Catching earthworms with electricity seems to be one of the busiest jobs in many villages in northern rural areas, because it "is easy and brings big money".

Fresh earthworms can be sold for VND70,000-80,000 per kilogram. Some people can catch 100-120 kilograms of earthworms a night, which earns them millions of dong a day.

Fresh earthworms, after caught, are sold to a drying workshop in the locality before being are sold to Chinese merchants.

In online markets and e-commerce platforms, dried earthworms are advertised as precious medicine prescribed to treat many diseases, including very serious ones.

It is priced up to VND1-1.2 million per kilogram. In general, dried earthworms are packed in 100-gram or 500-gram bags for convenience.

On an online earthworm market forum with 20,000 members, some sellers advertise that they can satisfy big orders, from several kilograms to dozens of kilograms. At the market, dried earthworms are selling for VND700-850,000 per kilogram.

A wholesaler told VietNamNet that earthworm prices have decreased recently because it has rained continuously which has made it easier to catch earthworms. He said that dried earthworms can be preserved for five years.

To catch earthworms en masse, one just needs to buy a machine costing only hundreds of thousands of dong. Users plug the machine into the ground and press a button, and a very strong electric current is released, which makes all the creatures on the ground crawl up, including earthworms.

Asked about the buyers, he said he mostly sells to Chinese merchants who buy several tons of earthworm each time, and to Vietnamese oriental medicine shops.

As demand is high, the wholesalers now have to go to many localities, including Hoa Binh, Ha Nam, Thai Binh, Hung Yen and Bac Giang, to collect earthworms

Nevertheless, while many people bag big money from hunting earthworms, farmers are suffering because of the "earthworm movement".

The owners of orange orchards in Cao Phong and Hoa Binh, whose orchards have been put in danger, have asked for help from the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

A farmer in Cao Phong, the largest growing area for Cao Phong oranges, told VietNamNet that the machine not only kills earthworms but also affects the roots of orange trees.

To protect their orange orchards, farmers have had to install steel barriers and cameras around their gardens, and spend sleepless nights to prevent the scams.

Tam An