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Locust hunting

Ha TinhDozens of Nghe An people drive motorbikes nearly 100 km into Nghi Xuan district, using rackets to catch locusts and sell them, earning about 700,000 VND a day.

In early April, in the fields of Xuan Linh, Xuan Hong, Xuan Hoi, Dan Truong communes… Nghi Xuan district, dozens of people wore protective gear and moved continuously throughout the hundreds of square meters of wasteland. swing the racket back and forth to catch grasshoppers.

This is a seasonal job, in which from January to April (lunar calendar), people will catch small grasshoppers, newly spawned, have not grown enough wings. From May to December, after the rice harvest, the adult grasshoppers are caught, large size, winged.





Mr. Vuong swings his racket to catch grasshoppers in a field in Nghi Xuan district in early April. Photo: Duc Hung

Mr. Ho Van Vuong waved his racket to catch grasshoppers in a field in Nghi Xuan district in early April. Photo: Duc Hung

Mr. Ho Van Vuong (42 years old, residing in Hoang Mai town, Nghe An), said that for the past two weeks, he has woken up every day at 3am to cook. After that, he prepared his tools and with 10 friends drove motorbikes over nearly 100 km into Nghi Xuan district. Arriving at the place at 5 o’clock, the members of the group in turn dispersed to different fields. The tool for hunting grasshoppers is a racket with a 50 cm wide post, 1.5 m deep, wrapped with a nylon bag, attached to a bamboo handle nearly 3 m long.

Mr. Vuong constantly moves and swings his racquet many times in the middle of the lawn. Each time, dozens of grasshoppers fell into the bottom of the plastic bag, thrashing violently, emitting a chirping sound inside. Every 7-10 minutes, he approached the edge of the field, dumping grasshoppers into a green net.

At 9 o’clock, the sun was high, the sun was hot, making his face red, Mr. Vuong sat down on the grass, took the water bottle he had on his waist to drink, and then wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead. After a few minutes of rest, eating a sandwich, he continued his work. At 11 a.m., he gathered his things, rode his motorbike to the appointed place to wait for you.





Hundreds of small grasshoppers were caught in the bottom of the racket, unable to get out.  Photo: Duc Hung

Hundreds of small grasshoppers were caught in the bottom of the racket, unable to get out. Image: Duc Hung

According to Mr. Ho Duc Quy (35 years old, residing in Hoang Mai town), the most time when grasshoppers are trapped is in the early morning, when it is still foggy. Hunters often took advantage of this “golden time” to work hard for more than an hour. From 9am onwards, when the sun rises, the dew on the grass leaves gradually dries, the insects appear less. A field they usually catch about 3-5 days, then move to another area.

“Each session is about 6 hours, on average, a person can catch 3 kg of grasshoppers. Those who are in good health and swing their racquets will catch more”, Mr. Quy said.

On this occasion, it is hot and humid, people after hunting often bring a net bag containing grasshoppers to soak in the ditch for about two minutes so that the insects do not die from heat. After that, they folded the net bag containing the grasshoppers, arranged them into squares and put them on a motorbike to take them back to Nghe An. Family members will focus on classifying large and small.

This season, grasshoppers are mostly small. They are put in net bags to be sold to traders, who then sell them to birders in Hanoi and Da Nang for 250,000 VND per kilogram. On average, each “hunting” session, a person collects about 700,000 VND, who is lucky enough to earn one million VND.





Grasshoppers are poured into blue net bags by people, then folded and put on motorbikes to take home.  Photo: Duc Hung

Grasshoppers are filled with blue net bags, then folded, put on motorbikes to drive home. Image: Duc Hung

“This insect is a good nutrient for birds, so many customers look to buy it. Every day when we come home from work, traders come to the house to collect them all,” Quy said, adding that although this profession is a side hustle, it brings income. good, a job takes about 15 days, collects about 10 million dong.

After the 5th lunar month, when catching old grasshoppers, people often sell them to restaurants and eateries in the area as bait for drinking, priced at 150,000 VND per kg.

Grasshopper is a leaf-eating insect, belonging to the order of straight wings, round head, fat body, good jumper and especially harmful to green plants. When moving, they can crawl on all three feet in trees, jump from tree to tree with their hind legs, or jump and then fly into the air with their wings.

Duc Hung

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