Glue prices fall, Nghe An farmers still accept early harvest

Glue purchasing points in Tien Thanh and Hung Thanh communes (Yen Thanh). Photo: Van Truong

Along the mountainous road of Tien Thanh commune (Yen Thanh),People are bustling with people loading acacia onto trucks. Mr. Tran Van Minh, owner of an acacia garden in Tien Thanh commune, shared: Currently, his family has 2 hectares of acacia that is more than 3 years old. Before the price dropped, each ton of acacia cost nearly 1.1 million VND, but now it is only sold for 650,000 VND/ton. Even though the price of acacia has dropped, his family still has to harvest young acacia to have money to cover their living expenses.

Mr. Phan Van Vu - Chairman of Tien Thanh Commune People's Committee said: Tien Thanh Commune currently has over 800 hectares of acacia, of which over 300 hectares are harvested annually. Because at the end of the year, family spending needs are high, so people still have to harvest and sell.

The current problem is that people plant acacia trees at high density and cut down and sell acacia trees that are only 3 years old. Exploiting acacia trees that are not old enough leads to many consequences, such as reduced productivity of planted forests, low quality of wood, and low profits.

Buying glue in Yen Thanh district. Photo: Van Truong

Mr. Le Van Hong - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Yen Thanh district shared: The whole Yen Thanh district has over 12,000 hectares of acacia forest, harvesting over 2,000 hectares of acacia annually. Acacia has become a key crop in the development of the forest economy, contributing to changing the lives of farmers in Yen Thanh. Therefore, if the price of acacia continues to decrease, it will cause great damage to farmers.

In the context of low acacia prices, Yen Thanh district directed localities to encourage people not to sell young acacia, only sell acacia when it is old enough to be exploited, and if it is not too difficult, they should preserve the acacia forest.

In the same situation, many farmers in Quy Hop district are also having to sell acacia at a low price. Mr. Vi Minh in Chau Cuong commune shared: With a selling price of nearly 650,000 VND/ton, after deducting exploitation costs, his family earns nearly 40 million VND/ha, which is a small profit but they have to accept selling to have money to spend at the end of the year.

Representative of District People's CommitteeQuy Hopsaid: Currently, Quy Hop district has over 14,000 hectares of raw material forest, annually exploiting 3,000 hectares. With the current low price of acacia, the district hopes to have deep wood processing factories to sign contracts, purchase and consume acacia at stable prices so that people can harvest on time to bring economic efficiency.

Through research with some traders specializing in purchasing acacia wood, it is known that the main export market for wood chips of enterprises in the area is China. However, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, Chinese enterprises are operating at a low level, so the demand for raw materials is low. Some wood chip processing enterprises in the province cannot find new orders, so the purchase of planted forest wood has also decreased, causing the price of acacia to decrease.

One of the glue gathering points waiting for traders to come and buy in Quy Chau district. Photo: Van Truong

Nghe An currently has over 165,000 hectares of raw acacia forests, exploiting over 60,000 hectares annually, while the price of acacia fluctuates, causing disadvantages for growers. Therefore, according to experts, Nghe An needs to have a mechanism to encourage companies and corporations to participate in investing in supporting forest owners and people in growing raw material forests, and consuming products to create a stable, quality source of raw materials, avoiding the situation where farmers are forced to lower prices by traders./.

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