This is the corn market named Nga Ba Bau, located in Thoi Tam Thon commune, Hoc Mon district, 20km from the center of District 1.

While waiting for her husband to tie three bags of corn to his motorcycle, Mrs. Le Thi Nam takes her quick breakfast of bread, then transports the corn to a wet market in District 8 to sell.

Mrs. Nam said she and her husband moved from the central province of Thanh Hoa to Ho Chi Minh City 17 years ago. During their years living in this "promised land", her family has been tied to this corn market for 15 years.

"When I first came to Ho Chi Minh City, my husband and I worked as construction workers to earn a living and raise our children. When I first knew about this corn market, I tried to buy corn and bring it to wet markets for retail. Income from this was higher than our income from construction works so we decided to become corn traders. Thanks to this market, our two children can go to university," Mrs. Nam said.

Mrs. Nam is one of thousands of people who come to this corn market to buy wholesale and then carry corn everywhere for retail. Many people also come here to buy and load corn on trolleys for vendors or sell corn on the roadside to make a living.

Ms. Huynh Thi Anh has been a corn trader at this market for nearly 20 years. According to Anh, this market was formed 20 years ago and Anh was among the first traders here.

"This is the largest wholesale corn market in Saigon. Corn from this market is distributed throughout the districts in Ho Chi Minh City as well as neighboring provinces," Anh said.

There are about 50 corn shops that are open 24/7 to supply hundreds of tons of corn for the HCMC market and neighboring provinces.

Corn traders in the market purchase corn from many provinces throughout the country to have a stable source of supply. Photo: Huan Cao

In this market, corn is classified and wholesaled in 100kg bags. The best-quality products sell for VND4,000/corn. The price is VND7,000/kg.

This market sells only one item - corn. Photo: Lao Dong

A woman buys corn at the market. Photo: Lao Dong

Ms. Anh's corn stall is the biggest and one of the oldest corn shops in this market. Photo: Lao Dong

A truck of corn.

A corn shop in the market.

Many families earn their living from the market.

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