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| The price of salt in Bến Tre Province has reached VNĐ1,200–1,300 per kg, a 10-year high.VNA/VNS photo |
Viet Nam News
BẾN TRE – The price of salt in Bến Tre Province has reached VNĐ1,200–1,300 per kilo this year, the highest price in the past decade.
In recent years, the price of salt was just VNĐ500-700 per kilo, and only VNĐ300 in 2015, according to Nguyễn Thị Diễm, a salt maker in Bảo Thuận Commune in Ba Tri District.
Diễm and 1,500 other salt farming households are mostly located in Ba Tri and Bình Đại districts.
“Although this year’s weather hasn’t been good, I’ve earned a big profit,” said Diễm, who sold more than 50 tonnes of salt from her one-hectare field.
Trần Quốc Khánh, head of Ba Tri District’s Agriculture and Rural Development Sub-department, said that for the last few months, unseasonable rain had reduced the supply of salt and increased prices.
More than 20,000 tonnes of salt in the storehouse had sold out, Khánh said.
However, he said that he was worried that salt making would not bring a stable life for farmers because it would depend on the weather and the needs of fish farmers and dried-fish makers.
“Salt farming in the province in the future could become worse because farmers are not applying modern technology,” he said.
Provincial authorities want to reduce salt farming and develop wind electronic projects, and have encouraged salt farmers to turn to aquaculture. But many farmers have not listened.
Total salt cultivation area in the province for the 2017-2018 crop is 1,500 hectares, down 110 ha compared to the previous crop, with a production of 70,000 tonnes, according to Bến Tre Province’s Agriculture and Rural Development Department.
By 2020, the area is expected to comprise only 200 hectares, which will likely be used for aquaculture cultivation. — VNS
