Khanh Hoa (VNS/VNA) - Fifty-seven-year-old Nguyen Thi Hau has beenpole-shouldering salt for more than half of her lifetime. She has never thoughtof quitting, but the poor crop of salt this year has discouraged her a bit.

“I’ve worked as a leader of a salt-carrying team for more than 30 years,witnessing all the ups and downs of the career. Producing salt does not make usrich but at least brings us a stable daily income of 150,000 VND (7 USD).However, in recent years, dropping prices of salt made the income only enoughto buy rice and dried fishes,” said Hau, a salt farmer in Ninh Diem commune inthe central coastal province of Khanh Hoa.

Hau is among 2,000 farmers from more than 500 families in the commune who arestruggling with the poor crop of 2017.

According to the local group Salt Co-operative 1-5, last year’s harvest wasgood because of the prolonged hot weather. However, unstable consumption led toa drop in price to only 400,000 to 450,000 VND (19-22 USD) per tonne.

This year, the price has risen up to 600,000 to 700,000 VND (25-30 USD) pertonne due to the lean harvest as unusual and continuous rains have flooded saltfields. To harvest salt, farmers have to pump fresh water out of fields, whichis a costly process.

After two consecutive years of falling price, when the salt price reached itspeak this year, farmers faced a poor crop.

Farmer Tran Van Minh from Ninh Thuy commune’s Dong Ha ward, wondered whether heshould give up.

“We cannot make ends meet. My family has invested 19 million VND (about 800 USD)in water-pumping out of a three-hectare salt field which brings us an income of21 million VND (900 USD) in two months. Four farmers working continuously canonly earn 2 million VND (nearly 100 USD) during that two months. We will feelremorse if we quit, like the others,” he said.

Meanwhile, salt farmers in Tinh Gia and Hau Loc districts in the centralprovince of Thanh Hoa, are also worrying about their tradition of producingsalt.

Many breadwinners are seeking new jobs in cities, leaving salt fields forchildren or old people.

“When talking about salt making, we talk about the most vulnerable farmers,facing the lowest prices but hardest working conditions. We depend heavily tothe weather and the market,” said farmer Nguyen Thi Vi of Hau Loc district’sHoa Loc commune.

There are 300 ha of salt fields in Thanh Hoa province, accounting for 10percent of the farming land of salt-producing communes.

“In the old days, three kilos of salt could exchange for one kilo of rice. Now,even ten kilos of salt cannot buy a kilo of rice,” said Tran Van Ngan of HoaLoc commune.

According to him, several salt farmers want to maintain their traditionalexpertise. However, they cannot survive with the income from selling salt.

A little help

Seeing the situation of salt farmers, local enterprises have offered help.

Khanh Hoa province has 1,000 ha of salt fields, mostly in the communes of Ninh Diem,Ninh Hai and Ninh Thuy, as well as in Hon Khoi village.

The two main local purchasing enterprises of Hon Khoi salt field are Hon Khoi SaltExport Company and Salt Co-operative 1-5. 

“The co-operative guarantees it will purchase all salt produced by localfarmers. However, this year’s output of the field is only about three tonnes.We also support them by lending money for upgrading and renovating salt fieldsor water pump systems. At the end of the day, all existing solutions are justtemporary,” said Truong Cong Hieu, Director of Salt Co-operative 1-5.

To maintain the brand of “Hon Khoi salt” and assist salt farmers throughdeflation period, Khanh Hoa province’s People’s Committee issued the DecisionNo 661/QĐ-UBND on the assistance of agricultural produces and rural services inthe period of 2017-2020 in March. The policy says that co-operatives,enterprises and salt farmers will be supported with a loan of up to 50 million VNDper hectare with the support of 100 percent of interest rate in two years,maximum 50 million VND (2,200 USD) per hectare of salt field.

Until 2018, the committee will reconstruct the Hon Khoi salt field and upgradethe water pumping system. Additionally, policy makers are considering differentvocations for salt farmers. However, in reality, farmers can only rely onthemselves.

To maintain the traditional expertise, salt farmers have to live well withintheir earnings. This, again, does not depend on weather but also requiressupport from the authorities.-VNA