Unseasonal rains during Tet Lunar New Year have caused much loss to the salt producers in Bac Lieu Province, the largest salt producing area in the Mekong Delta.
Thousands of families involved in the production of salt in the 3,400 hectares of salt fields in the province have suffered losses, from persistent and untimely rainfall during the Lunar New Year.
Bui Minh Tuy, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee of Dong Hai District, said farmers were unable to produce salt after heavy rains washed away their salt harvest. He added that during the same period in previous years, farmers had salt to sell but this year they do not have any stock.
Many farmers said that they had been awaiting the sunny weather to complete their salt harvest, but after the heavy rains in the last few days they have lost much of what they had already harvested.
Nguyen Quoc Dinh, head of the Dan Dien Co-operative in Dien Hai Commune of Dong Hai District said that the co-operative has thousands of members and 74 hectares of land for salt production. However, unseasonal rain has seriously affected most farmers. All the salt has dissolved in the rain, he added.
Many salt fields in Long Dien Dong, Long Dien Tay and Dien Hai Communes are now lying vacant.
The Dong Hai District authorities are now considering providing aid to thousands of salt farmers to overcome hardships.
Last March also, farmers in Bac Lieu Province had lost about 50,000 tons of salt that was ready for harvest because of unseasonal rains, according to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the province.
