- 05/04/2020
Rectangular salt fields, seen from above, line up like building blocks in the coastal province's Long Dien Commune. The area is commonly referred to as the Dong Hai salt field. Can Tho City's photographer Tran Minh Luong visited the salt flats recently and took these aerial and close-up shots.
A bird's-eye view of near coastal salt fields.
Working on them is a difficult and laborious task. The staff must first store water, prepare the field and clear it for the drying process. The saltwater is then released into the fields.
Bac Lieu is one of the largest salt producers in the world, with production taking place primarily in districts Dong Hai and Hoa Binh.
There are two methods to produce salt, the traditional method in which salt water is poured on dry soil for crystallization into black salt under the sun, and the modern method that involves a mat and after evaporation produces white salt. The latter is fetching a higher market price.
Salt is harvested at Bac Lieu once a year from December to April during the dry season. It produced 50,000 tons of white salt including 4,700 tons on 1,670 hectares of flats in 2019-2020.
Tran Van Nghia of An Dien Village, Long Dien Commune, a salt worker with over 35 years of experience, said: "This year's harvest is better. Since the weather is hotter and more favorable, the cycle of development is quicker and more productive."
Saltwater evaporates into the plains after 12 to 18 days and leaves behind salt. In the early morning or afternoon the workers then rake salt into mounds. For three to four hours, the mounds are left alone to remove the remaining water, and then carried to a central point by wheelbarrows.
Salt field staff move salt using wheelbarrows.
Bamboo baskets are used to hold the salt, too. They weigh 40 kg, and often fall off the grip, causing the salt to rub the back of the staff.
"Salt workers are still hoping for hot and sunny days so that at least these arduous tasks of raking and carrying the salt are profitable," said Linh, a man carrying a salt basket back.
Such salt mounds are the workers 'joint, back-breaking effort. According to them, VND800-900 (3-4 cents) per kilogram of black salt and white salt for VND1,200-1,400 is sold to the visiting traders.
Sunrise at salt fields in Dong Hai.
The National Intellectual Property Office issued rights for the Bac Lieu salt by geographical indication in 2013. The salt is used in Vietnam and exhibited at various international trade fairs.
During the harvest a small (middle) hut serves as a shelter for workers.
Bac Lieu has been closely identified with the face of salt field workers for over a century. The Bac Lieu Museum has been seeking cultural heritage approval from the Ministry of Environment, Sports and Tourism for salt fields in the province.
Source : Vnexpress International