Phập phù cao su Phủ Quỳ

Area has decreased sharply.

Although her family's 0.6-hectare rubber plantation is only in its third year of harvesting, with a long harvesting cycle still ahead, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang in Nghia Hong commune (Nghia Dan district) still decided to cut down the trees and sell the small timber.Rubber plantation"These trees are planted with inferior varieties. Even tapping the entire plantation only yields 30-40kg of latex per day. A few years ago, at the beginning of the season, we could sell it for 7,000-8,000 VND/kg, but then the price gradually dropped, sometimes to 4,000-5,000 VND/kg. We only earn a little over 200,000 VND a day. The income isn't enough to cover labor costs, health expenses, not to mention investment and maintenance," Ms. Hang shared.

Ms. Hang's 0.6-hectare rubber plantation was cut down and replaced with guava trees, even though it was only in its third year of latex harvesting. Photo: Phu Huong

Ms. Hang has reported and requested the commune to allow her to convert the land to guava cultivation; the remaining 1 hectare of rubber trees is under the management of the Co Do State Farm. Although the harvesting cycle will only end at the end of this year, she is practically neglecting it and not harvesting it. "At most, I only get 30-40 kg of latex per day. After cutting them down, I will ask the farm to allow me to switch to guava cultivation, unless I am forced to follow the farm's plan and have to plant rubber trees. It's very discouraging; if I plant a more resistant variety, the yield will be low."plant species"High-yielding crops are often broken or damaged," Ms. Hang shared.

Many rubber plantations in their harvesting cycle are being cut down in Nghia Dan. Photo: Phu Huong

As a "key" rubber-growing area in Nghia Dan district, during the years 2007-2009, when rubber latex prices were high at 14-15 thousand VND/kg, people in Nghia Hong commune massively expanded their rubber plantations; however, currently, the area has shrunk to only 337 hectares.

Mr. Ho Sy Minh, Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, said: For more than ten years now...latex priceThe price has been unstable and fluctuating, at times dropping to only 4,000-5,000 VND/kg, significantly impacting the morale of producers. For the past two years, the price has been more stable, ranging from 7,000-8,000 VND/kg, but due to the laborious harvesting process and low yields, many households have become discouraged, cutting down even orchards that were in their harvesting period and switching to growing other fruit trees in the hope of increasing their income.

According to Mr. Minh, to get a high yield of good quality latex from rubber trees, it is necessary to properly implement technical procedures from planting to caring for them. However, currently, the plantations are not truly accompanying and closely involved with the producers, leaving growers to mostly figure things out on their own.

Mr. Ho Sy Minh, Vice Chairman of the Nghia Hong Commune People's Committee, said: Many households are discouraged and have cut down even their orchards that are in their harvesting period, switching to planting fruit trees in the hope of increasing their income. Photo: Phu Huong

Nearly 10 years after converting their orange orchard to rubber plantation, the family of Ms. Dinh Thi Lan in Hong Truong hamlet, Nghia Hong commune, has finally begun harvesting their first crop. However, their joy was quickly dashed by disappointment.

“The tapping season only lasted six months, ending in December 2022, and the yield was extremely low. Every day, I went tapping from 3-4 am, but the entire 0.5 hectares of rubber trees only yielded 7-8 kg of latex. Moreover, the latex was very diluted and low in content, so the selling price was always lower than other households, usually only 5,000-6,000 VND/kg, sometimes even 3,000-4,000 VND/kg. It was really not worth the effort,” Ms. Lan said dejectedly. After cutting down the trees, her family didn't replant rubber trees but invested over 40 million VND to plant guava trees.

After cutting down their rubber trees, the family of Ms. Dinh Thi Lan in Nghia Hong commune switched to growing guava. Photo: Phu Huong

The practice of people cutting down rubber trees and replacing them with fruit trees such as guava and tangerine, and some orchards, although still in their harvesting cycle, are not regularly tapped for latex, or even neglected, has been occurring in the "rubber capital" of Phu Quy district for many years. According to information from the Nghia Dan District Department of Agriculture, from 2020 to the present, the area of ​​rubber trees in the district has decreased from 1,500 hectares to about 900 hectares.

