HCMC – Under the heat of 37-38 degrees Celsius, farmers in Thieng Lieng hamlet, Thanh An island commune, Can Gio district are busy harvesting salt.

Located 6 km from Thanh An island commune, 14 km from Can Gio district, Thieng Lieng hamlet has 211 households with nearly 1,000 people. This is one of three hamlets in the island commune doing salt work, with nearly 400 hectares of fields, producing more than 20,000 tons per year.

A pile of salt about 3 m high and 8 m wide is gathered by farmers in the field, waiting for traders to buy. According to farmers, the salt harvest season usually starts from December to May each year.

The temperature in the field is very hot, sometimes 37-38 degrees Celsius. Mr. Nguyen Van Tot wears boots, uses a homemade page about 2 meters wide to rake salt.

In recent years, many salt-making households in Thieng Lieng have implemented a salt-spread model, combining with storage of flat water to adapt to erratic weather and improve product quality.

Just shoveling salt into the turtle cart, Mr. Le Van An (49 years old) said that in the past, making salt on the ground, for every 2 hectares, 2-3 people had to be hired to roll around, clear the mud, bring water …

“Now the field is covered with canvas, I do all the steps. By the day of harvest, I only hire someone to push salt from the field to the dock to sell to traders. Transport is also healthier, without having to bear the burden as before,” said the man. more than 20 years as a speaking profession.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa wore a conical hat and covered her face with a towel to prevent the heat from rising from the field.

Mr. Hung Anh pushed a turtle cart carrying 20 kg of salt to the warehouse.

“From the beginning of the year until now, the weather has been erratic, the weather is sunny but cooler than every year, so the salt does not have high productivity. store, wait for stable prices to sell, “said Mr. Anh.

The Anh family’s salt storage has an area of ​​about 40 m2, built with wooden frames, roofed to cover the rain.

According to the villagers, the salt quality here is better than many other places, but the selling price is lower because of the transportation costs. People also do not have a means of carrying salt for consumption.

Salt harvested in the field was bought by traders from Tien Giang, Tay Ninh, Binh Phuoc …

After being harvested, the salt fields are cleaned and cleaned. Some are put in bamboo baskets for local people to use as seed salt for the next season.

From 12am to 2pm is the time when farmers have to be present in the field to cultivate the water, spread salt to the field so that the seeds crystallize quickly. The time from sowing salt to harvest is about 10 days, if it is hot continuously.

“My family works about 1.5 hectares, if the weather is good, it will get about 90 tons of salt, minus the cost I earn a few tens of million dong”, Mr. Le Van An said and said, no time to make salt, everyone Islanders often carry rice for rent to boats. Follow vnexpress