Many forest economic models bring efficiency

(Baonghean) -The afforestation movement associated with economic development has been launched in mountainous areas for many years and is bringing about efficiency, contributing to increasing coverage, preventing soil erosion, helping to combat climate change... and increasing income, associated with hunger eradication and poverty reduction for mountainous people. There have been many good practices, bringing efficiency in many localities in the province.

Meter garden of the elderly in Son Ha village

Son Ha village has 281 households, with over 1,227 people. Son Ha is also the most populous village of Tam Quang commune (Tuong Duong). Living in the mountainous area, the whole village has only 202 hectares of land for rotating crops. As for the area for rice cultivation, each household has only 100 square meters. Faced with that situation, the Elderly Association has boldly pioneered in registering a model of planting meter trees. The reason the elders chose meter trees to build the model is because meter trees are a traditional crop of Son Ha village. Moreover, the local soil and terrain are very suitable for developing this crop. Besides, except for the time when bamboo shoots grow, meter trees can be harvested many times a year.

In 2003, the Elderly Association of Son Ha village launched the movement, and the elders actively participated. Up to now, most families have their own garden. Typically, the family of Mr. Vieng Tien Vinh has over 5 hectares, Mr. Lo Van Lieu has 4 hectares, and Mr. Phan Hung Son has 4 hectares. Although they have their own garden, the elders are all actively taking care of the general model of the association. Ms. Lo Thi Hoan - a member of the association shared: "I am old and cannot do much, I make the Association's garden to make the elders happy. Encouraging children and grandchildren is the main thing."

Meter garden of the Elderly Association of Son Ha village. Photo: D.T

With that spirit of encouragement, from the meter tree, many families in Son Ha village have expanded the area of ​​planting acacia and xoan. In particular, in 2012, with the Government's program 135, any household planting a meter tree or xoan tree will receive a support of 1,000 VND. Thus, the Elderly Association of the village has more confidence to implement the chosen model. Mr. Lo Van Phong - Secretary of the Son Ha village Party Cell said that currently the meter tree is still the main crop of Son Ha village. With an area of ​​about 450 hectares, in 2012, the meter tree brought in an income of nearly 2 billion VND. The elders not only directly contributed to that result but also had great merit in encouraging their children and grandchildren to develop the economy and reduce poverty.

It can be said that, in the specific conditions of the area, with many difficulties in economic development, the Son Ha Village Elderly Association has chosen a good and suitable way. Thereby contributing to the effective implementation of the policy of planting forests instead of slash-and-burn cultivation and gradually changing the awareness of the younger generation in the potential land of Western Nghe An.

Greening the barren hills

Implementing the construction of a new economic zone according to Decision 254 of the People's Committee of Nghe An province, in 1985, 86 households of Nghi Quang commune (Nghi Loc) voluntarily went to Chau Binh commune (Quy Chau district) to settle down and develop the economy. Their new land was Binh Quang village, 5km from National Highway 48A. At that time, the main goal was food production, so they worked hard to cut down old forests to grow upland rice, corn, etc. Soon, the ancient forests and precious woods were gone. After more than 10 years of cutting down forests and leveling hills, Binh Quang people created a vast area of ​​raw materials such as rice and cassava. However, the shrinking forest has caused consequences in agricultural production and the ecological environment. With the advantage of forest land, the State invested and developed forest capital, restored raw material forests, Binh Quang quickly started reforestation. Nowadays, in Binh Quang, every household is racing to plant acacia trees. They hire workers to work the land and plant forests. Today, in Binh Quang, there are nearly 300 hectares of acacia trees from 1 to 5 years old.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Giang, Secretary of the Binh Quang Party Cell, said: "Acacia trees grow very quickly in this area. They can be harvested after only 5 to 7 years of planting. Because acacia trees are now the main raw material for paper mills, now in Binh Quang every household grows acacia trees, on average each household grows 4-5 hectares, some grow dozens of hectares or more like Mr. Nguyen Van Hai who has 20 hectares. In the last crop, his family harvested after deducting expenses and had a profit of 250 million VND. The families of Mr. Vu Duy Hung, Nguyen Minh Tam... each household has 3-10 hectares of acacia trees, 5-7 hectares of raw sugarcane, earning over a hundred million VND each year.

Recalling 8 years ago, from Quynh 2 village (Chau Binh commune) to Binh Quang village, both sides of the road were covered with reeds, occasionally with people living there, but today this whole land is a vast green color of acacia forests, sugarcane forests are competing to grow lushly. Binh Quang land today has changed a lot, from 86 households in 1985 with dilapidated thatched houses, now there are 93 households with 93 tiled houses, no more hungry households, poor households have decreased significantly, annually supplying the sugar factory with over 5,900 tons of sugarcane, people's income is increasingly raised, the indiscriminate deforestation no longer exists, instead the land fund has been covered by planting raw materials, industrial crops and in no time this land will earn hundreds of billions of dong, not only enriching families but also creating a clean environment, contributing to preventing floods and bringing peace to the people.

Dao Tuan - Ngo Hoai An