Earn billions of dong from "worm fields"
In Chau Nhan commune, there are about 50 hectares of rice fields with annual rươi, concentrated in hamlets 1, 2, 6 and 8. As a traditional occupation in Chau Nhan, people here have known how to build banks to retain water and collect rươi for several decades. In the past ten years, people have started to put up green nets around the fields, both to "mark the territory" and to prevent rươi from going to other people's fields.
According to Mr. Phan Dinh Hoan - Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee: Every year, the whole commune collects about 5 tons of roe, during the peak season, traders bring cars to buy roe in styrofoam boxes to bring to the city for consumption. In the commune, there are many households that collect 1-2 quintals of roe each crop, such as the families of Mr. Le Xuan Kiem and Mr. Dinh Nhu Khoa in Phu Xuan hamlet; Mr. Le Quang Vinh and Mr. Hoa Van Viet in hamlet 7...
The price of rươi fluctuates from year to year, but the average is usually around 400,000 - 450,000 VND/kg, and in some years it is up to 500,000 VND/kg. However, this year, the wholesale price at the field is only around 350,000 - 400,000 VND/kg. In the rươi fields, people still grow two rice crops, with an average yield of 2.5 - 3 quintals/sao, but they do not use pesticides to protect the rươi.
"If there is a lot of flooding this year, next year the rươi crop will be very good because the soil is alluvial. To increase the yield of rươi, after harvesting the summer-autumn rice, from September of the solar calendar, people plowed, loosened the soil and killed all the weeds so that the rươi would grow more," said Mr. Phan Dinh Hoan.
Not as green as the rươi in the Northern Delta provinces such as Hai Duong, Hai Phong, the rươi Hung Nguyen is yellow, plump, very visually stimulating and is favored by customers in many places. Each rươi season, large households earn hundreds of millions, small households earn tens of millions from this "heavenly gift".
In addition to income from the fields, people in Chau Nhan commune and surrounding areas also earn extra income from trading in earthworms. Buying wholesale at the field for 350,000 VND/kg, Ms. Hoang Thi Hoa sells at My market for 370,000 VND/kg. "I mainly sell to customers passing by on the Lam River road, an average of 10-15 kg of earthworms per day, which are sold out within a few hours. This time the earthworms are fat, with a beautiful red-yellow color, so they sell very quickly," said Ms. Hoa.
Not only live rươi, but also with attractive dishes made from rươi, the "rươi specialized" restaurants in Hung Nguyen district have also become "brands" known and loved by gourmets near and far.
The hard work of collecting "heaven's blessings"
Starting to collect the worms from 8am, by 9am, Au Van Dinh, hamlet 7, Chau Nhan commune, had collected more than 1kg of worms. “The worms rise with the tide, the water rises for about an hour and then recedes, the worms float up. Usually the water rises in the evening, sometimes at 2am, 4am, but today the water rose at 7am,” said Dinh. After nearly an hour, on an area of 10m of rice field, he had only collected 1kg of worms. If he was lucky, he could collect 5-10kg some days, but sometimes he could only get a few ounces.
The worm season starts in September, but the peak season only starts in the beginning of October of the lunar calendar. Each month, the “heavenly blessing” only comes during the few days when the tide rises and falls around the 15th and 1st of the lunar month. The worm still comes in rain or wind, so the people here, regardless of rain or cold, go to the fields whenever there is worm.
It is not an exaggeration to call the worms “heaven’s blessing” because after two rice crops, from the 10th lunar month onwards, the worms float on the fields, and farmers just need to use a net to scoop them up. However, in the fields, only the fields located near the ebb and flow of the water have the worms. His family has 2 sao of “worm land”, and Nguyen Van Hoa usually scoops up 7-8 kg of worms every day, sometimes less.
“The season of rươi is the cold rainy season at the end of the year. On the days before and after the first and fifteenth of the lunar month, at around 1am the whole village wakes up and goes to the fields to wait for the water to recede and for the rươi to float up to be scooped up. On lucky days, we get a lot, but on days when we soak in the rain and cold water for hours, we only get a few ounces of rươi,” Mr. Hoa shared.
However, despite the hardship and difficulty, earthworm farming is a significant source of income for people in flooded areas of Chau Nhan commune, with income many times higher than rice farming.
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