Severe drought causes crop failure in the forest, while cultivated sim fruit becomes expensive.

At this time of year, the sim fruit in the Rú Nhón area (Hưng Nguyên) is usually in full harvest, but this year the fruit is scarce, small, and shriveled. Ms. Nguyễn Thị Thành, a resident of Hưng Thành commune, said: “In previous years, we harvested at least 5-7 kg of sim fruit per day, earning 200,000-300,000 VND. This year, due to the severe drought, the sim trees are stunted and dry, with very few fruits, so the people have suffered losses.”

The hilly areas of Thanh Ha, Thanh Huong, Thanh Duc, and Thanh Lam (Thanh Chuong district) are covered with vast fields of myrtle trees, but due to the prolonged intense heat, the myrtle crop has failed. The entire hillside is covered in yellow, drooping leaves; the flowers wither on the trees before they can even bear fruit. Therefore, even though it's harvest season, few people venture into the forest because there are no fruits. Even after a whole day of searching, you can only gather a few kilograms, and the fruits are stunted, small, and astringent, so they don't fetch much money.

Mr. Nguyen Trong Ky, a resident of Thanh Lam commune (Thanh Chuong district), said: “In previous years, from June to September, my wife and I earned tens of millions of dong from harvesting wild myrtle berries. In good years, we could harvest up to 10 kilograms of berries a day, selling them immediately to traders and earning 300,000-400,000 dong. This year, however, we're stuck. The drought has caused a crop failure, and there's no harvest.”

Wild myrtle bushes on the hills suffer from crop failures, while those with concentrated myrtle cultivation, properly managed and cared for, generate significant income. Ms. Nguyen Thi Chung's family (Hamlet 3, Hanh Lam Commune, Thanh Chuong District) cultivates 6 sao (approximately 0.6 hectares) of myrtle. To ensure healthy growth and high yields, she invested in a drilled well, an automatic sprinkler system, and followed proper cultivation techniques such as applying manure and potassium fertilizers and pruning the vines when they grew taller than a person. As a result, the myrtle bushes are laden with fruit, plump, and have a rich, sweet flavor.

“This area used to be used for tea cultivation, but after the tea plants died and couldn't be saved, the family switched to growing myrtle. This myrtle variety is native, dug up from the hills in the commune and brought here to be planted in the garden. Planted in 2021, 4 sao (approximately 0.4 hectares) are now in their second year of harvest, and 2 sao are bearing their first fruits. Thanks to proactive irrigation and good care, the myrtle trees produce large, juicy, and abundant fruit. Some myrtle trees yield 10-15 kg per season,” Ms. Chung said.

After harvesting, the wild berries are bought directly from the orchards by traders at prices ranging from 40,000 to 50,000 VND/kg. This year, the wild berry crop is poor, with small, stunted fruits, so the beautiful berries in the orchards are quite expensive. At the beginning of the season, berries were priced at 60,000 VND/kg, but now they are 50,000 VND/kg, 10,000-15,000 VND/kg higher than in previous years.

“This year, only households with concentrated cultivation areas and irrigation systems have had a good harvest of sim fruit. Sim fruit is scarce, and prices are higher than in previous years, but there is still not enough supply to buy. In some years, we bought 3-5 quintals of sim fruit every day, with people bringing it in in large quantities, but this year, we have to go and collect it ourselves,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai, a trader specializing in buying sim fruit and bồ quân (a type of wild berry) in Hung Nguyen.

Currently, the demand for wild myrtle berries to make myrtle wine, myrtle syrup, and myrtle tea is quite high. Myrtle berries are easy to sell and have stable prices. Therefore, in Nghe An, many households have started planting myrtle trees in barren hills and wasteland, intercropping them under the forest canopy to generate income, increase soil cover, and create an ecological landscape.

However, to develop the myrtle plant into a marketable commodity, localities need specific planning, connections, encouragement, and support for businesses to diversify products from wild myrtle to create a stable market for the plant, avoiding uncontrolled and spontaneous planting that leads to surplus, cutting down, and waste.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, the sim fruit has a sweet and astringent taste, and a neutral nature. It promotes blood circulation, stops bleeding, nourishes the blood, and activates the meridians. It is often used in cases of physical weakness, anemia due to blood loss, anemia during pregnancy, weakness after illness, nervous exhaustion, tinnitus, and nocturnal emissions. Due to the beneficial properties of this fruit, the demand for wild sim fruit for making wine, syrup, and sim tea has increased sharply in the last 10 years. Recognizing the economic value of this wild fruit, many localities in the province have implemented plans to cultivate, protect, and effectively harvest sim trees.