Many households and cooperatives have not been paid for selling the medicinal plant an xoa.

Because the money from selling the an xoa tree has not been fully paid, Mr. Tran Van Thu in Bang Dong village, Cam Nghia commune cannot harvest the next crop and is forced to take care of the tree even though it is past its prime - Photo: LE TRUONG

Many areas of over-ripe an xoa trees cannot be harvested.

In 2022, Keo Son Sustainable Forestry Cooperative in Phuong An 2 village, Cam Nghia commune participated in a project to pilot planting 1.6 hectares of an xoa trees in the locality. After receiving partial financial support from its partner, Agri Dynamics Production and Trading Company Limited, Quang Tri branch (abbreviated as Agri Dynamics Company), to buy seedlings and fertilizers, the Cooperative invested an additional 130 million VND for cultivation.

After more than a year of planting and caring, the cooperative members harvested the first batch of 27 tons of fresh fruit and Agri Dynamics Company purchased it at a price of 12,000 VND/kg. However, the entire purchase price of the an xoa tree was only paid by the enterprise 40 million VND at the end of 2024, the remaining 290 million VND has not yet been received by Keo Son Sustainable Forestry Cooperative.

Le Xuan Son, Deputy Director of Keo Son Sustainable Forestry Cooperative, said that on average, an xoa trees are harvested twice a year. With 1.6 hectares planted by the cooperative, there are still 3-4 more harvests to be done, but they have not been able to be implemented yet even though the trees are too big for the exploitation cycle.

“We have not yet received the full amount of money from the first batch of An Xoa trees sold, and the initial investment cost cannot be settled, but the cooperative still has to bear the costs incurred for taking care of this unexploited area, which is about 30 million VND/batch. Our biggest wish is to soon receive the money owed by the purchasing enterprise, and have a long-term solution for us, whether we continue or stop the project. If it drags on like this, the cooperative will probably have a lot of difficulties,” Mr. Son added.

Deputy Director of Keo Son Sustainable Forestry Cooperative Le Xuan Son is worried because more than 1.6 hectares of over-ripe an xoa cannot be harvested, forcing him to incur care costs - Photo: Le Truong

In the same situation, Mr. Tran Van Thu's family in Bang Dong village, Cam Nghia commune participated in the an xoa tree planting project since 2021. If calculated according to the exploitation cycle of this medicinal plant, on 1 hectare of an xoa of the family, up to now, they must have harvested 5-6 batches of fresh leaves.

However, after nearly 4 years, the above-mentioned An Xoa tree area of ​​Mr. Thu's family has only harvested 1 crop, the rest are still "waiting" even though the trees have grown tall and more importantly, the survival rate of the trees is only about 70% with low leaf thickness due to insufficient care costs. Even if these areas are harvested, the quality of the essence for export will be very low and the purchase price will not be much.

According to Mr. Thu, when the project was first implemented, in addition to the support from Agri Dynamics Company in fertilizers and seeds, the family had to invest about 120 million VND more to install the irrigation and cultivation system. At that time, Mr. Thu's father had to borrow money and sell another pair of cows to invest. In 2022, after the first harvest, the company purchased the crop for 120 million VND, but by the end of 2023, only 40 million VND had been paid, leaving a debt of 80 million VND to date.

“I was really worried, because at first I thought growing medicinal plants would create a stable livelihood for my family. But in reality, after 4 years, the borrowed investment money has not been paid, and I have to take on more debt to take care of the plants that cannot be harvested. Sadly, my father was very enthusiastic about participating in the project at that time, hoping to “change his life”, but now he has passed away and I have not received the money for the first purchase of plants,” said Mr. Thu.

Although not a household directly involved in growing an xoa, Ms. Nguyen Thi Dung's family in Dinh Son village, Cam Nghia commune is also facing a similar situation with Agri Dynamics Company owing them more than 260 million VND for the past 3 years.

“My family has a contract with a company to process An Xoa plants from fresh leaves into extract since 2021. Currently, for unknown reasons, Agri Dynamics Company has not paid us, despite having received nearly 400 kg of An Xoa extract products under a contract from 2022 until now. Our biggest wish is that whether the contract continues or not, the company must at least respond and pay the above amount so that our family can cover the costs of the extract cooking process. Although we have contacted the company many times and submitted a petition to the local authorities, all they have done is “promise” and we have not received any money,” Ms. Dung said indignantly.

According to preliminary statistics, in the whole Cam Lo district, there are dozens of households and cooperatives that have signed contracts to grow an xoa trees with Agri Dynamics Company. The total amount of money that the company owes people for purchasing an xoa trees is estimated at over 500 million VND.

When will the debt be paid to the people?

As a medicinal plant that is quite easy to grow and care for because it has few pests and diseases, is drought tolerant and suitable for hilly soil, An Xoa was experimentally planted on an area of ​​nearly 17.7 hectares in the communes of Cam Chinh, Cam Nghia, Cam Thanh and Cam Hieu of Cam Lo district. After a period of planting, this medicinal plant proved to be adaptable and grow well in the local land and initially brought high economic value. In 2021, the first shipments of An Xoa medicinal herbs were exported to the US market, opening up the potential development direction that this crop brings.

Many areas of An Xoa trees of Cam Nghia commune people cannot be harvested because Agri Dynamics Company stopped purchasing - Photo: Le Truong

When participating in the chain linking with Agri Dynamics Company in growing and consuming products from an xoa trees, in addition to being supported with fertilizers, plant varieties and training in planting, caring for and harvesting techniques from the enterprise, households also boldly invest and apply science and technology to cultivate an xoa trees to meet export conditions.

Vice Chairman of Cam Lo District People's Committee Tran Hoai Linh said that to create favorable conditions for enterprises, the locality has supported a land area of ​​5,000 ^m2 at Cam Hieu Industrial Park for Agri Dynamics Company to build an an xoa processing factory with an investment capital of more than 11.8 billion VND. However, due to many objective factors, the enterprise has not yet implemented the construction of the factory, and the money for purchasing products from people is also in debt. This has made people feel insecure and encountered many difficulties in investing in expanding the cultivation of this type of tree.

“In the context of local arrangement and merger, we are also urgently urging and sending a document to Agri Dynamics Company requesting that the outstanding debts for the people be resolved soon. At the same time, there is a plan to purchase the remaining An Xoa area and urgently proceed with the construction of the factory according to plan. Recently, Agri Dynamics Company has issued a document extending the payment period for the purchase price to the people to supplement some procedures in borrowing capital. Hopefully, after having the source, the partner will soon pay the people,” Mr. Linh shared.

Talking to reporters of Quang Tri Newspaper, Director of Agri Dynamics Company Nguyen Thi Thuy Van said that the contract to implement the project of linking the chain from production to consumption of medicinal plant products An Xoa is a direction that has brought practical results to people and profits to the company for many years. The proof is that many export shipments of this medicinal plant have been accepted and ordered by the US market.

However, recently, due to many political factors causing fluctuations in foreign export markets, product consumption has encountered some difficulties, leading to the company's revenue being affected. In addition, the procedures for building a factory in Cam Hieu Industrial Park are still stuck, causing the purchase of An Xoa trees and settlement of payments to be slower than planned.

“Currently, we are continuing to call for investment capital, completing procedures to borrow capital to ensure financial operations. If all goes well, the company will pay the purchase money owed to the people this May and hopes to continue the joint project as committed,” Ms. Van affirmed.

Le Truong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/nhieu-ho-dan-hop-tac-xa-chua-duoc-thanh-toan-tien-ban-cay-duoc-lieu-an-xoa-192972.htm