Nghe An farmers in trouble because of falling pine resin prices

People tap rubber latex in Dong Thanh commune, Yen Thanh. Photo: Van Truong

It can be said,pine treesuitable for high mountainous terrain, so this is a suitable crop, bringing high economic efficiency to people in the semi-mountainous districts of Nghe An. The type of pine grown here is mainly horsetail pine, which has the ability to produce good resin, supplying the electronics manufacturing industry. However, in recent years, the price of pine resin has continuously decreased sharply, causing people in Nghe An to only dare to exploit it sparingly, with low economic efficiency.

Mr. Tran Minh in Dong Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district said: The family received a contract for over 2 hectares of pine, normally the price of pine resin is stable at over 38,000 VND/kg, but from 2019 until now, the price of resin has continuously dropped, only 17,000 to 25,000 VND/kg, after calculation, each hectare of pine only reached over 20 million VND, the income is not enough to cover the cost of razors, plastic bags, containers, hiring workers... so we have to exploit sparingly. Because the price of pine resin is too cheap, in Yen Thanh district, many households have converted, cut down pine to plant acacia even though pine trees still produce resin.

A representative of the Yen Thanh District Protective Forest Management Board shared: The Management Board currently has over 500 hectares of pine trees, and has contracted protection and resin exploitation to over 230 households in the form of joint venture cooperation with households. The Forest Management Board invests capital in developing pine trees, while the people take on management and protection. After exploiting resin, the people receive 50% of the profits.

Due to the cheap price of pine resin, many forest areas in Dien Doai commune, Dien Chau are not cared for, and the vegetation grows densely. Photo: Van Truong

The most difficult thing now is still the consumption stage. In previous years, people only needed to exploit resin and traders would come to the place to order. But now the unit has to find sources to consume. Since the beginning of 2019, China has tightened the import of some agricultural products, in which pine resin is not on the list of agricultural products China allows to import, so there was a time when there was a backlog. Therefore, the unit's resin output has decreased, annually exploiting 200 tons, now only reaching 150 tons/ha, people only exploit at a moderate level.

In the districtQuynh Luu,Hoang Mai town, currently has more than 700 hectares of pine forest (managed by the Management Board of Northern Nghe An Protective Forest) in the process of exploiting resin, exported to China and India, with revenue reaching 5-7 billion VND. Every year, this unit exploits over 300 tons, but now due to the difficulty in consuming the output, it only exploits 150 tons/year. The cheap price of pine resin has led to a situation where people are not interested in taking care of many areas of pine forest in Dien Chau, Do Luong..., leaving the ground covered with dense vegetation, with the risk of forest fires.

According to rosin purchasing agents in Nghe An, the reason for the price drop is that rosin exports in the province are all through unofficial channels, while in recent years the Chinese market has been strictly controlled, so goods passing through this "door" have encountered many difficulties. Not to mention that rosin is also exported to India, but due to the Covid-19 epidemic, India has limited its purchases.

Rosin in Nghe An is mainly imported raw so the price is cheap. (Photo taken at the rosin collection facility in Xuan Thanh commune, Yen Thanh). Photo: Van Truong

According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghe An province, the whole province currently has about 30,000 hectares of pine trees, mainly concentrated in the districts of Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen, Do Luong, Dien Chau... Every year, the output of pine resin reaches 2,500-3,000 tons/year, bringing a significant source of income to the people, contributing to stabilizing the lives of tens of thousands of people. Due to the price of pine resin falling too low, the output is only about 1,500 tons of pine resin/year.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Lam - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development added: To find a stable consumption direction for pine resin, Nghe An enterprises need to invest in modern, standard pine resin processing factories, increase the value of pine resin to export to European, Japanese, Korean markets... In the long term, pine trees, if well managed such as care, treatment of vegetation, fire and pest control, will bring high economic efficiency, helping to green bare hills.

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