Earn half a billion dong per rice crop from the field of earthworms
On the morning of November 11, the dozens of hectares of rice fields of Mr. Pham Van Xuan (village 5, Kien Quoc commune, Kien Thuy district, Hai Phong) were golden. Looking at the rice fields, Mr. Xuan introduced that this whole area used to be vast fields of ruoi. Every October of the lunar calendar, ruoi floated all over the fields, giving a significant harvest. However, in the past 5 years, due to increased salinity, ruoi has gradually decreased, each year only a few kilograms are enough to eat. Therefore, many households have switched to rice cultivation, including Mr. Xuan's family, currently cultivating 24 hectares of the specialty rice variety ST25.
"After research, ST25 rice variety is very suitable for growing on the field of bloodworms because the rice variety is salt tolerant, has few pests and diseases, the field of bloodworms is clean, and is not treated with chemicals. Growing ST25 on the field of bloodworms, I only have to pay for labor, not seeds, fertilizers or pesticides" - Mr. Xuan shared.
In the first crop of 2023, Mr. Xuan tested on 10 hectares of rice field. After harvest, the profit earned was only over 150 million VND, but it also gave him more motivation to continue testing this rice variety. In 2024, Mr. Xuan's ST25 planting area increased to 24 hectares, and has so far harvested 8 hectares.
"Due to the impact of Typhoon Yagi, a lot of rice fell, reducing the yield by half. However, it is estimated that the family still earned about 500 million VND for this year's rice crop. Given the fact that the crop of ruoi has failed for many years, the efficiency of growing ST25 rice also helps the family have a stable income" - Mr. Pham Van Xuan said.
Rice from field worms becomes a 4-star OCOP product
According to Ms. Le Thi Thanh Huyen - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Kien Thuy district, the whole district currently has about 100 hectares of rice grown in the fields of blood worms, concentrated in the two communes of Ngu Phuc and Kien Quoc.
After many years of experimenting with the rice-growing model on the field of ruoi, up to now, although the yield is only 1-1.5 quintals/sao, rice cultivation has provided a stable income, with many households earning hundreds of millions/year. Notably, the Kien Quoc ruoi rice product achieved a 4-star OCOP product in 2023, becoming one of 14 4-star OCOP products in Kien Thuy district. The topic "Building a rice-ruoi production model on ST25 rice variety according to organic standards associated with linking product consumption in Kien Thuy district" was awarded first prize at the Hai Phong City Farmers' Technical Innovation Contest in 2023.
Currently, the model of producing rice with worms on ST25 rice variety is also supported by 2 units with seeds, materials, and purchasing and consuming products, namely Hai Au Investment Joint Stock Company and Thuy Huong Agricultural Production and Service Cooperative, bringing rice with worms to "cover" a series of stores and supermarkets nationwide. Thereby, encouraging people to continue expanding the area of rice grown on worms, aiming at agricultural production in the direction of safety, efficiency, and high income.
