Thousands ha of salt melt off due to unseasonal rains

The most difficult salt crop in 10 years

The salt crop 2021-2022 in Bac Lieu province began about 1 month later than that of previous years. This is one of the reasons why the total salt production this year is much lower than the previous years. Not only that, but unseasonal rains have also caused a huge loss of unharvested salt for farmers. This salt crop 2021-2022 is considered the most difficult one for them in the past 10 years.

A few weeks ago, the salt was still white there on the fields but after only a few heavy rains, it completely dissolved into water. The salt melts, which means all efforts of farmers for months have also dissolved into water.

Speaking to reporters, many farmers in Dong Hai district (Bac Lieu province) could not hide their sadness, because, after many days of working hard in the fields, they had to suffer fierce losses due to continuous unseasonal rains. For them, this year is really a "bitter" salt season.

Tran Van Cong from Dien Hai commune, Dong Hai district said: "Since unseasonal rains came, no one in my family could sleep at night, as the prolonged heavy rain lasted from late night to morning without stopping. For decades of experience in making salt, it was rarely bad that our hectares of the soon-to-be-harvested salt suddenly dissolved into water."

Dien Hai commune, Dong Hai district is considered the "salt capital" of Bac Lieu province so until now, dozens of salt people still feel bitter and regretful looking at the fields. Tam said the unseasonal rain is difficult to predict as it falls down suddenly and people have no chance to recover their fields.

As usual every year, the salt people are busy in their fields harvesting the pure white salt making up a beautiful image of a good harvest. But now the crop has become somber and empty.

Mr. Tam calculated he could lose nearly VND50 million after just one rain, saying: "For decades of working as a salt farmer, I often face this scene but this year is the worst."

Huy Dien Salt Cooperative in Dong Hai district, which has a large area of 20ha of salt production, reported that this salt crop 2021 - 2022 has the lowest yield in the past 10 years, with only 120 tons, equal to 1/3 of the previous years.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Quoc, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Huy Dien Salt Cooperative, and some members complained that for nearly ten years, salt farmers in the cooperative are not easy to improve their life due to salt production. Even though, people still stick to their work with hope, waiting for the state to support them in improving their living conditions. 

Quoc said that after the past two off-season showers of rain, 20ha of salt were damaged, with about 138 tons of salt being lost. Currently, projects to support the development of the salt industry have been approved by authorities at all levels, but Huy Dien Cooperative alone still could not access them.

Nearly VND1.9 billion of support for salt farmers

To timely support and help the salt and Artemia farmers overcome difficulties in production 2021 - 2022 , the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) of Dong Hai district has reviewed and reported the damage situation. Accordingly, the total damaged salt area is nearly 1,260ha of 764 households in Dien Hai, Long Dien Tay and Long Dien Dong communes, with a loss of over 9,250 tons.

In addition, the district's DARD Office also reported that the Artemia farming area of ​​in two cooperatives of Doanh Dien and Huy Dien in 2022 is 72ha (Danh Dien has 50ha with an output of 900kg and Huy Dien has 22ha with an output of nearly 400 kg). 

The DARD also said that Artemia damage due to unseasonal rains made the crop 2021-2022 unable to continue production, so the Artemia egg harvest was low. Thus living conditions of members of the two cooperatives faced many difficulties.

To cope with that, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Dong Hai district, Mr. To Minh Duong, had sent a report to the  Bac Lieu province's People's Committee proposing support in solving damages for salt and Artemia farming in the area.

Accordingly, for the areas with salt damage of over 70%, the district proposed to get the support of VND1.5 million/ha so, with damage of ​​over 1,250 ha, it hopes to receive a total of VND1,9 billion. For Artemia damage of over 70%, the prescribed level of support is about VND5.05 million/ha so, with a damaged area of ​​72ha, the total amount of support is about VND3.63 billion.

According to the agricultural sector of Bac Lieu province, salt currently costs about VND1,800/kg, which is a pretty good price for farmers. Currently, the whole province has about 2,000ha of salt. With about 1,200ha affected by unseasonal rains in recent days, the damage is estimated at nearly 9,250 tons, equal to over VND16 billion.