People rush to cut down "white gold" trees, chasing after "billion dollar" trees

Ea Bar Commune (Song Hinh District) is one of the localities with the largest rubber plantation area in Phu Yen Province with nearly 1,400 hectares. However, in the past 3 months, in this locality, there has been a situation where people have been massively cutting down rubber trees to sell the wood and switch to growing durian trees.

According to Dan Tri reporters in mid-July, many rubber plantations were cleared, excavators and bulldozers were hired to dig up the stumps and sell them for firewood. Right next to the flattened rubber plantations, durian seedlings were newly planted a few months ago, about 50cm tall.

Within 3 months, more than 200 hectares of rubber trees in Ea Bar commune were liquidated to convert to growing durian and some other types of trees (Photo: Phu Khanh).

Ms. Hoan, in Song Hinh district, said that her family has more than 1 hectare of rubber trees, and it takes 2 days to tap about 50kg of latex. At the time when latex prices were low, it was only about 11,000 VND/kg, so calculating 1 hectare of rubber, the total tapping cost more than 270,000 VND/day.

"With the same area, people grow durian trees and earn several hundred million dong each year, while I only earn enough to go to the market and buy fish sauce. Because of this mentality, many people cut down rubber trees to grow durian and other trees," said Ms. Hoan.

According to statistics from the People's Committee of EaBar commune, from April to now, more than 200 hectares of rubber trees in the locality have been liquidated by local people.

Mr. Le Mo Y Bong, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of EaBar Commune, said that the reason people destroy rubber trees is because the latex price of this tree has been low for many years. Meanwhile, in recent years, durian trees have brought high economic value.

Ea Bar commune leaders inspect areas where rubber trees were cut down (Photo: Trung Thi).

"After deducting expenses, people can earn up to 500 million VND per season from 1 hectare of durian, while people can only earn a few hundred thousand VND per day from 1 hectare of rubber. This is one of the reasons why people decided to liquidate rubber to grow durian and other trees with more effective economic value," said the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of EaBar commune.

Also according to the EaBar commune government, the current rubber latex purchase price has increased by about 40% compared to the same period at 14,800 VND/kg.

On the other hand, rubber trees bring stable and long-term economic benefits, creating jobs for hundreds of local people. When the tree reaches the end of its exploitation cycle, the trunk can still be sold for wood at a price of about 150 million VND/ha, so people need to be careful when cutting and destroying it in large quantities.

Authorities advise people to be cautious when cutting down rubber trees en masse (Photo: Trung Thi).

Mr. Dinh Ngoc Dan, Chairman of Song Hinh District People's Committee, said that the district still considers rubber trees as the main crop of the locality with the goal of eliminating hunger and reducing poverty in the highland people. The goal by 2030, the whole district strives to reach an area of 4,500 hectares.

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Song Hinh district advised people not to rush to liquidate rubber trees, and will direct communes with rubber tree areas to have measures to guide people in the coming time.

In 2010, people called rubber trees "white gold" because of the high economic benefits of this tree. At one point, rubber latex was exported for 80 million VND/ton, and many people became rich quickly thanks to growing this tree.

In the period 2010-2011, rubber export turnover increased dramatically, reaching 2.3-3 billion USD. However, in the following years, rubber latex prices plummeted, and at times the money from selling latex was not enough to pay for harvesting workers.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/nguoi-dan-o-at-chat-bo-cay-vang-trang-chay-theo-cay-ty-do-20240718171121641.htm