Growing giant cinnamon trees to sell their fragrant, spicy bark like chili, Quang Nam farmers earn nearly 1 billion/ha in profit

Cinnamon has become a forestry tree with high economic value, helping people in many localities escape poverty and become rich. Tien Phuoc mountainous district, Quang Nam province, with a natural land area of ​​over 45,000 hectares plus soil conditions, weather and climate suitable for cinnamon growth. The district is researching to orient people to grow Northern cinnamon ( Yen Bai cinnamon).

Experiment with Northern cinnamon, but big profit

The model of growing Northern cinnamon trees of Mr. Vo Tan Dung (village 3, Tien Lanh commune, Tien Phuoc district, Quang Nam ) is an example. With the advantage of owning a hilly land area of ​​more than 3 hectares. Previously, Mr. Dung and his wife planted acacia and dó bầu, but gradually the acacia trees degenerated and revealed many limitations such as pests and diseases, easily falling down in storms, and not being very effective.

The farmer's Northern cinnamon garden is growing well, bringing in high income. In the photo, Mr. Pham Xuan Hoang's cinnamon garden, Mr. Hoang shared that he took Northern cinnamon seeds to test-plant over 1,000 square meters. After nearly 4 years, the cinnamon has reached a height of 4 - 5 meters. Photo: NH

Once visiting relatives in Son La province, looking at the vast cinnamon gardens, Mr. Dung had the idea of ​​bringing back Northern cinnamon trees to replace the area of ​​acacia trees. Then, by chance, while selling some of his forest land, he met a business owner in Nui Thanh district who specialized in producing cinnamon essential oil for export. The buyer of the land encouraged him to develop cinnamon trees and promised to purchase all of the products.

Mr. Dung realized that this was a good opportunity, a new direction to develop the family economy that was quite suitable for his conditions, when his children went to work far away, and he was old and not healthy enough to manage and take care of the acacia forest like before.

Therefore, from 2021, he started planting cinnamon. Thanks to carefully studying the characteristics of the cinnamon tree and being a gardener, his family's investment was quite favorable. Up to now, after more than 2 years, the cinnamon garden has developed quite well, as expected by the grower.

In some places in Tien Phuoc district, farmers are favoring Northern cinnamon trees because they grow quickly, bring high income, are easy to grow, and can withstand the soil and climate in Tien Phuoc. Photo: NH

"According to my calculation, on average, 1 hectare of raw acacia after 4 to 5 years of exploitation, the total income is about 160 million VND, net profit is more than 84 million VND/5 years.

The average annual income is 20 million VND/ha. Meanwhile, for cinnamon trees, the average 1 hectare with a 10-year exploitation cycle has a total net profit of more than 960 million VND/ha. The average annual income is 96 million VND/ha, nearly 5 times higher than that of acacia trees," Mr. Dung shared.

Not only Tien Lanh, in many other localities in Tien Phuoc district, people have also begun to change the crop structure from acacia trees to growing Northern cinnamon trees. A typical example is the model of Mr. Pham Xuan Hoang (residing in Trung An village, Tien Ha commune). As a family with a tradition of gardening and growing cinnamon, during a trip to buy and exploit cinnamon in the Central Highlands, Mr. Hoang took Northern cinnamon seeds to test-plant more than 1,000 square meters of his home garden. After nearly 4 years, the cinnamon has reached a height of 4 - 5 meters, with a root diameter of nearly 40 cm.

Or like the model of growing Northern cinnamon trees of Mr. Nguyen Nhat's household (village 2, Tien Hiep commune, Tien Phuoc district). Also starting from the desire to change the crop structure towards promoting higher efficiency, Mr. Nhat researched, explored and then decided to introduce Northern cinnamon trees to test planting 2,000 cinnamon trees on an area of ​​6,000m2 of his family's hilly land.

Farmer Nguyen Nhat next to his well-growing cinnamon garden. Photo: NH

Initially, the cinnamon trees grew and developed well. Mr. Nhat plans to continue expanding the area to 5 hectares if the output is stable. "Previously, on this hilly land, the family planted hybrid acacia but the economic efficiency was not high, so they switched to experimental planting of Northern cinnamon.

