Realizing a desire…
(Baonghean.vn) - In the series of events "Vietnam Forestry - 75 years of formation and development" jointly organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Provincial People's Committee, on November 30, 2020, the Signboard-attaching Ceremony of the North Central Coast High-Tech Forestry Seedling Center will take place.
The North Central Vietnam High-Tech Forestry Seedling Center Project is one of three important functional sub-areas of the North Central Vietnam High-Tech Forestry Zone, invested by Thien Minh Duc Group.
A big project
High-tech forestry zone in the North Central regionis a large-scale economic development project in the forestry sector of Nghe An province, implemented according to the direction of the Prime Minister in Decision No. 38/2016/QD-TTg dated June 14, 2016 on promulgating a number of policies on forest protection and development and investment in supporting infrastructure, assigning public service tasks to agricultural and forestry companies.
The North Central region includes 6 provinces Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue with a total forest area of 3.1 million hectares, accounting for 21.4% of the forest area in the country; of which Nghe An has a forest and forestry land area of 1.166 million hectares, the largest in the region. Forest resources in Nghe An are extremely rich and diverse. In 0.965 million hectares of forest land, the natural forest area is up to 0.784 million hectares with nearly 2 million bamboo trees, various types of trees and thousands of rare medicinal plants; the planted forest area is 0.212 million hectares, with an estimated reserve of 9.6 million m3, the average annual mining output reaches 1.2 - 1.5 million m3.
Nghe An has a synchronous infrastructure and transportation system including roads, railways, seaports, airports, border gates... connecting with the entire North Central region and the whole country, favorable for economic development in general and the forestry processing and export industry in particular. However, the forestry production sector from seed production, afforestation, intensive forestry, forest exploitation, to wood and non-timber forest product processing industry has not yet developed to form a value chain commensurate with its advantages and potential.
Exported wood products are mainly in raw form, through many intermediaries, without deep processing products, without creating a brand, not competitive enough in domestic and foreign markets, so the economic efficiency is not high. The provinces in the region are also in a similar situation, investment in developing the wood processing and non-timber forest products sector is still fragmented and spontaneous, not really focusing on applying new science and technology, high technology in production, especially lacking connectivity between provinces in the region.
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| Overall perspective of the North Central Coast High-Tech Forestry Seed Production Center. Project perspective image. |
The project of the North Central region high-tech forestry zone was born in this context. Accordingly, the North Central region high-tech forestry zone is divided into 3 functional sub-zones, including: High-tech forestry seedling production center and the testing, demonstration, intensive forest planting, and planting of medicinal plants for non-timber forest products; High-tech wood and non-timber forest product processing production zone with a specialized and specialized processing system of closed stages according to the product chain, producing valuable and competitive products; wood industry accessories supplied to wood processing factories; Trading floor, combined with exhibition to introduce raw wood and processed products from wood and non-timber forest products, is a place to promote the trade of wood products and non-timber forest products of the zone to domestic and foreign markets. In addition, there are also auxiliary areas such as seedling forest systems, satellite nursery systems and demonstration testing areas, replicating high-quality intensive forest planting models...
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| Perspective of project items of the North Central Coast High-tech Forestry Seed Production Center. Project perspective image. |
The objective of the project is to promote the development of the forestry sector in a modern direction, applying high technology in the production value chain; developing sustainable forestry in terms of economy, society and environment. By 2025, the wood and non-timber forest products processing industry will become a driving economic sector in production and export of the entire North Central region in general and Nghe An province in particular. Build Nghe An into a major wood production, processing and export center in the North Central region and the Central region. Strive to bring the export turnover of wood and forest products by 2025 of the North Central region to about 2 billion USD, aiming to reach about 3 billion USD by 2035, contributing to achieving the target of the export turnover of wood and non-timber forest products of the whole country by 2025 reaching from 18 to 20 billion USD.
Realizing a desire
Contribute to realizing the Project of High-tech Forestry Zone in the North Central region,Thien Minh Duc GroupWith the head of the Board of Directors, Chu Thi Thanh, quickly got involved with the "North Central Vietnam High-Tech Forestry Seedling Center Project - DKC". On January 10, 2020, Thien Minh Duc Group was approved by the People's Committee of Nghe An province for investment policy in Decision No. 104/QD-UBND.
According to the representative of Thien Minh Duc Group, plant varieties have long been recognized as a key factor in improving productivity, quality and increasing the value of planted forests and are the first link in the value chain. In the system of technical solutions for intensive cultivation to increase the productivity of planted forests, plant varieties are the first important link that determines the value of planted forests. At the same time, tracing the origin from the seed stage in the value chain is considered a breakthrough to increase value in the product export chain.
