Farmers on Ly Son Island in Quang Ngai Province are facing a shortage of white sand used for garlic and shallot cultivation though shallot crop has already started.
According to Ly Son Island District’s Department of Economic and Rural Infrastructure, there are around 300 hectares of arable land on Ly Son Island. Farmers need 3-4 cubic meters of white sand for per 500 square meters. Therefore, with 300 hectares of land, they will need around 1,800-2,400 cubic meters of white sand for garlic and shallot cultivation every year.
Currently, there are 10 dredgers on the island who sell white sand at a price of VND85,000-90,000 per cubic meter. During the past month, there were around 5-10 dumper trucks transporting white sand every night with total volume of 250-350 cubic meters of white sand.
Nguyen Van Le, head of the Department of Economic and Rural Infrastructure of Ly Son Island District, said that white sand is an essential element for farming in Ly Son Island, especially for garlic and shallot cultivation. However, in the past few years, the source of white sand has become exhausted. So it is necessary to find new cultivation technique for garlic and shallot which does not require much white sand while still producing special taste of Ly Son’s garlics and shallots.
