This year’s salt season is very favorable for the salt farmers in Ben Tre, thanks to intense sunlight and no off-season rain, resulting in high salt productivity. However, the farmers are not as happy because the price of salt this season is average and lower than almost half of last year’s season.
Ben Tre is one of the few localities in the Mekong Delta that still maintains salt fields
At this time, salt produced using the silver coating method is only around 40,000 VND per gia (15kg), while last year at this time, the price was over 70,000 VND per gia. Therefore, most of the salt farmers are storing their harvested salt and waiting to sell it at a higher price for greater profit.
Salt farmers in the coastal area of Ba Tri District are closely associated with salt farming
Ben Tre is one of the few localities in the Mekong Delta that still maintains the production of commercial salt. The whole province currently has around 1,400 hectares of salt fields, mainly concentrated in Binh Dai and Ba Tri districts. Specifically, Ba Tri District has nearly 1,000 hectares, mainly in Bao Thanh, Bao Thuan, An Thuy, and Tan Thuy communes.
The early salt season in Ben Tre Province is on schedule but the price is not high
Regarding this year’s salt production model, Mr. Khong Minh Tang, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Bao Thanh Commune, Ba Tri District, said: “Bao Thanh Commune has a salt area of 600 hectares, which is on schedule but the price is low due to the plentiful salt production this year. There was no off-season rain this year, only continuous sunshine, and moreover, the farmers used plastic covers since last year’s season, and when the season ended, they stored the brackish water (brine) and used it for the next season, so they quickly had salt. In general, the salt farmers are storing their harvested salt.”
