Worms are very important to soil. Their presence in the fields is also an indicator of crop safety. In oriental medicine, worms have been used as a precious medicine for thousands of years.

Worms are expensive in the market. Many farmers have recently tried to catch worms by using electric machines. This has caused a headache for local authorities, the police, and farmers, as the worm catching method is damaging the soil.

Meanwhile, in many other localities, instead of catching worms in the wild, people are raising them.

Twenty years ago, Nguyen Thi Lien in Phu Cuong commune in Soc Son district in Hanoi, managed to raise ‘giun que’, or red worms (Perionyx excavatus) as feed for pigs and fowls. In her farm, 1,000 sq m, she created a ‘kingdom of million worms’ with square cages.

Uncovering the canvas pieces cut from old jute bags, Lien said cow pats are collected and used as the feed for worms. After one month, worms can be put into use.

Every day, Lien catches tens of thousands of worms and grinds them up to create feed for pigs and fowl. This is a good food, so her livestock have high resistance, high quality  meat, and sell at high prices. In 2015, her pigs raised by worms sold for VND10 million each, twice as much as the market price.

Lien’s kingdom of worms has expanded in recent years. Harvested worms are processed into different products, such as dried worms, frozen worms and dried worm powder. The products made of worms brings Lien annual revenue of VND6 billion. Perionyx excavates is also an effective medicine that can cure some kinds of diseases.

In Than Cuu Nghia commune in Chau Thanh district in Tien Giang, Nguyen Cong Vinh owns more than 100 hectares of red worms throughout Mekong Delta provinces. He is the owner of a company with assets of VND40 billion.

Every month, Vinh’s farms sell about 2,000 tons of products from worms which allows him to make a profit of VND500-600 million.

There are many effective worm raising models in Vietnam. The small-scale raising model can bring turnover of hundreds of millions of dong a year, while large-scale production can bring turnover of billions of dong. Experts said that raising worms brings high value and it is becoming a trend in "circular" agriculture.

Tam An