A handful of young rice (seedling) is sold for 15,000-20,000 VND. If the seller can collect 600,000-700,000 VND, the buyer will also lose millions to cover the rice fields.
The young rice market is most crowded around 7:30-8:30 every morning (Photo: Phung Uy).
The area selling young rice is called a market, but it is actually just a group of people buying and selling on the road connecting to National Highway 7, the section through Thanh Duong commune, Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An. This is considered a “unique” local market when the items sold here are bundles of young rice (seedlings) of surplus people, sold to those in need.
Sellers leave “goods” on the sidewalk, and buyers do not stoop to sit down and choose satisfactory plated grips. The price depends on the rice variety, from 10,000 VND/bundle for pure rice varieties, 15,000-20,000 VND/bundle for hybrid rice varieties, or can add or subtract a few prices depending on the bargaining ability of the buyer.
Busy scene of buying and selling special items
Ms. Nguyen Thi Loc (residing in Thanh Duong commune, Thanh Chuong, Nghe An) was happy to buy 6 handfuls of plating for 60,000 VND. “This is the northern plate (germinated rice seeds are scattered on the ground with a dense density – PV), the tree is small, but it will be more beneficial to go to the field,” explained Mrs. Loc.
Mrs. Loc carefully tied the bundles of plating she had just bought with a rope torn from the sack. Her family had 2 sao of sowing field but was destroyed by yellow apple snail, so much of the field was lost.
“I bought up to 500,000 copper coins to return the parts that were destroyed by gold snails, I have to buy them every day. Where I have a house, I lost 1.5 million dong to buy plating”, Ms. Loc added.
This woman bought 5 bundles of seedlings, Thai Xuyen rice variety. Seedlings are pruned from the field, sturdy, have branched. This rice variety has to be thinned, so she hopes that the above 5 bundles will fill the vacant area on her field.
While people who lack seedlings have to spend hundreds of thousands or even millions of dong to cover miles of field, many families also have a significant additional income from pruning excess seedlings to sell. Mr. Nguyen Trong Tue (resident in Xuan Tuong commune, Thanh Chuong) has 3 sao of rice field planted with Thai Xuyen rice. Because the field is located in an area that is easy to get/drain, and is not damaged by yellow apple snails, Mr. Tue has a considerable amount of stock left over to sell.
Tue and his wife are old and cannot do their own pruning, so they hire a worker for 300,000 VND/person/day. The excess seedling was pruned, bundled into handfuls, and sold by Mr. Tue to the market. “In the morning, 20 bundles were sold, priced at 15,000 VND/bundle, totaling 300,000 VND, just enough to pay a transplanter,” said Tue. This man said that his rice field can continue to be pruned to sell in the next few days.
Around 9:30 a.m., Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tam (residing in Thanh Duong commune, Thanh Chuong) rode an electric bicycle with 3 bundles of “entering the market”. The seedling is big, strong, regarding 30cm tall, so when I went to the market, people stopped to ask for the price.
“A few days ago, each bundle of Thai Xuyen seedlings was sold for 20,000 VND, from yesterday until now, it was only 15,000 VND. From the beginning of the season until now, I have sold 600,000 VND for plating,” said Mrs. Tam happily.
This rather special item is carefully considered by sellers and buyers. In addition to choosing rice varieties suitable for their fields, buyers are interested in the quality of seedlings. Strong, strong plants with strong roots are given priority because when they go to the field, they will quickly hit the ground, “chasing” the rice available in the field.
Some people buy a few bundles, some people buy a whole package just enough to mile the field. As soon as the sale is completed, the rice will be quickly brought to the field to be harvested in time.
In addition to erratic weather and lack of water for production, many households in Thanh Chuong are facing the yellow apple snail that destroys rice. In order to keep up with the season, many people have to spend a relatively large amount of money to buy seedlings for miles of empty fields. The rice milling is usually completed within a week to half a month, so the rice market only exists during this time and then dissolves on its own.
