electricians who catch worms also search the land day and night. Amidst the hissing sounds of the electric current, the worms emerge and writhe, are caught and transported to the factories that purchase and process fresh worms.

Reporter Tra My working at the scene.

Reporter Tra My shared that, when witnessing these images, it can be seen that the number of natural earthworms that are electrocuted and sold to processing factory owners like this is very large. Cleaned, drained, dried... earthworms have become sought-after items to buy and sell for profit. A business network that makes anyone who sees it shudder and raises the question, what makes people ignore many risks to hunt for this gentle, harmless creature?

"The most worrying thing is that in areas where the worms are electrocuted, the roots of the plants will be severely affected, and it usually takes 3 to 5 years for these lands to recover. It is a very high price to pay for farmers who cultivate and grow crops on the land," Tra My expressed.

The most worrying thing for Tra My and her colleagues is to see with their own eyes the change in the traditional relationship between farmers and earthworms - creatures known as "friends of farmers", "natural plows". Since ancient times, farmers have treasured earthworms, many generations of farming experience have taught them that earthworms moisten the soil, transport nutrients from the surface to deep soil layers...

"Therefore, the relationship between farmers and this creature is very strong. But now, who are the ones using electric shock to catch earthworms? It is the farmers. Why? Because the profit is too great and it is too easy to catch this gentle, harmless creature. Looking deeply into this issue, we realize that there is a danger, when farmers are willing to accept great dangers that degrade the land to hunt earthworms. A scary disregard reflects the limited thinking of a part of farmers" , reporter Tra My shared.

It's time for earthworms to be protected.

When Tra My and the group of reporters started working on this topic, the problem of electrocution to catch earthworms was happening painfully in Phu Tho province. Before it flared up again, this situation had appeared since 2018 and was reported by the press.

Although this is not a new topic, its topicality remains intact, because the impacts it causes on the environment, agriculture, and social life in rural areas today are very obvious.

To clearly reflect those strong impacts, Tra My and her colleagues tried to convey the most authentic and complete content. This took a lot of effort to grasp the bases and contacts of earthworm purchasing activities; image materials of processing facilities; interviews with experts and suggestions from industry leaders... The relatively large amount of content made the implementation time longer than expected.

The practice of electrocuting earthworms is a serious problem in Phu Tho province.

"The modeling part did not take too much time but had to be refined many times to achieve satisfaction. We tried to use real images obtained when approaching worm processing facilities and the sounds of on-site interviews to express the content that needed to be conveyed," Tra My shared.

During the process of making the work, Tra My was always worried and troubled with many confusing questions, because the electric shock to catch earthworms had happened 5 years ago. Until now, the worm processing facilities are still operating, people still buy and sell electric shock, waiting for the season to get rich from earthworms? Why are we slow in coming up with more drastic management measures? If we continue to be "powerless" in management, what dangers will we face? What losses must we accept in exchange?

"That will certainly be a very expensive price, a late lesson that will make managers and people regret," said reporter Tra My.

The most satisfying thing for the group of reporters when making this work is to honestly and quite comprehensively reflect the reality of electric shock to catch earthworms in the locality to the public. "Returning life to the soil" has partly contributed to having positive impacts on localities and specialized agencies to strengthen the management of this activity and have made proposals to the central agencies to soon have thorough management measures to eliminate the practice of electric shock to catch earthworms.

"It is time for earthworms to be protected; farms that buy, sell, and process earthworms must be eliminated; and people strongly oppose any act of electrocuting worms. It is necessary to clearly recognize that the activities of places like this are seriously threatening current agriculture and destroying the life of the soil in the future. It will be too late if we have to wait another 5 years for fundamental solutions to restore life to the soil," Tra My shared.

Hoang Anh

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/da-den-luc-tra-lai-su-song-cho-dat-post302889.html