(Baonghean.vn) -Giang Son Tay is a remote commune located at the end of Do Luong district (Nghe An), bordering Tan Ky district. After separation (from Giang Son commune), the commune has promoted its strength in growing raw material forests. This is truly a sustainable way out of poverty for the farmers in the commune.

Comrade Nguyen Canh Quang - Chairman of Giang Son Tay Commune People's Committee took us to visit many forests in Trung Hau hamlet. The green hills were immense. The straight rows of acacia trees, about 2-3 years old, some acacia hills were almost ready to be harvested, growing strongly among the forest hills.



Mr. Dang Thanh Tinh's 4-year-old acacia hill - Trung Hau hamlet is growing well..

Up to now, people have gradually changed the color of acacia and cajuput trees on all the foothills. Mr. Dang Thanh Tinh (Trung Hau hamlet) is excited: "My family was assigned 3 hectares of forest land and started planting acacia in the first year. Growing acacia is very convenient because the land is suitable, the care is simple, only clearing the roots once a year and adding phosphate, digging the roots for the first 2 years, 4 to 5 years later, just clearing the buds and pruning the branches to harvest". According to Mr. Tinh, acacia is the only and suitable choice on Trung Hau forest land. On the other hand, the economic efficiency is also stable. The price of an acacia tree like the people in the hamlet, if the tree meets the standards, is sold for an average of 70 thousand VND/tree, if at the current price, in 3 years after deducting costs, his family will have a net profit of no less than 60 million VND/ha of raw acacia".

Giang Son Tay commune currently has over 1,700 hectares of natural land, of which production forest land accounts for over 30% (over 550 hectares). The soil quality is good, suitable for precious timber and raw material trees. Mr. Nguyen Canh Quang - Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune said: implementing the policy of allocating land and forest to each unit and household, in 1994, the commune implemented the handover of 400 hectares to Do Luong Forestry One Member Co., Ltd., the remaining 157 hectares were assigned to households responsible for management, protection, use and planting forests. Particularly for the management of forest land in households, the commune's guiding solution is to create conditions for good performance in forest fire prevention and control, protection, guidance on planning and reasonable forest planting science and technology. After 3 times of effective exploitation, the role and effectiveness of raw material forest trees have been affirmed, many households have transferred land to each other for forest planting. Up to now, on average, each household in the commune has from 7 sao to 1 ha of forest land, especially many households have taken on the task of protecting and producing over 20 ha of forest land such as Mr. Truong Cong Lan in Quy Trung hamlet, Mr. Nguyen Huu Huong's household in Bac Giang hamlet... According to Mr. Nguyen Canh Quang's assessment, after 3 times of forest exploitation and planting, the economic efficiency from planting raw material forests in the area accounts for over 50% of the total agricultural and forestry income of the whole commune.

From the practical effectiveness of production forest planting, the Party Congress of Giang Son Tay commune for the 2011-2015 term determined to make production forest planting a key task, a key development direction in the socio-economic development strategy of the commune. Currently, in conjunction with the planning of new rural construction, the commune is implementing Decision 147/TTCP on planting raw material trees associated with granting forest land use right certificates to households. Supporting seedlings for new planting households, moving towards planting 40 hectares of forest according to standards to benefit from the WB3 project funded by the World Bank.

Luong Mai