Nghe An farmers earn hundreds of millions of dong from vetiver plants

At this time, peopleQuynh Thang communeQuynh Luu district is speeding up the progress of harvesting vetiver plants, providing raw materials for craft villages and incense-producing villages in and outside the province. Therefore, every day, many traders come to the locality to buy dried vetiver roots, transporting them to consume throughout the provinces and cities.

Quynh Thang commune has over 400 hectares of vetiver trees, the most in the province. Photo: Quang An

The family of Mrs. Ngo Thi Sam in village 7, Quynh Thang commune is currently mobilizing labor to harvest vetiver grown on the hillside garden. Mrs. Sam said that her family grows 2 hectares of vetiver, has now harvested 5 sao, the selling price at home is 45,000 VND/kg dry. The vetiver is grown intensively on the hillside, after digging up the entire root system, cleaning the soil, cutting off all the leaves, leaving the pulp and roots about 15 cm long, then pressing by machine, drying in the sun, packing as it goes to sell to traders.

"If we sell the whole garden of vetiver to traders to harvest themselves, the price will be 8 million VND/sao; but because we have workers, we can harvest, process, and dry it ourselves, so we can sell it for 10 million VND/sao," Ms. Ngo Thi Sam shared.

After being dug up, vetiver is cleaned of soil and dried before being sold to traders. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Le Cong Nghia - owner of the vetiver garden shared: Planting, caring for and harvesting vetiver is not too difficult, but it takes a lot of steps. To plant 1 sao of vetiver, you need to invest about 2 million VND to buy fertilizer, but you don't need to buy seeds, because after harvesting, separate 2 branches from each bush to make seeds for the next crop.

Because they are replanted as they are harvested, the incense trees in Quynh Thang commune can be harvested all year round. However, according to the experience of the people, they only harvest when the price of incense roots is high, and if the price drops, they just leave it as it is, waiting for the market to improve. The strongest consumption is still from November to the end of May, because at this time, craft villages and villages with incense production need a lot of raw materials, of which, incense roots are the main raw material for producing Tet incense.

Dried vetiver is currently priced at 45,000 VND/kg. Photo: Quang An

Mr. Le Van Nga - Chairman of Quynh Thang Commune People's Committee said: Initially, some people dug the trees in the forest to use for making incense, then propagated them in their home gardens. After confirming that the red gravel hill soil here is suitable for incense trees, people expanded the intensive cultivation area, each year higher than the previous year. This year, the area of ​​incense trees in Quynh Thang Commune is about 400 hectares, about 70 hectares higher than a few years ago. This area is the highest compared to other short-term crops in the locality, and it is also the crop that brings the highest income to people today.

"Because people cultivate intensively, the yield reaches 4 tons of dry land/ha. With the current selling price of 45,000 VND/kg, 1 ha earns nearly 170 million VND, while the cost to grow 1 ha of vetiver is about 60 million VND. With a price of 38,000 VND/kg or more, people are excited. Thus, from vetiver, Quynh Thang commune earns tens of billions of VND each year," said Mr. Le Van Nga.

Many households invest in incense presses to shorten drying time. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Because it is the locality with the largest area of ​​vetiver trees in the province, there are 5 traders in the area who specialize in purchasing vetiver trees for people and transporting them to different places for consumption. The output of this product is relatively stable.

Mr. Thuong - a trader said, in the last months of this year, the consumption of vetiver roots is strong, so we buy all the harvested and dried roots. Although the price depends on the market, the price of 40,000 - 45,000 VND/kg has been maintained for many months in Quynh Thang commune.

Not only in Quynh Luu district, vetiver is also grown in some communes of Thanh Chuong district. Mr. Tran Phi Hung - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Thanh Chuong district said that vetiver is grown in many communes, but the most are Thanh Nho, Thanh Duc... with a total area of ​​about 100 hectares.

According to Mr. Tran Dinh Truyen - Chairman of Thanh Nho Commune People's Committee, the commune currently has about 40 hectares of vetiver plants, grown by people in their home gardens and on hillside land. This is a short-term crop, harvested year-round, so many families have a significant source of income. Currently, the selling price of dried vetiver roots locally is under 30,000 VND/kg.

After being dried, vetiver is packed into large bags for traders. Photo: Quang An