Salt industry is unstable with the sun and rain

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - Hoa Loc is one of the coastal localities that still preserves the traditional salt-making profession in Thanh Hoa. Located next to the vast salt fields, the people here have been attached to "salty rice and salty salt" for generations, considering it their main livelihood. The salt grains here not only have the salty taste of the sea, but are also soaked in the sweat and hardship of the hard-working people.

Hoa Loc salt farmers work hard to harvest salt under the hot sun. Photo: Hoang Dong

Mr. Le Van Thuan in Hoa Loc commune - a salt worker with more than 40 years of experience in the profession at Tam Hoa Agricultural Cooperative shared: "Salting is very hard, you have to wake up early in the morning, only when the sun is strong can you get salt, but when it rains, you will have nothing."

That is the harsh rule of salt making - a profession that depends entirely on nature. On sunny days, the outside temperature can reach over 40 degrees Celsius, people have to wear conical hats, long-sleeved shirts, and cover their bodies to stick to the fields and "harvest salt". The sunnier it is, the faster the salt crystallizes, ensuring a guaranteed yield. Mrs. Pham Thi Dinh, 70 years old in Hoa Loc commune, said: "Those who are new to the profession often get sunstroke and dizziness, but the villagers are used to it. Some days the sun is so hot, people become so thin that they only have the strength to "crawl" home."

In the salt fields, the salt workers' work begins at dawn with cleaning the crystallization cells, building banks, and leading saltwater from the ponds or crystallization fields into the drying yard. To produce salt, workers must go through many meticulous steps, requiring strength and perseverance. First is the stage of preparing the ground. An important step in the process is soaking sand in seawater, called level 1 saltwater, then drying the soaked sand on the rammed ground. Under the sunlight, the salt begins to crystallize tiny crystals on each grain of sand. Next, the seawater is filtered through this layer of sand to produce level 2 saltwater, saltier than the original water. This process is repeated many times: drying the sand, then using level 2 saltwater to filter again, producing level 3 saltwater with high salinity, suitable for faster salt crystallization. After the stage of treating the soil and filtering the water, salt workers scoop water from the canal and spread it evenly on the surface of the ground to keep it moist and increase the ability to filter. When the soil is dry, continue to scoop the soil into the filter to get the salty water, then water it on the prepared drying yard. Each crystallization cell has an area of ​​about 15 - 20m2, must be dried thoroughly, the surface must be leveled before adding water.

Under the scorching sun for about a day, the salt water evaporates, the salt begins to crystallize into grains. The time from 3-5pm is when people harvest salt. However, to get that much salt, the workers have to stand in the sun all day, continuously using bamboo rakes, carts, and iron shovels to collect the salt, transport it home to dry or take it to the point of sale.

Mr. Le Van Loc in Hoa Loc commune said: "Every day, two people work to get 100 kg of salt. The hotter the weather, the better the quality of the salt. Therefore, these days, we go to the fields to work in large numbers. Some days the sun is so strong that our feet get blisters, but we still have to work, because if we don't work today, we won't have anything to eat tomorrow."

Despite the hardship, the income from the salt industry is unstable. Salt prices depend on the market, sometimes it is 2,000 VND/kg, sometimes it is only 800 - 1,200 VND/kg. Many salt farmers have to take on additional jobs such as going to sea, fishing, and selling goods to make ends meet. In addition, climate change makes the rain and sunshine unpredictable, making the salt industry even more precarious. Many young people quit the profession to work in the city, leaving the salt fields with only the elderly.

Mrs. Pham Thi Dinh in Hoa Loc commune confided: “Salt cannot feed us. Working from morning until evening, we only earn about 200,000 VND per day. This amount of money is too little compared to the labor my husband and I put in. Farmers have to take the labor as profit.”

This year, right at the peak of the salt season, storms came one after another. Not only did the production suffer, the prolonged rain and storms also forced people to spend more effort and money to restore the salt fields. The broken fields had to be patched up, the silted filter tanks had to be dredged, and the salt storage tanks were flooded.

Despite the hardships, uncertainties and risks of extinction, the salt-making profession in Hoa Loc still quietly exists, just like the salt workers here, diligently living and maintaining the profession with all their love and perseverance. Each grain of white salt is not only the crystallization of water and sunlight, but also a testament to the tireless labor of people.

In order for the Hoa Loc salt industry not to become a memory, practical support policies and new directions suitable to the times are needed. Because when the salt grains still retain their salty taste in the hands of the salt workers, the belief in a brighter tomorrow in the salt fields still sparkles under the sun.

Phuong Do

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/nghe-muoi-bap-benh-theo-nang-mua-260807.htm