Nghe An: Making wood processing industry a key economic sector

CREATE OUTPUT STABILITY

Con Cuong is a district with great potential for acacia harvesting; currently the whole district has about 10,000 hectares of acacia, on average people plant over 1,000 hectares each year. Thanks to that, the source of raw materials for paper and plywood production is quite abundant. At the same time, it creates a good source of income for the people, many places have a good income thanks to acacia planting.

Previously, thanks to projects supporting forest planting, many areas in Con Cuong planted acacia trees en masse without proper techniques; on the other hand, Tan Hong Paper Starch Processing Factory stopped operating, leading to difficulties in output when the acacia trees were ready to be harvested, and the situation of selling young acacia trees was common and cheap...

In Nghe An, most of the young forests are being exploited. Photo: Documentary

Mr. Ha Van Man, in Na Duoi village, Mau Duc commune (Con Cuong) shared: Currently, thanks to convenient transportation, when the acacia trees reach harvest age, traders come to buy the whole garden, the family only needs to negotiate the selling price and receive the money, while the traders do the harvesting and transportation. With an additional income of about tens of millions of VND each year from growing acacia, many households in Mau Duc commune have been able to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty.

The advantage in output for Con Cuong acacia is that there are wood chip processing units operating in the area, besides many units from other places also coming to buy acacia from the people.

Wood panel production line at Nghia Dan MDF Wood Factory. Photo: Document

With the establishment of the May MDF Wood Processing Factory in Nghia Dan and the preparation for the construction of a European technology wood processing factory in Anh Son... it can be said that the output for forest growers in Nghe An is increasingly stable. Mr. Nguyen Tien Lam - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said: Along with the system of processing and trading enterprises, Nghe An has synchronously implemented the planning for the development of forest plantation raw material areas, attracting the construction of a number of large-scale wood product processing factories such as: MDF boards, laminated boards, activated carbon, biological pellets...

TO BECOME A LEADING ECONOMIC SECTOR

On average, each year, Nghe An province plants 15,000 - 17,000 hectares of forest, exceeding the rate of forest degradation, bringing the total current planted forest area to over 173,055 hectares, with forest coverage reaching 58%. In the province, the current timber reserves are over 91 million m3; there are over 506 million bamboo trees of various types and thousands of precious medicinal plants.
However, according to general assessment, Nghe An has not yet fully exploited its potential advantages in terms of land resources, forest resources and the province's strategic location to sustainably develop the wood processing industry and non-timber forest products.

Taking care of acacia garden at Yen Thanh Protective Forest Management Board. Photo: Van Truong

The area of ​​unallocated forest and forestry land is still large. The whole province currently has more than 280 hectares of unallocated forest and forestry land, which are being managed by commune-level authorities.

By 2035, Nghe An's wood processing and forestry export industry will become a key industry in the province's production and export, and Nghe An will become one of the provinces with a well-developed and reputable wood processing and forestry industry.

Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee spoke at a recent conference on high-tech forestry development.

Another good news for Nghe An forestry industry is that the province has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for the construction of a high-tech forestry zone. In which: The wood processing industrial zone focuses mainly on processing interior and exterior wood for export and ancillary products for the wood processing industry; The high-quality forestry seed production center provides forestry seeds for the entire North Central region, aiming to improve productivity and quality of planted forests providing raw materials for wood processing factories; The wood material wholesale market is the largest wood supply complex in the North, not only supplying domestic and foreign wood for the wood and furniture industry of Vietnam, but also providing equipment, materials, accessories, and machinery for the wood processing industry, and is also a place to display and organize the Wood Industry Fair for the North Central region.

The production lines of wooden planks and plywood have come into operation, helping Nghe An farmers develop raw material forest plantation. Photo: Document

With its large scale and forest fund, and being located in the center of the Central region, with convenient transportation, this will be the "center" for developing the forest economy in the whole region. However, the province needs to clearly identify key products and spearheads in building a high-tech wood processing industry, in order to have solutions to develop specific raw material sources. At the same time, to attract investment enterprises.

Mr. Ha Cong Tuan - Permanent Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development shared about the policy of building a high-tech forestry zone in Nghe An.

Nghe An has a total land area planned for forestry development of up to 1,160,242.4 hectares, accounting for 71.6% of the total natural area of ​​the province. Currently, the whole province has over 783,699 hectares of land with natural forests, the area without forests is nearly 279,207 hectares.