Thanks to proper technical care, the family's cinnamon tree grew well and began to prune branches and leaves to sell to medicinal processing facilities.

Currently, farmers grow Northern cinnamon spontaneously in the traditional way, without being guided by authorities, experts, and businesses on how to cultivate, and without being linked from seed production, care, exploitation planning, processing, and product sales. We also hope that the district will have a direction to develop cinnamon trees and find outlets for cinnamon products," Mr. Nhat shared.

Research on development orientation of Northern cinnamon tree

Mr. Tang Ngoc Duc - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tien Phuoc district, Quang Nam province said that cinnamon is a crop that brings quite high economic efficiency. On the government's side, it aims to promote multi-faceted efficiency in production forest areas, stabilize sustainability, minimize risks, improve economic efficiency, and increase income for people.

The District People's Committee has developed a pilot plan for planting Northern cinnamon (Yen Bai cinnamon) in the district for the period 2024 - 2025. Accordingly, the district will mobilize people to convert a part of suitable production forest land to grow Northern cinnamon to increase economic efficiency.

Attracting businesses to invest in developing Northern cinnamon trees, building production facilities, and linking cinnamon product consumption for people. In 2025, mobilize to plant at least 30 hectares more on production forest land. In 2026, the district will inspect and evaluate the growth, development, and suitability of Northern cinnamon trees in the district through 2 years of trial planting to develop a plan for the next phase.

Leaders of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tien Phuoc district, Quang Nam province visited cinnamon garden models of farmers. Photo: NH

"To develop Northern cinnamon trees, the district has organized a delegation of officials to Yen Bai province to visit, learn and gain experience in the technical process of intensive cinnamon cultivation, creating cinnamon products. From there, the district has a basis to research and bring cinnamon trees back to grow locally to create livelihoods to escape poverty for the people," said Mr. Duc.

According to Mr. Nguyen Hung Anh - Vice Chairman of Tien Phuoc District People's Committee, Quang Nam Province, in the 80s of the last century, along with Tra My, when talking about Tien Phuoc, people immediately thought of pepper and cinnamon trees. Because Tien Phuoc cinnamon has a unique flavor that cannot be grown everywhere.

At that time, almost every house planted cinnamon, at least a few dozen trees, at most a few thousand trees. However, over the past 20 years, the area of ​​cinnamon trees in Tien Phuoc district has been increasingly narrowed because no one bought the cinnamon planted, or bought it at a very cheap price.

People gradually switched to growing fruit trees in their gardens and growing raw acacia on mountainous land. However, in recent years, many households in the district have gradually changed their crop structure from acacia to growing Northern cinnamon and initially achieved quite good results.

Northern cinnamon trees are gradually growing on Tien Phuoc land, Quang Nam province. Photo: NH

In addition to protecting the ecological environment, increasing forest cover, preserving soil and water in steep mountainous areas, Northern cinnamon trees also create jobs and increase income for farmers. Currently, some production facilities and local people produce cinnamon incense, cinnamon chopsticks, cinnamon tea bags, hand sanitizer, and floor cleaner from cinnamon to sell to the market and affirm their brand.

"To put the plan into practice, the District People's Committee has proposed specific groups of solutions. In particular, focusing on propaganda and mobilization to change people's awareness about investment, intensive farming, and application of scientific and technological advances in production. Directing specialized sectors to deploy many solutions to invite businesses and cooperatives to join in cinnamon production associated with product consumption.

Organize training on technical processes for planting, caring for, and harvesting cinnamon trees. At the same time, propose to the province to have policies and mechanisms to encourage and support people to switch from growing raw materials, specifically acacia trees, to growing and developing Northern cinnamon trees. Thereby, gradually improving product quality, meeting market demand, contributing to increasing people's income," said Mr. Anh.

Source: https://danviet.vn/trong-cay-que-to-bu-lay-vo-ban-co-mui-thom-cay-nhu-ot-nong-dan-quang-nam-lai-gan-1-ty-ha-20240911080834606.htm