Hybrid acacia varieties for autumn forest planting in Nghe An are in short supply.

Out of stock glue seeds

In Quang Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, people are planting trees in the forests for the fall crop, however, some households are lacking seedlings.

Ms. Tran Thi Minh, an acacia grower in Quang Thanh commune, said: Her family has just finished harvesting more than 1.5 hectares of acacia. They have now processed the ground cover and dug holes to plant acacia, but have only planted about 1 hectare. The remaining area has not yet been able to buy seedlings to plant.

Ms. Minh added: The family often buys acacia seedlings from reputable production facilities such as Do Luong Forestry Company, with a price of nearly 1,000 VND/tree. However, due to many orders, seedlings are scarce.

Mr. Phan Duc Tien - Chairman of Quang Thanh Commune People's Committee said: The commune has over 850 hectares of acacia, and annually plants 200 hectares. Due to the high price of acacia last year and the short exploitation cycle of 3 years/harvest, the newly planted area this year is over 250 hectares (an increase of more than 50 hectares). Currently, people mainly buy acacia seedlings from traders from Binh Dinh, Lang Son provinces..., the commune cannot check or control the quality of the seedlings. Some areas of acacia seedlings planted in the forest last autumn have yellow leaves and withered. The commune recommends that farmers buy acacia seedlings from reputable, quality units that can ensure good growth of seedlings..

Yen Thanh district has over 19,000 hectares of raw acacia forest, of which over 2,000 hectares are newly planted each year. Communes have planted over 1,300 hectares of forest, and over 700 hectares are waiting for seedlings. The district recommends that people buy seedlings from reputable licensed establishments, such as the Yen Thanh Protective Forest Management Board and forestry companies in the province.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh - Director of Yen Thanh District Protective Forest Management Board said: The unit currently has 2 nurseries in Yen Thanh town and Xuan Thanh commune, producing over 2 million seedlings annually, and in the autumn season alone, over 1.2 million seedlings are produced to serve the people of Yen Thanh district. Seeing the benefits of buying quality seedlings, during the forest planting season, people buy a lot, and the unit cannot supply enough.

At Do Luong Forestry One Member Co., Ltd., there is currently a nursery in Hoa Son commune, annually producing over 2.5 million acacia seedlings, serving the people in Do Luong district and neighboring communes of Yen Thanh district. This year's autumn crop alone, the unit produced over 1.3 million seedlings, priced at 1,000 VND/tree, 400-500 VND/tree higher than seedlings sold in other provinces, however, people still bought too much, overloading the unit so it could not meet the needs of forest growers.

The glue used here is mainly cutting glue, produced according to technical procedures, with quality control and supervision by the relevant authorities from the seed stage to the production process and before being sold at the nursery.

Product diversity, quality control of seedlings

Tan Huong commune (Tan Ky) is the capital of acacia seedlings, at this time, people are selling out as soon as they produce. Mr. Nguyen Ba Dai in Tan Minh hamlet, Tan Huong commune said: In the past two weeks, his family has sold over 100,000 hybrid acacia seedlings from cuttings planted in the autumn forest at a price of 650-700 VND/tree. Currently, his family is continuing to pack the seedlings to produce for the people.

Mr. Le Duc Thuyen - Chairman of Tan Huong Commune People's Committee said: In the Spring crop of 2024, tree seedlings were slow to sell, due to the hot weather, people rarely bought seedlings to plant forests. But in the Fall crop, people sold about 40 million seedlings, production was not enough to sell. Currently, the whole commune has nearly 200 households participating in growing acacia seedlings, annually growing over 60 million acacia seedlings to sell to Nghe An and neighboring provinces.

To avoid the situation of acacia seedlings being stagnant and difficult to sell, the commune encourages people to plan and produce acacia seedlings for sale according to the forest planting season, prioritizing the autumn seedlings. In the hot summer, the quantity of acacia seedlings produced can be reduced.

Tan Ky district currently has over 200 facilities specializing in producing acacia seedlings in Tan Huong and Nghia Hanh communes, producing nearly 75 million acacia seedlings annually. To develop acacia seedlings in a sustainable manner, the district recommends that people diversify their products, increase investment in producing high-quality acacia cuttings, and limit the use of acacia seeds.

According to the report of the Forest Protection Department, the whole province currently has over 15 units producing and trading in acacia seedlings, mainly forestry companies and protective forest management boards (with business registration licenses), producing 15-20 million forestry seedlings of all kinds each year. However, the issue of forestry seedlings in Nghe An is still limited.

In order to ensure the quality of seedlings, the Forestry Department recommends that localities further strengthen the management of production and trading of plant varieties, strictly manage all stages of the production chain; propagate to people about the use of good varieties, varieties with clear origins...