VietNamNet Bridge – Stretching several kilometers along the Vam Co Tay River in Binh Phong Thanh and Binh Hoa Trung communes in Moc Hoa District, Long An Province is a market where people trade lepironia, a type of grass which has long been used for making crafts and especially producing mats.

A boat carrying two people and bundles of lepironia arrives at a dock along the Vam Co Tay River’s bank to sell the grass. Two people can harvest 60 to 80 bundles of lepironia per day

Everyday, from the afternoon to the evening, hundreds of farmers gather at the riverside market by boat together with large bundles of lepironia for sale to traders.

In order to get the grass, farmers have to ride their boats to lakes and lagoons near the country’s southwestern border with Cambodia where fields are flooded almost all year round and people cannot cultivate paddy. When cutting the grass, they form a team of two to make the job easier as they have to wade in the water at a depth of one meter to cut the grass.

Men carry bundles of lepironia from boats to land. The grass has an average length of 1.3-1.6 meter   A woman is seen holding a bundle of lepironia on board a boat. Each bundle of lepironia is sold to traders at VND3,500-4,000 (16-18 U.S. cents) depending on its length       Traders put lepironia on a truck for transport to villages weaving mats and making crafts in Tien Giang, Dong Thap and Kien Giang provinces – Photos: Doan Xa