A “unique”, strange job in the West, only selling weeds but as expensive as hot cakes

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In An Giang, there is a special market that only sells one item, which is grass. Grass is as expensive as hot cakes and grass buyers have to queue. Every day, a lawn mower can earn several hundred thousand dong.

Buyers line up, distribute according to norms

Located at junction canal bank Ninh Phuoc hamlet of Phuoc Loc Commune in Lam, Tri Ton district, An Giang province, markets Available in Lam is considered fair most bizarre western than just trading only one item is always ” expensive as hot cakes”.

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People buy and sell grass in the Ninh Phuoc canal in Phuoc Loc hamlet, O Lam commune, Tri Ton district, An Giang province (Photo: Bao Ky).

Talking about the birth of this special market, the seniors in Phuoc Loc hamlet said that in the past, in the southwestern border area, people only planted 2 rice crops, interspersed with other crops or had crops. when vacant land. That’s why the vast grasslands grow a lot.

In order to take advantage of the natural grass source, people here have raised more buffaloes and cows to increase their income.

The demand for grass is high, but there are some times such as the rainy season, the rainy season when people can’t let their buffaloes and cows go to the fields to eat grass, so many people have thought about cutting the grass and selling it back to family farmers. cattle in the area.

Seeing that this job makes money, this person invites the other person to do it. O Lam grass market gradually formed until this day. This special grass market has been operating for more than 20 years.

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Mr. Chau Rem has just sold 80 bundles of grass and then pushed the grass cart to feed the cows (Photo: Bao Ky).
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The grass is cut at the root, tied into bundles, each bundle weighs about 1.5kg (Photo: Bao Ky).
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Each resident is limited to buying 10 bundles or less (Photo: Bao Ky).

The price of the item has not changed for 20 years

Mr. Chau Rem – a “small trader” with 20 years of experience in selling grass at the market, said that O Lam grass market operates all year round, but is most bustling during the rainy season and high water season. At that time, the grass grew a lot, and the buyers and sellers were very busy.

“At 5am, I rode the boat for more than 10km to the field to cut the grass until about 11am, I came back to the market. The grass was tied into bundles by me, the same price as 10,000 VND / 3 bundles. This price has been sold for decades and has not changed”, he said. Rem said as she piled the grass on the shore.

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People line up to buy grass (Photo: Bao Ky).

Next to Mr. Rem’s boat, another grass “trader”, Mr. Chau Ya, tied the boat to the shore and said: “Today, 80 bundles were cut, whoever comes first gets it first”.

According to Mr. Ya, in the past, the grass here grew a lot and it was easy to cut. Walking around can cut hundreds of grasses, but in the past 7-8 years, the fresh grass has become less and less, he has to cross dozens of kilometers, sometimes to the moorland as far as Hon Dat, Kien Luong (Kien Giang) ” hunt”.

Mr. Ya only goes to mow the lawn in the morning. However, if the relatives need more, he can take advantage of the afternoon to mow the lawn and deliver it to customers. On average, if he sold out 70-80 bundles of grass, Mr. Ya pocketed about 200,000 VND/day.

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The grass is cut at the root, tied into bundles, each bundle weighs about 1.5kg (Photo: Bao Ky).

Because grass is less and less, buffalo and cow farmers also understand that when buying, they have to look at each other to avoid competition.

Standing from 9am waiting for people to cut the grass, Ms. Neang Sray Pau said that people here mainly raise bulls (beef cows) to earn extra income, each household only raises about 2 – 5 cows. “The beef cows only eat grass, they refuse to eat straw. My family has a pair of cows, and it costs about 70 thousand VND to buy grass for them to eat every day,” Ms. Pau said.

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People are happy to buy grass (Photo: Bao Ky).

Struggling to stuff grass in his bag, Mr. Chau Don happily said: “Having this grass market is very convenient, anyone who doesn’t have time to cut the grass can come here to buy it. Selling meat and fish is also inviting, but selling this grass. If you don’t invite people, you will also wait in long queues for your turn to buy. Any boat that lands on the shore are sold out immediately.”

 In this land of O Lam, grass has helped people have more income. However, the grass is less and less, so the grass market only has about a dozen people clinging to it. Follow Dan Tri

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