Mulberry cultivation and silkworm raising change family economy

Thanks to the silkworm farming model, the family economy of Ms. Duong Thi Hoa in residential group 4 (Lien Son town), Lak district, Dak Lak province has become increasingly prosperous.

Lak Lake is geographically adjacent to Lam Dong province (the key area of ​​mulberry growing and silkworm raising in the country), so many households in Lak Lake have the opportunity to approach and then stick with the mulberry growing profession. Among them, there is the family of Ms. Duong Thi Hoa in residential group 4 (Lien Son town), Lak district, Dak Lak province.

Ms. Hoa said that her family's production land is mainly sandy soil, and can only grow rice for one crop, with low productivity and output. Ten years ago, to develop her family's economy, she and some local people bought mulberry and silkworm seeds to experiment on 2 sao of land for growing rice for one crop. After a few crops, realizing that growing mulberry trees brings more economic value than growing rice, Ms. Hoa boldly expanded the mulberry growing area.

The model of growing mulberry and raising silkworms has changed the family economy of Ms. Duong Thi Hoa (in residential group 4, Lien Son town, Lak district, Dak Lak province). Photo TL

Up to now, after 10 years of starting a business with mulberry trees, from the initial 2 sao of experiment, the mulberry growing area of ​​Ms. Hoa's family has increased to nearly 1 hectare. In addition to the entire cultivated land of Ms. Hoa's family being covered with mulberry trees, Ms. Hoa also rented more land from some other households to expand the mulberry growing area for silkworm raising.

"After 10 years of growing mulberry and raising silkworms, I have found that the profit of this model is quite high, with low investment costs, fast capital turnover and a relatively stable market. From a side job, growing mulberry and raising silkworms has now become the main source of income for my family. On average, my family raises 1-2 batches of silkworms per month. With the current cocoon price ranging from 200,000 - 210,000 VND/kg, my family earns about 15 - 20 million VND per month," said Ms. Hoa.

In the past, the traditional way of growing mulberry and raising silkworms was quite hard, but now, with the development of science and technology, farmers apply technological advances to production, saving labor and time, while at the same time giving higher productivity and output.

According to Ms. Duong Thi Hoa, at first, due to lack of experience, she and other households growing mulberry and raising silkworms often chose to take advantage of empty spaces in the house and use trays and winnowing baskets to raise silkworms. With this traditional method, silkworms are susceptible to diseases, leading to uneven growth, affecting productivity and output. Drawing on experience from the actual process, combined with the knowledge learned, people invested in building a separate house and buying trays for silkworms to live in.

Thanks to growing mulberry and raising silkworms, the economy of many women's union members' families is increasingly prosperous. Illustrative photo

Ms. Hoa added: "Currently, silkworm farming is not as hard as before thanks to the use of trays, so feeding silkworms and changing manure is easy, and the process of harvesting cocoons is also quick because of the support of specialized machines. From my experience in growing mulberry and raising silkworms, I have found that silkworms are susceptible to flies. To prevent this, I bought mosquito nets to protect the silkworms. With this method, silkworms are isolated from insects that easily transmit diseases, helping people minimize risks and losses during the farming process."

It is known that currently in Lak district, there are about 36 hectares used by people to grow mulberry and raise silkworms, mainly concentrated in the communes of Krong No, Dak Nue, Bong Krang and Lien Son town, in which Lien Son town accounts for about 50% of the total area of ​​the district. Thanks to the development of the mulberry growing and silkworm raising model, many households in Lak district have had enough to eat and save.

Through that, many local women's union members have risen to become the masters of their family's economy, gradually changing and affirming their position in the family and in society.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/trong-dau-nuoi-tam-thay-doi-kinh-te-gia-dinh-20240630000601192.htm