Grinding rice into flour by machine in the Ke dry pancake craft village.

Stable-but-not-high income

At present, there are about 70 households producing dry pancake in Dinh Ke ward. The Ke dry pancake cooperative has 54 members. In 2011, the Ke dry pancake received the collective brand certification from the National Office of Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Science and Technology. 

Nguyen Xuan Truong, head of the cooperative, said that the dry pancake production has been passed from his grandfather and father to his descendants. At present, the family of his son still pursues the craft.

On average, each day his family uses 70kg of material rice to produce 250 to 300 pancakes. All stages are supported by modern equipment such as electric rice grinder and pancake making machine. Households use solar water heaters to take water for making pancakes, thus saving electricity cost. After deducting expenses, each laborer earns about 150,000 VND per day, a not-high but-stable income. Many households in Dinh Ke still live on this craft.

Along with the dry pancake making, Dinh Ke ward is also home to 125 households producing noodles. In 2009, the Ke noodles got the collective brand certification from the National Office of Intellectual Property. The dry pancake and noodle making crafts create jobs for about 600 local laborers.

Similarly, Da Mai ward has many crafts. In addition to the traditional vermicelli making, the ward also boasts the crafts of making wine, “banh tro” (a kind of cake made of glutinous rice), peanut candy and “che lam” cake; and producing safe vegetables with a total of more than 200 households involved, creating jobs and stable incomes for many local workers.

Focusing on quality, efficiency

People in Dinh Ke ward’s craft villages have to make use of deserted roads to expose noodles.

Despite bringing stable incomes to local people, these crafts are facing difficulties. In the past three to four years, the number of noodle making households has decreased from 300 to 125. The number of households engaging in making dry pancakes has also sharply declined. 

In Da Mai ward, the number of households producing vermicelli remains relatively stable, but according to the ward leaders, it is difficult to pass the job to young people, although many households become rich thanks to this craft.

Nguyen Thi Hong Vinh, Chairman of People's Committee of Dinh Ke ward, said that the number of craft households is decreasing due to many reasons. The labor force is aging and the crafts still require hard work despite the support of machines. Along with that, the market prices are uncertain and there is a shortage of venues to display products in the locality. The Ke noodles and dry pancake and Da Mai vermicelli are facing fierce competition from the same products in and outside the province. Incomes from traditional crafts are not high compared to other jobs, so they are not attractive to laborers.

Not only generating jobs and incomes, and stabilizing the life of people, traditional crafts also bear cultural marks associated with the long development history of the city. Therefore, Bac Giang city is very interested in encouraging and supporting people in craft villages to innovate technology to maintain and develop the crafts. The craft villages will be assisted in renovating packaging, labeling and registration of brand protection, and trade promotion.

However, according to Nguyen Tien Tu, deputy head of the city’s Economic Division, to effectively support the craft villages, the city should pay attention to the needs of households. At present, the People's Committee of Da Mai ward is developing a project to support the dry vermicelli production line for the Da Mai Safe Agricultural Production and Trading Cooperative. 

The city is also studying a suitable location for displaying and introducing products of craft villages to attract customers. Bac Giang city will regularly organize classes on how to ensure food safety during the production process for business households while improving the quality and efficiency of the operation of craft villages.

Kim - Yen