Farmers in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu harvest salt (Photo: VNA) Bac Lieu (VNA) – The salt price in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Deltaprovince of Bac Lieu has increased two to three times compared to last year,according to local farmers.
Nguyen Hoang Thua, deputy chairman of the DoanhDien Hamlet Salt Cooperative in Dong Hai district’s Dien Hai commune, said theprice of low-quality salt had risen to more than 1,000 VND (0.05 USD) per kilofrom 500 VND (0.02 USD) per kilo at the end of last year’s salt season.
The price for high-quality salt has risen tomore than 1,500 VND (0.07 USD) per kilo, he said.
The province’s salt farmers have begunharvesting the 2016-17 salt crop. Because of unseasonable rains, this year’s saltseason occurred two months later than usual.
Vo Hoang Nghiep, director of the Doanh Dien Hamlet Salt Cooperative, said thatbecause of the higher prices, all of the 70 hectares of the cooperative’s saltfields would be used to produce salt this year.
However, despite the high prices, the province has been encouraging saltfarmers to cultivate high-value crops and animals on inefficientsalt-production areas.
Nguyen Quoc Hung, head of the Dong Hai district’s Agriculture and RuralDevelopment Bureau, said the district would continue to transfer a part of theinefficient salt production areas to aquaculture and Artemia (brine shrimp)farming.
Brine shrimp farming has developed in thedistrict for several years, bringing more benefits than salt production.
But the shift has been slow because farmers lackproficient techniques. Inadequate investment in proper facilities and slowtechnology transfer have also contributed to the sluggish pace.
Dong Hai district is the province’s largest saltproduction area.
Bac Lieu will shift about 500ha of salt toArtemia farming from now to 2020, according to the province’s Department ofAgriculture and Rural Development.
The province plans to encourage farmers toswitch from producing low-quality salt to high-quality salt, and increasemechanisation and use of advanced technology.
It will also promote the establishment of co-operatives and co-operative teamsto help salt farmers produce and sell salt.
In addition, favourable conditions for individuals and organisations will becreated to access loans for investment in new technology for salt production.
Bac Lieu, which is one of the country’s largest salt producers, has about 2,300hectares of salt fields.
In the 2015-16 salt season, the provinceproduced more than 165,000 tonnes.-VNA
VNA
