Salt farmers are ready for production.
In the salt field in Quynh Thuan commune, Mr. Dao Van Hoang is busy with the work of renovating the masonry and reinforcing the family's salt production area. Mr. Hoang said: "My family has 5 salt plots with an area of over 250 m2 . After Tet, taking advantage of the sunny weather, we mobilized the whole family to go to the field to repair, renovate and renew the crystallization plots, renew the filtering area to ensure the salt field is used effectively. The cost for each renovating plot is about 3 - 4 million VND".
Normally, before entering the salt production season, salt farmers in Quynh Thuan, Quynh Nghia, An Hoa communes... have to repair and renovate their salt fields. Because farmers use lime and finely ground coal slag to create a slurry as the crystallization surface, the quality and durability are not as long-lasting as using cement, sand, and stone to make the surface. However, according to farmers, this method will help the salt crystallization process faster than on the cement surface, although it will need to be renovated after only 2-3 years.
At the salt fields of Quynh Nghia commune, salt farmers are also actively working to repair the masonry cells. Urgently renovating the filter system, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa in Quynh Nghia commune said that her family has 4 salt plots, and every day after Tet she has been going to the field to reinforce and repair the damaged masonry cells. Having just finished renovating the masonry cells, now it is time to build 3 new filter troughs to reduce labor in the salt production process.
“In recent years, people have known how to apply technical advances in production, so salt productivity has increased, especially thanks to the improvement of filtering cells in the salt fields, reducing labor and increasing labor productivity. Currently, all preparations have been almost completed, just waiting for the hot weather, the family will focus on production, receive the first salt grains of the year and hope for a year of good harvest and good prices,” said Ms. Hoa.
According to the assessment of salt farmers in Quynh Luu district, the 2023 salt crop is the year with the most stable prices ever. Traders buy salt at the field at a price ranging from 2,000 - 2,500 VND/kg (800 - 1,200 VND/kg higher than previous years). With such a stable purchase price, on average, 1 salt slab produces 90 - 100 kg of refined salt, earning an income of 180,000 - 250,000 VND/day. The larger the salt slab area, the higher the income of each household.
Continue to invest in salt industry infrastructure
Quynh Luu is a district with a large salt production area in Nghe An province with more than 600 hectares in 9 communes with 12 cooperatives and 1 enterprise. To help salt farmers preserve the traditional salt profession and have a stable position, many localities are currently encouraging people to produce new products such as iodized salt and shrimp salt. Along with that, from 2012 to present, Quynh Luu district has been supported by the Provincial People's Committee to build nearly 7,000 improved filter sets, worth nearly 21 billion VND. At the same time, support for spreading HDPE plastic tarpaulin on crystallization cells for nearly 800 salt production units ( 60m2 /unit), worth 2.4 billion VND.
In addition, the district also invested funds to upgrade and build salt field infrastructure including water supply and drainage systems, improved drying plots, yards, and foundations, etc. With the attention of all levels, Quynh Luu salt farmers actively worked hard to produce. Thanks to that, the district's annual salt output reached 45,000 - 50,000 tons, with a value of 5 - 5.4 billion VND.
In addition to the attention of superiors on infrastructure investment for salt production, the formation and development of processing facilities contribute to solving product output and increasing value. Up to now, there are 5 salt processing facilities in Quynh Luu district. From processing activities, each year, units purchase and consume about 40,000 tons of raw salt for salt farmers, with revenue of approximately 10 billion VND. Of which, about 20,000 tons of refined salt are exported to markets such as the US, Japan, Korea, Laos, etc.
To improve the efficiency of salt production, Quynh Luu district continues to invest in renovating and upgrading salt field infrastructure, renovating the system of canals, ditches to drain fresh water from salt fields and renovating the salt fields. Regarding the salt field infrastructure system, it is expected that by 2025, salt production in the district will have tarpaulins covering the crystallization plots (accounting for 45 - 60% of the total area of crystallization plots for salt production) and 80% of the total salt output will be purchased by processing facilities, thereby meeting the demand for clean salt to ensure food safety for consumers and the food processing industry, medicinal salt.../.
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