There was a time when the salt industry was closely linked to the salt farmers of Hai Loc and Hoa Loc communes (Hau Loc). However, due to many difficulties with prices, market mechanisms, weather... the "seawater drying" industry is facing the risk of being wiped out.
Salt farmers still maintain the traditional, manual salt making process.
Bitter salt
On the Truong Xa salt field (Hoa Loc commune) - a sunny and windy place, dozens of salt workers still "bury themselves" in the salty taste of the sea water, the white color of salt and the cloudless blue sky. Until now, most salt workers in Hau Loc still maintain the traditional, manual salt making process: Drying sand - filtering - crystallizing. Thanks to that, the quality of salt grains here is quite good. In 2020, the Department of Science and Technology of Thanh Hoa took salt samples from Tam Hoa Salt Cooperative and sent them to the Ministry of Science and Technology for testing. The quality of salt products is rated as grade A for purity; salt grains are not contaminated with metals.
However, with manual production, the price of salt cannot compete with the market, especially with salt fields in the South. This leads to low economic efficiency, making it impossible for people to have capital to reinvest in salt infrastructure. Meanwhile, the salt field infrastructure is degraded, not repaired or renovated, causing the quality of salt to decrease, and the export value is not high. A vicious cycle around salt grains has caused many salt farmers to leave the salt fields, but there are still people who have their own reasons to be loyal to their ancestors' profession. "Hoa Loc has 2 salt fields, Truong Xa and Nam Tien, with about 300 households currently engaged in salt making, on an area of over 30 hectares. The laborers working in the salt fields are mainly the elderly and women; As for young people, most of them are healthy and go to work far away or switch to other jobs such as business, aquaculture, or working as workers..." - Mr. Le Van Kien, Deputy Director of Tam Hoa Salt Cooperative, opened the story.
Just about 10 years ago, the whole Hoa Loc commune had nearly 100 hectares of salt land, but now only 1/3 remains. In 2023, 4,100 tons of salt produced in Hoa Loc commune were supplied to companies, fish sauce processing in Hau Loc district and Nga Son, Hoang Hoa regions, and other provinces such as Hung Yen, Ha Nam... with an average selling price of 2,500 VND/kg. Thus, if divided equally among about 300 households, each household only earns about 3 million VND/month from salt making. "The salt making profession is inherently hard, completely dependent on the weather, and has low income, so no one in Hoa Loc gets rich from making salt" - Mr. Kien said.
Not to mention, the fact that enterprises and cooperatives processing and trading salt in the area have not shown their core role in consuming products for the people. For most of the salt produced, salt farmers have to find their own outlets, each selling on their own, so they are often forced to lower prices by traders. The Deputy Director of Tam Hoa Salt Cooperative explained: “Tam Hoa Salt Cooperative really wants to sign a contract to consume products for the people, both ensuring output and stabilizing prices, but is “powerless” because of lack of capital. Even the option of borrowing from the bank, the Cooperative has discussed but cannot implement because there is no collateral. Therefore, Tam Hoa Salt Cooperative only acts as a liaison between the parties, taking care of irrigation services and intra-field canals for the people.”
Converting land to inefficient salt production
Unstable prices, lack of investment in infrastructure, the area of salt fields is gradually shrinking, people are no longer interested in the profession... that is not only the problem of Hoa Loc commune but also the reality in localities that still have salt making profession such as Hai Loc commune (Hau Loc); Hai Chau ward, Hai Binh ward (Nghi Son town). So, what is the way out for salt grains and salt fields? The problem of converting salt making to an aquaculture economic model and towards an industrial cluster is taken into account.
According to Mr. Le Van Kien, the locality has converted 30 hectares of ineffective salt-making land, of which 18 hectares were converted to industrial shrimp and goby farming, 8 hectares were used to build the Hoa Loc industrial cluster, and 3 hectares were used for a shoe company. "The conversion of salt to shrimp is also according to the law of development, the profit from salt is low, while shrimp is very high. The same 1 hectare of land, but used for aquaculture, brings in revenue of up to 1 billion VND/year, while salt production only reaches nearly 100 million VND" - Mr. Kien shared.
As one of the households actively converting ineffective salt production land to shrimp farming, Mr. Dao Van Binh, in Tam Hoa village (Hoa Loc commune), shared: “The salt production land area is contaminated with salinity and is only suitable for aquaculture, so I decided to convert 1,400m2 of salt production land to white-leg shrimp farming. My family's area is not enough for shrimp farming, so I bought more salt production area from neighboring households, increasing the total shrimp farming area to more than 5,000m2. If the weather is favorable, I can harvest 3 shrimp crops a year, earning hundreds of millions of VND. Currently, the model is creating regular jobs for 2 regular workers and many seasonal workers.”
The conversion of inefficient salt production land to aquaculture in Hoa Loc commune in particular and Hau Loc district in general has been bringing economic efficiency, creating a shift in agricultural production, applying high technology in aquaculture, creating valuable products, increasing income for people. This is a necessary conversion direction for this land. However, shrimp farming brings high income but requires large investment and has many potential risks. Salt making is difficult to get rich but to stabilize life is more sustainable than other industries.
It is known that according to Hau Loc district's planning until 2030, Hoa Loc commune will still retain 14 hectares of salt-making land to maintain the profession. This is really good news for the salt farmers here, especially those who are passionate about the salt-making profession. "Salt-making - the profession of "sowing seawater" is considered one of the characteristics in the production life of coastal people. Anyone who has experienced the hard years in the salt fields will never forget the blazing sun, the dry wind with the spirit of "Fighting the rain, stealing the sun, determined to win over nature". Therefore, Tam Hoa salt-making not only brings economic value but also has cultural and spiritual values" - Mr. Trinh Xuan Han, Chairman of Hoa Loc Commune People's Committee, affirmed.
Article and photos: Tang Thuy
Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/loi-di-nao-cho-hat-muoi-que-bien-223366.htm
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