Pest turns into cash

MEDAN, North Sumatra: Plant-eating snails that farmers are exterminating because they devour their crops, have been found to be excellent shrimp feed and in high demand here.

The Keongmas, as the locals call the snail, fetch Rp 400 (about 20 U.S. cents) a kilogram in the city.

As the mollusks are becoming a lucrative commodity, more and more people flock to Percut Sei Tuan coastal area to collect the snails and sell them to shrimp pond owners.

Suimin, 16, said he could collect up to 20 kilograms of the fast-breeding snails every day, Antara reported.

Farmers said that as a pest, the snails are more dangerous than rats. (pan)