Forest economy changes the face of Lao Cai countryside

Taking advantage of hilly and forest land, farmers in Lao Cai province strive to plant 15,000 hectares of new forestry trees each year. On that basis, many communes strive to become forestry-developed communes in the province by 2030.

Phuc Loi Commune, Lao Cai Province was established on the basis of merging 3 communes Phuc Loi, Truc Lau and Trung Tam of Luc Yen District, Yen Bai Province. The current area is up to more than 16,000 hectares, large enough for over 15,300 people, belonging to 15 ethnic groups to develop forestry.

Billion-dollar cinnamon hills are appearing more and more in Phuc Loi.

Mr. Hoang Minh Toi, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Phuc Loi Commune, said that the commune's economy has an average growth rate of 13%/year, with a large contribution from the forestry sector, in which cinnamon trees emerge as a "golden pillar". With thousands of hectares of cinnamon planted and well cared for, people not only sell cinnamon bark but also participate in deep processing chains, such as: essential oils, cinnamon powder, dried cinnamon for export...

"With the advantage of land, people in the commune have actively planted forests, eliminated hunger and reduced poverty, improved family economy, thereby promoting the local economy...", Mr. Toi said.

Mr. Thieu Huu Ngoc's family, in village 1 Van, Phuc Loi commune, had a difficult life in the past. Although they did many jobs, grew many types of plants, and raised many types of animals, their income was not much, and their life was just enough to eat.

In 1998, when he went to study in Van Yen district, the old Yen Bai province - the "capital" of cinnamon in Yen Bai, he realized that his family also had hilly land and forests; moreover, the soil and climate in the two areas were similar, while people in Van Yen could get rich from cinnamon trees, he discussed with his wife to convert all 11 hectares of forest land of the family to grow cinnamon trees.

Besides planting forests, local people also develop the profession of making peeled wood.

Mr. Thieu Huu Ngoc said: Currently, his family has 11 hectares of cinnamon, at the ages of 4, 7, 9 and 11 years old. Thanks to the income from cinnamon, the family's major tasks such as building a house, buying a car, and paying for the children's education are all completed. "Cinnamon trees bring in higher income than other crops. Before, the family only grew enough corn to eat, but since introducing cinnamon trees, it has reduced poverty for the family, and has been able to do many big things such as building a house and buying vehicles...".

Mr. Thieu Huu Phuc's family in the same village of 1 Van also built two big houses, bought a car and an excavator for his children to work part-time after many years of switching to growing cinnamon: "Before there was no movement to grow cinnamon and forestry trees here, we suffered a lot, like my family at that time, we didn't even have a bowl to eat rice, a pot to cook rice. Later on, we switched to growing cinnamon trees, from which cinnamon trees brought income, we sold them for a lot of money, from which we had money to build a house."

Depending on the soil and climate, each region and each village in Phuc Loi commune, Lao Cai province has a direction for developing the hill and forest economy with the strengths of different suitable crops, such as the hill and mountain areas bordering Van Yen district, old Yen Bai province, people favor growing cinnamon; in the hilly areas along Thac Ba lake, people prefer to grow trees such as acacia or bodhi, all of which bring in a good income.

Mr. Vi Van Mu, Lang Dat village, Phuc Loi commune, said that his family has 4 hectares of forestry land. Each hectare of Bodhi tree plantation will yield about 100 million VND/crop. From the forest plantation, his family has built a spacious house worth 700 million VND and provided their children with a full education. "Farming alone is just enough to eat, it does not develop anything. After planting the forest, the family can rebuild a more spacious house and provide their children with a proper education," said Mr. Vi Van Mu.

Developing forestry, people of Phuc Loi commune built many spacious houses.

Not only planting forests, from abundant raw materials, local people also opened workshops to process peeled wood, creating many jobs for rural workers. Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan in Sai Lon village shared: Since 2018, when her family's wood peeling line was put into operation, during peak times, her family peeled about 300 cubic meters of wood of all kinds each month, creating jobs for over 10 workers with an average salary of 5-7 million VND/person/month.

"Before, my family did normal business. Since opening the factory, my family's life has been less difficult and it has created jobs for workers. The peeling team earns 6-7 million/month, the drying team earns an average of 5.5 million/month," said Ms. Xuan.

Mr. Hoang Trung Chinh, Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Council of Phuc Loi commune, said that by developing the forest economy, the commune strives to have no poor households by 2030.

Mr. Hoang Trung Chinh, Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Council of Phuc Loi commune, said that based on the results of the previous communes, by the end of 2024, the average income per capita of Phuc Loi commune will reach 55.4 million VND/person/year; the multidimensional poverty rate will be only 9.9%. The area of ​​planted forests is nearly 3,260 hectares, and there are currently 26 wood processing facilities in the area, creating stable income for over 300 local workers.

During the 2025 - 2030 term, one of the three breakthroughs identified by the Commune Party Committee is to attract investment in deep processing of forestry products, associated with the construction of synchronous transport infrastructure to facilitate production development and improve people's lives. Along with that, there is a strong focus on transforming from agricultural production thinking to agricultural economic thinking; forming and developing production linkage models according to value chains; attracting and encouraging enterprises and cooperatives to invest in production, processing and consumption of agricultural and forestry products, thereby increasing income, people are attached to planting, caring for and protecting forests.

"The action program to implement the Congress resolution focused on a group of solutions, including strengthening propaganda and mobilizing poor households and focusing on supporting capital and seedlings to help households increase their income and sustainably reduce poverty. The goal is that by 2030, Phuc Loi commune will no longer have poor households according to the new multidimensional poverty standards...", Mr. Chinh informed.

With the proposed directions and solutions, Phuc Loi commune strives to achieve a forest coverage rate of over 77.6%, people not only preserve the forest but also live from the forest, and are prosperous thanks to the forest; thereby, contributing to the increasingly developing face of the mountainous countryside.

vov.vn

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/kinh-te-rung-thay-doi-bo-mat-nong-thon-lao-cai-post887994.html