Hột Village is nestled in a long, narrow valley, flanked by steep mountains, with the Huổi Luông stream running through its centre. The highland location and the stream’s year-round flow create a cool climate, ideal for raising silkworms.

With 149 households, over half of them are engaged in silkworm farming. Some households maintain one or two small beds of silkworms, while others utilise the space under their stilt houses, filled with white, wriggling young silkworms eagerly feeding on leaves.

What sets Hột Village apart from other silkworm-raising regions is that the silkworms here are not fed on mulberry leaves, but on cassava leaves. Mulberry trees are scarce in the area, while cassava leaves are readily available from the fields. The silkworms thrive on this diet, showing no signs of poor growth or disease, so the villagers rely on cassava leaves to feed them.

Once the silkworms spin their cocoons, the farmers either hang them from the rafters or place them in baskets. Over the next month, the cocoons turn into moths, which mate, lay eggs, and produce the next generation of silkworms. It takes 18 to 20 days for the new generation to mature, at which point the silkworms turn from milky white to yellowish, ready to spin their cocoons.

In Hột Village, the structures used for silkworms are simple. Tree branches, about 40 cm in length and still bearing leaves, are tied together in groups of three to five. These serve as a shelter for the silkworms to crawl onto and spin their cocoons.

After 2 to 3 days, when the silkworms have completed their cocoons, villagers harvest them. The cocoons are then removed from the branches and sold to traders. On average, 1 kilogramme of cocoons fetches VNĐ90,000 to 100,000 (US$3.6-4), with larger households producing up to 20 kilogrammes per cycle. This brings significant economic benefits to the highland community.