This situation is not only prevalent in Nghia Dan district, but also quite common in Thai Hoa town.

Solve the planning and investment problems and promote production linkages as soon as possible.

For many years, Phu Quy area has been considered the rubber plantation capital of the province, due to the economic value this crop brings. However, many plantations have now been cut down. Harsh weather conditions, with rubber trees frequently broken or uprooted by storms; many areas using substandard seedlings; and a lack of investment in proper care, resulting in low yields and production, while harvesting is laborious and time-consuming, leading many households to switch to other crops.

According to representatives from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, one reason for this is the lack of close supervision by the farms – the units assigned to manage and develop rubber trees in Phu Quy – in organizing production, training, transferring, and guiding planting techniques for households. Meanwhile, farmers still operate independently, leading to low yield and quality of latex. As a result, many areas, after the latex harvesting cycle ends, have been converted to sugarcane cultivation. Other areas have been converted to fruit tree cultivation even though they are still in the tapping period.

Many rubber plantations in Tay Hieu commune, Thai Hoa town, have been converted to sugarcane cultivation by local people. Photo: Phu Huong

Furthermore, the financial and technical resources of the plantations are both weak and insufficient, thus failing to create a sustainable raw material supply area; the yield and quality of latex do not truly meet requirements; and management and market research have not been given sufficient attention. Purchasing raw materials at low prices is not attractive to producers...

"In reality, rubber plantation areas that receive systematic investment from businesses and have stable product output will develop sustainably and efficiently, and workers will feel secure in their work even when rubber prices fall," said a leader of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The sustainable successes of Nghe An Rubber Investment and Development Joint Stock Company are a prime example. Since receiving investment approval more than 10 years ago, the company has developed over 4,500 hectares of rubber plantations, of which 2,500 hectares are already in production, with an average yield of 1.9 tons/hectare/15-year harvesting cycle; providing stable employment and income, averaging 6.5 million VND/person/month, for hundreds of workers.

Công nhân Công ty cổ phần Đầu tư phát triển cao su Nghệ An khai thác vườn cây ở Thanh Đức, Thanh Chương. Ảnh tư liệu: Phú Hương

Ông Nguyễn Đình Tuấn - Tổng Giám đốc công ty cho biết: Xác định giống là khâu đầu tiên, số 1, nên chất lượng giống cây được ưu tiên hàng đầu; cùng với đó, quá trình chăm sóc luôn tuân thủ nghiêm ngặt quy trình kỹ thuật tập đoàn đưa ra. Nhờ đó, năng suất, chất lượng sản phẩm luôn đảm bảo, vườn cây của đơn vị được đánh giá có chất lượng tốt nhất khu vực miền Trung. Trong kế hoạch của công ty, khi được giao đủ đất để khép kín diện tích theo kế hoạch đã được phê duyệt, sẽ xây dựng nhà máy chế biến ngay tại vùng nguyên liệu, nâng cao giá trị và tăng tính bền vững cho phát triển cây cao su trên đất Nghệ An.

Hiện nay, mỗi năm Việt Nam phải nhập khẩu hàng triệu tấn cao su thiên nhiên phục vụ chế biến. Điều này có nghĩa, ngành cao su đang có đầu ra khá tốt. Nghệ An đặt mục tiêu đến năm 2025 sẽ có 17.000ha cao su. Trước tình trạng diện tích cây cao su ngày càng bị thu hẹp như hiện nay, bài toán quy hoạch, kêu gọi đầu tư, liên kết sản xuất và tìm đầu ra cho sản phẩm cần phải được giải quyết một cách kịp thời và hiệu quả hơn. Nếu không, mục tiêu đó rất khó đạt được.