Bo bo has a good price, so the highland villages of Nghe An are in harvest season.

Vu Ba Ma's family lives in Huoi Son village, Tam Hop border commune, Tuong Duong district. These days, all family members go to the forest and fields to pick bo bo fruit.

Mr. Ma said that every year when the season of bo bo comes to harvest, the whole family works hard day and night to earn more than ten million VND. This year, the number of bo bo in the area has expanded a little more than last year, because more plants have grown. Besides, the productivity and price are also better than last year. It is expected that this year with nearly 5 hectares of bo bo, the productivity will be about 30 quintals of fresh fruit/hectare, bringing in an income of about 20 million VND.

In Tam Hop commune, bo bo is mainly distributed on mountain slopes, or in protected forest areas. Commune leaders said that the whole commune has about 30 hectares of bo bo trees, of which 15 hectares are located in protected forest areas. The remaining 15 hectares are planted by people under the forest canopy under the district's support project.

According to local people, at present, fresh bo bo fruits are purchased by traders for 5-7 thousand VND/kg depending on the quality of young or old fruits. The price of dried bo bo seeds ranges from 40-42 thousand VND/kg. Every 10 kg of fresh bo bo fruits after peeling and drying can produce about 3-4 kg of dried bo bo seeds. Therefore, people often take advantage of processing dried seeds for sale.

Ms. Lau Y Sua in Nhon Mai commune (Tuong Duong), a person who grows and buys bo bo fruit, said that this year the bo bo tree is quite tall and has a lot of fruit, so when picking it, you have to use a stick or knife to hold the branch down and cut off the part with the fruit. After cutting the branch, the fruit is separated and brought home.

Ms. Lau Y Sua said that families often mobilize all members to peel the corn kernels. During the summer holidays, children are not in school yet so they are also added to this "force". After that, people take advantage of the sunny weather to dry the seeds. On rainy days, they often use bamboo sheets and kitchen utensils to dry the seeds.

Among the Western districts, Ky Son is the locality with many naturally growing bo bo trees, located in the forest canopy and most of which are enclosed and protected. People exploit this secondary forest product to improve their income.

In Huoi Tu commune, in 2023, the area of ​​​​Bo bo trees is about 20 hectares, distributed mainly in villages with high terrain such as Huoi Le, Huoi Mu and along the mountain slopes. The area of ​​​​Bo bo in Huoi Tu is also mainly located under the canopy of protected forests.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the People's Committee of Ky Son district, the whole district has about 1,121 hectares of bo bo trees. Of which, the protected area is about 672 hectares, the area expanded by people is about 257 hectares.

In Ky Son, the bo bo tree is distributed in many communes with high terrain such as Na Ngoi, Tay Son, Nam Can, Huoi Tu...

It is expected that in the coming time, with a good harvest and good prices like this year, it is forecasted that people in Ky Son will continue to expand the area of ​​​​Bo Bo trees by about 240 hectares. In 2022, the total harvest of Bo Bo seeds in Ky Son will reach about 722 tons, bringing a good income to the people of Ky Son. In 2023, it is expected that the harvest of Bo Bo in Ky Son will be higher than last year, and the selling price will also be higher by 2-4 thousand VND/kg.

Bo bo tree, scientifically known as cardamom, is a medicinal plant proposed by the People's Committee of Nghe An province to be included in the list of planned planting and conservation of medicinal plants in the province until 2025, with a view to 2030. According to Decision No. 1887/QD-UBND dated April 3, 2018 of the People's Committee of Nghe An province, it is expected that cardamom will be included in the list of main medicinal plants planned for planting in the localities of Ky Son (Muong Long, Huoi Tu), Que Phong (Nam Nhoong, Chau Thon, Hanh Dich) from 2025 to 2030 with a total area of ​​about 400 hectares.