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| Chairwoman of Thien Minh Duc Group - Ms. Chu Thi Thanh visited the Tissue Culture Room of the Forestry Research and Development Institute of Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry. Photo: PV |
The total area of planted forests in Nghe An province alone accounts for 208,714 hectares, of which acacia and eucalyptus plantations are estimated at 150,075 hectares. Annually, the demand for acacia and eucalyptus seedlings for forest planting is estimated at 60 million seedlings/year. If the demand for the entire North Central region is calculated, it is estimated at about 200 million seedlings for forest planting each year.
However, the source of high-quality forest seedlings is still very limited in both scale and quality. In Nghe An, there are currently only 24 units registered to produce and trade forestry seedlings; in addition, there are a number of small-scale household nurseries. The production capacity of all kinds of seedlings is about 40-45 million trees/year. The number of seedlings with certificates of origin is only 15-20 million trees. Due to the lack of supply and high-quality seedlings, most of the seedlings used for forest planting by local people are of low quality and of unclear origin.
These are limitations that have a negative impact on the construction of planted forest areas that do not guarantee the granting of sustainable forest certification according to international regulations. The consequences of low quality seed sources lead to wood quality that does not meet high standards for making wooden furniture for the export wood processing industry, but only stops at providing low-value wood chips.
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| The high-tech nursery garden belongs to the North Central Vietnam High-tech Forestry Seed Center in Nghi Lam commune, Nghi Loc district. Photo: Trung Hoa |
From the above situation, in order to meet the goal of developing the forestry industry in the coming time and in the long term to meet the standards for exporting wood and non-timber forest products as set out in Directive 08/CT-TTg dated March 28, 2019 of the Prime Minister, Thien Minh Duc Group has researched and proposed the People's Committee of Nghe An province to approve the investment in implementing the project of the North Central Coast High-tech Forestry Seed Production Center.
With a total investment of VND 251,565 billion (100% of the investor's capital), the Center has a capacity of 1 million parent seedlings for each cutting exploitation cycle of up to 3 years; 20 million high-quality seedlings/year by tissue culture method; 100 million high-quality seedlings by cutting method and other advanced methods.
On the total project area of 48.57 hectares, the Center will have main items and works including: 3-storey office building (1,000m2); 1-storey dining room (500m2); 3-storey staff dormitory (500m2); Tissue culture area, 3-storey seed laboratory (5,000m2); High-tech nursery, 1-storey automatic dome (10,000m2); 1-storey super light potting workshop (5,000m2); 1-storey warehouse for storing raw materials, chemicals and supplies (5,000m2); Auxiliary works, power station, parking lot (1,000m2); Roads, sports fields, landscapes, trees (72,000m2; construction density about 40%).
The Center's forestry category covers an area of 388,800m2, including: Special forest seed garden, area 198,800m2; The parent seed garden stores genetic resources, area 110,000m2; Area for testing varieties and combining variety demonstration, area 80,000m2.
The project's objective is to provide seedlings to serve the needs of afforestation in Nghe An province and neighboring provinces, and to supply original seed sources for satellite nurseries in the region. Provide services to transfer equipment and advanced technology in forestry seed production, train and transfer forestry seed production techniques to business units; provide services for sightseeing, study, and application of new science and technology.
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| Area for testing varieties and combining demonstration of high-quality varieties. Photo: Trung Hoa |
When asked why Thien Minh Duc Group has made a move to a completely new production and business field, which is to build a forestry seedling center? Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Group, Ms. Chu Thi Thanh shared: "There are many reasons for Thien Minh Duc Group's decision to invest in the forestry sector, of which the Seedling Center is an important component. Firstly, we want to fully exploit the potential of the natural conditions of Nghe An province in particular and the North Central region in general. Secondly, the Group wants to create a stable livelihood for farmers, limit the situation of working abroad and brain drain, thereby contributing to improving the material and spiritual life of people in the area.
Moreover, the application of technology is now an inevitable development trend, aiming to create new steps in production and business, creating a basis for rapidly transforming the country's forestry and agriculture towards industrialization and modernization. The high-tech seed center is expected by Thien Minh Duc Group to contribute to the region's supply of high-quality and high-yield seeds, contributing to the shift in crop structure, initially significantly changing the forestry industry in Nghe An province, and being a typical model for widespread development in the North Central region...".
