Ups and downs of silkworm farming

SGGPO 05/25/2023 09:10

Along the banks of the Ve River, Duc Hiep Commune (Mo Duc District, Quang Ngai Province) has long been famous for its traditional mulberry growing and silkworm raising profession that is over 100 years old. But now, this place only has old people trying to preserve the profession their ancestors built...

Mr. Le Van Truong's family (Phu An village, Duc Hiep commune, Mo Duc district) has been growing mulberry and raising silkworms for generations. For him, this is the profession that his grandparents and parents left behind, so even though life has changed, Mr. Truong still sticks with the profession. He shared: "For a long time, the cooperative had a collective mulberry growing and raising team. At that time, Quang Ngai had a silkworm company, so everyone in Duc Hiep commune tried their best to do the job. That was a prosperous time, the villages of Phu An, Nghia Lap, Chu Tuong, and An Long all grew mulberry and raised silkworms. Later, the company dissolved, the cooperative could not survive and stopped operating. Since then, the number of people growing mulberry and raising silkworms has gradually decreased."

Mr. Le Van Truong preserves his family's traditional silkworm farming profession. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

The hard work of growing mulberry and raising silkworms is called “the job of eating standing up” because while eating a bowl of rice, if it is about to rain, you have to run to pick mulberry leaves. “If the mulberry leaves get wet in the rain, the silkworms will die, so in the rainy season, if the mulberry leaves get wet in the rain, you have to spread them out in the yard and turn on the fan to dry them. Silkworms have the characteristic of eating cleanly, the mulberry leaves are not sprayed with pesticides, not even the fumes of pesticides stick to them,” said Mr. Ngo Hoang Hai (Phu An village, Duc Hiep commune).

Mr. Ngo Hoang Hai feeds silkworms with mulberry leaves. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

Silkworms only eat fresh, clean and dry mulberry leaves. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

Mulberry growers work hard day and night until the silkworms create cocoons. Meanwhile, the price of cocoons is very unstable. In 2022, the price of silkworm cocoons was only 70,000-80,000 VND/kg of dry cocoons. This year, the price has increased but is only 170,000-190,000 VND/kg.

Silkworm cocoons are a typical product of Duc Hiep commune (Mo Duc district, Quang Ngai province). Photo: Duc Hiep Farmers' Association

Many people who could not survive in this profession left their hometowns to start their own businesses. Many others got bored and decided to quit their jobs but then returned. Mr. Hai once quit his job to work everywhere but then returned to his hometown to stick with his old job. Mr. Hai said: "I have changed jobs 3 times but still returned to the old place". Every 2 months, Mr. Hai raises 3 batches of cocoons, each batch yields about 25kg of dried cocoons, selling for 170,000 VND/kg. Although it is hard, raising silkworms also brings in money, every 3 batches of cocoons also brings in a profit of 7-8 million VND.

Only the elderly in Phu An village still maintain the profession of growing mulberry and raising silkworms. Photo: Duc Hiep Farmers' Association

Mr. Ly Phat, Chairman of the Farmers’ Association of Duc Hiep Commune, said: “Last year, there were still 23 households growing mulberry and raising silkworms, but the record low price of cocoons caused many people to quit the job. This year, there are only about 10 households left, mainly concentrated in Phu An village.”

Mulberry fields of up to 20 hectares are gradually replacing biomass corn, the area is shrinking, each household only keeps 3-5 sao of mulberry fields.

Mr. Phat visits the mulberry fields of local people. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

According to Mr. Phat, the silkworm farming profession is now less time-consuming. Previously, the breeding cycle was about 25 days, but now the breeding facilities have taken care of the silkworms, so it only takes about 10-15 days to produce silkworm cocoons.

Sharing about the difficulties of silkworm growers, Mr. Phat said: “Currently, there is only one silkworm cocoon purchasing facility in Binh Dinh, they also provide the breed. Therefore, the price is set by them, some years the price is very low, the purchasing time is also decided by them.”

A mulberry field of the people. Photo: NGUYEN TRANG

To restore and develop the silkworm farming profession, people recommend that they be supported with equipment, encouraged to raise silkworms again, and find a source of output for silkworm cocoons.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/thang-tram-nghe-trong-dau-nuoi-tam-post691007.html