Need to review rubber planting planning in Nghe An

(Baonghean) - The recent storms No. 10 and No. 11 have caused tens of thousands of hectares of rubber trees in Quang Nam, Quang Binh, and Quang Tri to collapse. In Quang Binh alone, storm No. 11 caused 13,797 hectares of rubber trees to collapse, accounting for about 60% of Quang Binh's rubber area, with an estimated loss of VND 3,500 billion, nearly equal to 3 years of tax revenue for the entire Quang Binh province. This shows the huge loss that storm No. 11 has caused to Quang Binh, a poor province in the Central region.

Rubber is a woody plant, about 20m tall, with taproots that reach 1.5m deep. The tree can also withstand drought for 4-5 months. Rubber is best grown in the Southeast and Central Highlands, suitable for forest land, requiring good, well-drained soil. A 5-year-old tree can be harvested for latex and the latex harvest period lasts for several decades.

But rubber trees are brittle and easily broken, especially not able to withstand storms of level 8 or higher. If the wind is strong, the amount of evaporation through the leaves will increase, the branches and trunk will become more brittle and easily broken. Wind speed of 3m/s will not allow the tree to grow normally, so it should be planted in a sheltered place.

In recent years, rubber latex has been expensive, so many localities have competed to grow rubber. Many options have been chosen for rubber planting: smallholder rubber, rubber of agricultural and forestry farms, of enterprises, etc. The Vietnam Rubber Group with many member companies has also expanded to the Central and Northern provinces to expand the area.

Nghe An is the same, not as massive as other provinces, but Nghe An's rubber project is also a large-scale project with a planned area of ​​17,000 hectares, implemented in Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, Que Phong, Yen Thanh, Quynh Luu. Nghe An currently has 8,841 hectares of rubber, of which the project of Nghe An Rubber Company started in 2007, up to now our province has only planted nearly 2,000 hectares, concentrated in Anh Son, Thanh Chuong, Que Phong.

From the recent rubber disaster after storm No. 11 in Quang Binh, should we review the rubber planting plan in our province? In 2010, more than 70,000 rubber trees in Tan Ky were also broken when hit by a storm. Rubber is a tree that needs to be planted first, the weather is the first factor to consider, then the climate and soil. Are the planned rubber planting areas in our province sheltered from the wind, protected by windbreak forests, or is the land too steep? If the land is too steep, there is no underground water or too much wind, the trees will not grow well and will easily fall down when hit by natural disasters.

Another factor for effective rubber planting is the variety. Recently in Dak Nong province, farmers have cut down thousands of hectares of rubber trees because they do not produce latex, or produce little latex, and are ineffective. Dak Nong has 5,000 hectares of small rubber plantations, but it is known that only 40% of them are effective. The reason is poor quality varieties. Therefore, if people plant rubber but do not understand the variety or the enterprise does not provide guaranteed variety, they will plant and wait until harvest time and then be disappointed. It is really not "easy to eat" with rubber trees. Should we be careful when expanding the rubber planting area? Furthermore, there needs to be a commitment between the enterprise and the grower: When a natural disaster occurs and all the rubber trees fall down, how will the responsibility be shared?

Chau Lan.