People in the mountainous areas grow hybrid acacia, forest owners can easily make billions of dollars.

Recently, people in sub-zone 34, Dong Hung B commune, An Minh district, Kien Giang province have continuously requested to plant hybrid acacia trees to replace the cajuput trees whose price is falling. Why do people in the countryside like to plant hybrid acacia trees?

Mr. Tran Hong Dao, residing in An Minh district, Kien Giang province (white shirt, front row) proposed that Kien Giang province allow people to plant hybrid acacia trees instead of cajuput trees to earn income - Photo: BUU DAU

On November 11, Mr. Huynh Van Duan, a resident of Can Gao hamlet, Dong Hung B commune, An Minh district, said that the cajuput forest area in sub-region 34 has more than 1,200 hectares, which has been assigned to 145 households and 4 businesses since 2009.

At that time, each person was assigned a forest contract of nearly 5 hectares/household.

Melaleuca prices fall, people in the Mekong Delta live precariously

The forest contract book allows people to exploit 30% of the total contracted area and must replant cajuput.

At first, the harvest was about 7 million VND/cong/household, but now people's lives are difficult.

"The price of Melaleuca trees has dropped, so people have switched to growing bananas or trading to earn more income. Many households here have also left for other places or gone to work in other provinces.

People want to plant hybrid acacia trees on raised beds. This tree will yield a profit of 200-300 million VND/ha in 3-4 years, but the government has not yet agreed. Some others are very discouraged and have left to find other jobs," said Mr. Duan.

Mr. Tran Hong Dao, residing in Can Gao hamlet, Dong Hung B commune, An Minh district, said that in a 10-year cycle of planting cajuput trees, farmers can harvest about 30 million VND/ha, compared to the income from planting hybrid acacia over 200 million VND/ha in 4 years is too low.

This tree is sold to wood chipping factories and then exported, so it has a high price. Ca Mau has allowed farmers to convert to growing, so their farmers are getting rich from hybrid acacia.

"Now people in the area also plant hybrid acacia trees on the embankment, some people have already sold 2-3 batches. Because people's requests to plant hybrid acacia trees were not approved, many people spontaneously plant them.

I suggest that people convert to planting hybrid acacia trees instead of cajuput trees on 30-50% of the area currently contracted to help people earn a living and stay in the forest," Mr. Dao suggested.

Due to the fall in the price of cajuput trees, people in the rural areas have switched to growing bananas or trading to earn more income - Photo: BUU DAU

The leader of the Kien Giang Province Forest Protection Management Board affirmed: "The people's petition to change crops is only discussed at people's meetings.

The management board explained that this is a planned area for Melaleuca forests and cannot change to other tree species. The people's request will soon be submitted to the province for consideration, because it is no longer under the board's authority to resolve.

People in the Cape "make a fortune" from hybrid acacia trees

In Ca Mau, hybrid acacia trees have become the main source of income , the main tree of Mr. Tran Van Son's family, residing in Hamlet 11, Khanh Thuan Commune, U Minh District. Mr. Son has 74 hectares, of which 50 hectares are planted with hybrid acacia trees and 24 hectares with cajuput trees.

Previously, Mr. Son often bought seeds in Can Tho to plant. After the local company sold seeds, he bought seeds locally, the main variety is still AH7. After 5 years of planting, the family earned about 200 million VND/ha of hybrid acacia.

"With quality seeds and techniques accumulated over many years, I have grown almost 100% of the seedlings. The standard harvest time is 5 years, but those who want to grow bigger trees should wait 6-7 years before harvesting. Now, forest owners can earn billions of dong by planting acacia trees," said Mr. Son.

Acacia hybrid is a legume species, light-loving, fast-growing, with dense, green foliage, resistant to soil erosion, a strong root system, and many nitrogen-fixing nodules. This is a great advantage of acacia hybrid in improving and protecting soil fertility.

Hybrid acacia is purchased by traders in the forest and cut into small pieces and transported to wood processing factories - Photo: THANH HUYEN

Mr. Le Van Hai - Head of the Forest Protection Department of Ca Mau province - said that Ca Mau has an area of over 13,000 hectares of hybrid acacia, concentrated in U Minh and Tran Van Thoi districts.

Due to the low price of native cajuput trees, in some areas, after exploitation, people switched to planting hybrid acacia.

The cost of making beds for planting hybrid acacia is more expensive than planting Melaleuca because the beds for acacia must be higher than those for Melaleuca to prevent flooding during the rainy season. The cost of making beds is about 60 million/ha, after a 5-year cycle, it brings in a profit of about 200 million VND.

"Commercial hybrid acacia costs around 1.2 million VND/ton. The forest coverage rate in U Minh is currently 70% higher than the Government's regulation because many people take advantage of ineffective agricultural land to plant hybrid acacia forests," said Mr. Hai.

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