Scary species, good for men, people go to the fields to dig for half a million / day
In the season, people in Quang Nam bring hoes to the cassava fields to catch earthworms (a kind of hardware
Due to the strong increase in purchasing demand for earthworms, the price in China has increased fourfold. The scarce demand has led the merchants of this country to turn to find a supply of earthworms in Vietnam.
The problem of hunting earthworms has adversely affected Chinese agriculture. Recently, a court in China ordered three companies that sell earthworm electric shock equipment to apologize and compensate 1.59 million yuan for the ecological damage caused by this device.
Demand for earthworms soars in China
SCMP said that in China, earthworms are considered "earth dragons" (earth dragons) because they possess many nutrients and can be used as medicine. According to the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, earthworms use "clearing heat, calming, laxative, diuretic".
In addition, this animal is also popular with Chinese anglers as a type of bait.
Therefore, over the years, earthworm prices in China have increased sharply. A person specializing in buying earthworms in China said that a few years ago, 1 kg of dried earthworms cost about 70 yuan (US$9), but now, the price has risen to 280-300 yuan ($38-41), still hard to find. Particularly untreated and dried earthworms are sold for 20-35 yuan/kg (2.7-4.8 USD/kg).
According to Vietnam Finance magazine, many Chinese traders have come to Vietnam to buy earthworms in the context of high domestic demand. Currently, fresh earthworms are bought by traders for 30,000 VND/kg, while cleaned and dried earthworms cost up to 600,000 VND/kg.
The demand for earthworms has increased sharply while the number of worms in the wild is decreasing, leading many people to open earthworm farming facilities. The owner of an earthworm farm in Guangdong said that although he has expanded his worm farm with an initial production increase of 5 times, more is needed to supply the market. The worm farm earns an average of 1.9 million yuan ($264,000) annually.
In addition to earthworms, worm farms also benefit from worm manure. Worm manure is used as an organic fertilizer, which is not inferior to chemical fertilizers and is used by many Chinese farmers in cultivation.
Besides, electric earthworm detectors also recorded a sudden increase in sales. These "earth dragon finders" or "earthworm electrocution machines" are offered on the market with prices ranging from 100-800 yuan ($15-120). According to an investigation by CCTV, in a short time, a shop selling worm detectors in Shenzhen has sold more than 100,000 units.
The working mechanism of these machines is quite simple. Users only need to plug the two ends of the iron rod into the ground, and the rest is connected to the electric battery. After just a few minutes, the earthworms will crawl up independently.
Unforeseen harm
In that context, China is facing a decline in the number of earthworms in the wild. Professor Sun Zhengjun, from China Agricultural University, said using electric shock devices kills earthworms and affects other organisms in the ground.
Earthworms play an important role in the soil ecosystem, helping to keep the soil porosity and moisture. Therefore, hunting and making money from earthworms has negatively impacted agricultural land, affecting the growth and development of crops.
In August 2021, the People's Court of Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, forced three companies selling earthworm electrospinning equipment to apologize and compensate 1.59 million yuan (US$240,000) for the ecological damage caused by the equipment.
The Department of Crop Production warns of the risk of electric shock to earthworms.
In Vietnam, electric stimulation to catch earthworms to sell to Chinese traders is becoming problematic, risking the soil environment. Many insecurity because of yellow leaves, asked for help from the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Speaking to Vietnamnet newspaper, Director of the Department of Crop Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) Nguyen Nhu Cuong admitted that hitting the soil with a large electric current will cause the worms to die, causing harm to the soil, fauna and micro-organisms, causing plants to die with yellow leaves. The unit and localities are looking for a way to handle it.
According to Mr. Cuong, this action needs to be stopped immediately, but currently, Vietnam has not had a sanction for this behavior.
Specifically, the Law on Cultivation deals with plants grown on land, while the rest of the land is under the management of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
Clause 1, Article 12 of the 2013 Land Law has provisions on prohibited acts, including "encroaching, occupying and destroying land". Point 25, Article 3 explains that "destroying land is an act of deforming the topography, degrading the quality of the land, polluting the land, losing or reducing the ability to use the land for the defined purpose. ". It can be seen that the behavior of electric earthworm stimulation has yet to be clarified here.
However, before the electric shock of earthworms took place in many localities, Mr. Cuong said that the Department of Cultivation had sent a written request to inspect, review, detect and handle to prevent using electric shocks to catch worms.
Accordingly, eradicating earthworms and other beneficial organisms in the soil reduces the quality of arable land, causes pollution, environmental degradation, and adversely affects the growth and development of crops.
Not only for animals, but this activity is also dangerous, prone to accidents affecting the lives of humans and animals.
Therefore, the Department of Crop Production proposed that the local Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development inspect, review, detect and handle the above activities. Simultaneously, propaganda to raise awareness of people, especially those who directly electrify earthworms, establishments and households preliminarily processing, purchasing and trading earthworms.
Authorities also encourage people to actively detect and notify functional forces when detecting illegal electrical stimulation and preliminary processing of earthworms to take measures to handle violations.
According to the Department of Crop Production leader, it is necessary to complete and supplement acts of land destruction in legal documents on land and the environment, especially when Vietnam is amending and supplementing the 2013 Land Law.
As for earthworms, Mr. Cuong affirmed that this is not a rare animal. Therefore, if the market has demand, it is necessary to implement large-scale breeding programs and projects. This may also be a new direction of economic development.
