Rattan development in Xiangyang
(Baonghean.vn) With the sponsorship of Oxfam Hong Kong, ethnic minorities in Tuong Duong district are supported with a rattan nursery to increase income, contribute to sustainable poverty reduction, and improve their lives.
Previously, Tuong Duong district had a large source of rattan. However, about 15 years ago, people in the district exhausted the rattan source to sell to rattan processing facilities in and outside the province. The locality did not have a sustainable management policy, which seriously affected the regeneration of rattan trees. Currently, there is not much rattan left in the district, only in the upstream protection forest, remote areas with difficult access, where people can hardly exploit it.
Rattan nursery in Vang Mon village, Yen Hoa commune, Tuong Duong
Researched by experts from the Vietnam Institute for Rural Industry Research and Development with funding from Oxfam Hong Kong in Vietnam, the rattan planting plan is being implemented in four communes of Tuong Duong district: Nga My, Xieng My, Yen Hoa and Yen Thang. These are communes with high poverty rates, and are receiving much attention from the Tuong Duong District People's Committee and organizations to help people improve their lives. Currently, two rattan nurseries, each with an area of 500 m2, are being built in Yen Hoa and Yen Thang communes to provide seedlings at lower prices and with better quality than having to buy them from other provinces for rattan growers in the region. The nurseries will also be a practice site for farmers. Nursery management is assigned to farmers. All fertilizers, seeds and techniques are supported by the project. Participating households are responsible for the materials used to make the trellis using locally available materials and all labor to build the nursery, care for it, and ensure that the seedlings grow well. Nursery households are only allowed to sell seedlings to rattan growers under the project at a maximum price of 70% of the market price of seedlings, under the supervision of the Village Management Board and the Commune People's Committee.
Since joining the rattan nursery with 7 other families in the village, Ms. Vi Thi Thom in Vang Mon village, Yen Hoa commune, Tuong Duong district wakes up early every day to go to the nursery, hoe the soil, break the soil into small pieces, mix it with NPK fertilizer and put it in small plastic bags, make each pot about half a month for rattan seeds and then plant them in the field. Every day, she goes to the stream to fetch water to water the sprouted rattan pots. Ms. Thom shared: Since having a new job, we are very happy, now we have something to do every day and no longer have to stay home and play like before. Poor households really want to participate in growing rattan to improve their lives"...
The rattan nursery in Yen Hoa is the first pilot model of Tuong Duong district. The current local price of rattan is 4,000 VND/kg, so the total annual revenue can reach 42 million VND/ha (averaged for a 20-year cycle), the net income is 32.3 million VND/ha and the net profit is 19.9 million VND/ha. This is also considered a high income compared to some other crops under the same conditions. In addition to the benefits for those who directly grow rattan, the development of rattan in the area also has the effect of supporting and promoting the development of handicrafts, contributing to job creation and income generation for people in rural areas.
Currently, the district has 10 communes with Thai and Kho Mu ethnic households weaving trays and chairs from rattan, sticky rice rattan and bamboo, which is a development of the handicraft and interior decoration industry. It is estimated that the demand for rattan from enterprises in the province in the coming years will be about 3,000 tons/year. Of which, nearly 38% of craft villages nationwide lack rattan materials for production. Currently, domestic rattan output only meets 65% of demand, 35% of rattan must be imported from Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia, ... with a quantity of over 30 thousand tons/year. Thus, the development of rattan cultivation in Tuong Duong aims to partly meet the market's demand for rattan materials.
The rattan growing model will be replicated in localities in the district and is considered a new direction in economic development in this mountainous district.
Thanh Le