Que Phong district hopes to eliminate poverty from cinnamon trees

Hope in cinnamon

At the end of the year, people in the border commune of Hanh Dich are busy clearing wild plants on the hills to plant cinnamon trees. Mr. Lo Van Hoai's family in Vinh Tien village has just finished planting nearly 4 hectares of cinnamon trees on the hills behind their house. Mr. Hoai excitedly said: The family has planted cinnamon trees for decades, but the quantity is small, only intercropped in the cajuput garden.

This year, the government has a policy to support seedlings, so the family has converted the entire hill area to cinnamon cultivation. As soon as the seedlings are received, the family mobilizes manpower to dig holes and plant them. Following the instructions of the commune agricultural staff, the cinnamon seedlings are stripped of their pots, planted in rows, 2m apart, and each tree is fertilized with a handful of fertilizer. Because the seedlings are only 30cm tall, the family protects them from livestock, and regularly clears away weeds and plants if any trees die.

“Now that the family’s economy is more stable than before, the cinnamon tree will be better cared for and will be harvested and pruned when it is fully mature. It is expected that after 4-5 years, it will be harvested by pruning branches and selling them to traders. Hopefully, the new tree will bring high economic efficiency, helping the family have a stable source of income,” Mr. Lo Van Hoai shared.

Observations show that in Vinh Tien village, many households have 3-4 year old cinnamon gardens that are well protected and cared for. Local people said that previously, the hilly land was mainly planted with acacia and cassava, but realizing that cinnamon trees have higher value, they switched to growing cinnamon.

A local resident said that his family used to grow acacia trees, which only took 5-7 years to harvest, but the investment in seeds, fertilizers, care, etc., especially the cost of opening roads to harvest acacia, was very high. While growing cinnamon, they were supported, and if the cinnamon trees were not yet ready to be harvested, they could still regularly “take short-term to feed long-term” by pruning branches and leaves to sell.

Ms. Lu Thi Thin - Vice Chairman of Hanh Dich Commune People's Committee said: The locality has potential, advantages and is suitable for growing cinnamon trees. In the past, people in the commune have grown this native cinnamon variety and have had a stable income by pruning branches. Currently, Hanh Dich Commune has 147 hectares of cinnamon trees scattered in 6 villages. Compared to growing acacia, cinnamon trees have a higher income. Although acacia trees are harvested once every 5-6 years, they must be replanted afterwards, while cinnamon trees only need to be planted once and can be harvested for decades. When the tree is too big, people harvest the whole tree, traders buy the entire trunk, leaves, branches, roots, so the value is high.

Ms. Lu Thi Thin added that this year the local plan is to plant 61,000 cinnamon trees, equivalent to nearly 30 hectares. By early December, people had received 47,000 seedlings and planted more than 20 hectares. People who plant cinnamon are all supported by the State with seedlings from the National Target Program. "The local government has propagated and instructed people to find solutions to protect cinnamon gardens after planting by making barbed wire fences to prevent livestock from destroying them; at the same time, regularly clearing weeds so that cinnamon trees can grow quickly," Ms. Lu Thi Thin said.

Chau Kim Commune Party Secretary Ha Minh Tuan said that when the area of ​​hybrid acacia trees decreases, it means that the area of ​​Quỳ cinnamon trees increases. This shows that people know how to choose trees with high economic value to invest in and proves that their lives have improved, because only when their lives improve will they have the conditions to invest in long-term crops. Mr. Tuan added: The cinnamon growing area of ​​Chau Kim Commune is nearly 200 hectares and will certainly expand if the price of cinnamon remains stable.

Need a processing plant

According to data from Que Phong district, the area of ​​Quy cinnamon in the district is currently nearly 750 hectares, concentrated in the communes of Chau Kim, Hanh Dich, Nam Giai, Muong Noc, Chau Thon... Most of this cinnamon area was planted many years ago, the tree trunks are tall and large, for a long time people have exploited it by pruning branches, selling to traders, creating a significant source of income.

Mr. Pham Hoang Mai - Director of the Agricultural Service Center of Que Phong district said: From the capital of the sub-project to support production development in the agricultural sector under the National Target Program for the period 2021 - 2025, Que Phong district, along with support for cows, goats, pigs..., cinnamon is one of the main crops to support people to develop production and increase income.

Accordingly, at the end of 2024, the whole district will plant 600,000 cinnamon trees, equivalent to 240 hectares, bringing the total cinnamon area in this locality to nearly 1,000 hectares, becoming a perennial crop expected to be a sustainable poverty alleviation tree for the people. In order to have enough seedlings to supply to localities, since the beginning of 2024, nursery facilities in the district have been cultivating seedlings, which have now met the standards for export to the garden, supplying to local people for planting. After the people have finished planting, the locality will conduct acceptance to directly support the people with a total capital of 2.67 billion VND from the National Target Program.

Mr. Bui Van Hien - Vice Chairman of Que Phong District People's Committee said: The characteristic of the native cinnamon tree is its high essential oil content. Cinnamon is not only a valuable raw material in the pharmaceutical and food processing industry, but cinnamon wood is also good for producing household wooden furniture. As a locality where people mainly depend on forestry, the cinnamon tree is not only a poverty-reducing tree, but also a tree that enriches the ethnic minorities here.

The policy of Que Phong district is to call for businesses to invest in local processing factories, in order to increase the value of cinnamon trees. Up to now, because there has been no processing factory in the district, cinnamon bark products harvested by local people are sold to traders to transport to other places for processing, causing the value of cinnamon products to decrease. Therefore, the locality hopes to have businesses invest in cinnamon processing factories so that local people can feel secure in growing cinnamon.

Que Phong is a border district, one of the poor districts in the country, the poverty rate is still 30.09%. Along with other crops and livestock, the development of cinnamon area is to exploit the potential, advantages, create income to achieve the goal of sustainable poverty reduction.