50 tonnes of mouse meat imported into Vietnam a day

11/05/2009
By VNN

VietNamNet Bridge – More than 35 tonnes of mouse meat per day is imported from Cambodia via the Khanh Binh border gate in An Phu district, the southern province of An Giang, said the chief of the An Phu district Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Van Thao.

At the border gates of Khanh Binh and Tinh Bien (Tinh Bien district) in An Giang province, there are over 30 traders who buy mouse meat from Cambodia for wholesale in Vietnam.

A mouse meat trader in Khanh Binh, Nguyen Van Tam, said that hundreds of Cambodians bring mice to Khanh Binh to sell. Now is the rice harvest season in Cambodia, when field mice abound.

According to Vietnamese mouse buyers at the two above border gates, around 50 tonnes of mice is transported via the Vietnamese-Cambodian border in An Giang a day.

A kilo of raw field mice is priced between VND35,000 to VND40,000 ($US$2-2.3). The price is VND50,000 ($2.9) for a kilo of processed mice. The prices for brown rats are VND50,000-VND60,000 per kilo for whole rats depending on size and VND75,000 to VND80,000 per kilo of processed meat.

Mice are processed in An Giang and sold to traders from HCM City and Can Tho city. Mouse meat has become a favourite food of many people in the south, particularly HCM City.