Startling warning about macadamia tree

According to macadamia experts, the current area of ​​this tree in Vietnam may have reached 5,000 hectares, not more than 2,000 hectares. However, about 50% of the trees are grown from seeds of unknown origin, posing risks to farmers.

At the discussion: Macadamia from “why” to “how” held on April 14, Mr. Bui Huu Hoa, a successful macadamia farmer in Tan Ha commune, Lam Ha district (Lam Dong) said: In the market, some people do business without conscience, they use fake grafted eyes. In fact, people buy them when they see cheap prices, but grafted trees brought to the field still take 2-2.5 years to be exported.

“People should be very careful with seedlings. In my area, there are many nurseries. Someone took me to visit a macadamia garden and said it had been planted for 5 years without flowering or fruiting,” Mr. Hoa said.

Farmers in Tuy Duc district, Dak Nong district take care of macadamia gardens. Photo: danviet.vn

Macadamia tree planning is very important and according to researchers, the management role of the State and related ministries and branches must be clarified. The above agencies need to develop a plan to develop macadamia effectively, control the quality of seed sources, and determine specifically which provinces and regions are suitable for growing macadamia.

Professor Hoang Hoe, former Director of the Forest Planning and Investigation Institute (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) - a leading expert on macadamia trees, said: Macadamia trees cannot be grown in all regions, they are only suitable for the Central Highlands and the Northwest.

Since bringing this tree to the country more than 20 years ago, Vietnam now has about 1 million trees, covering an area of ​​about 5,000 hectares, almost double the number recently announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. However, according to Professor Hoe, of those 1 million trees, about 50% are grafted trees, the rest are varieties from seeds, with unclear origins.

Dr. Nguyen Tri Ngoc, Director of Thanh Tay Institute for Research and Development of Agricultural and Forestry Technology, said that macadamia can bring high economic value to farmers. However, the target of planting 200,000 or just 10,000 hectares are specific numbers, and there should be no argument about the numbers. The problem is how to produce results.

Dr. Ngoc also said that the first thing is to determine a suitable planting area plan for sustainable management and development. On the other hand, the quality of the tree varieties must be controlled. “Up to 50% of macadamia trees grow from seeds, the quality will be affected, because after 5 years they can flower and bear fruit. Therefore, if the seedlings are not strictly managed, it will be very dangerous when put into production,” Mr. Ngoc warned.

Dr. Tran Vinh - Deputy Director of the Central Highlands Agricultural and Forestry Science Institute affirmed: “The key issue is the seed making and seed management. If the seed source is not strictly managed, it will lead to uncontrolled quality and mixed good and bad seeds. This will greatly affect farmers. In addition, we need to build a standard technical process to bring the highest quality yield to macadamia trees. We need to synchronize right from the planning, seed management, technology transfer, production, processing, export…”.

Regarding seed quality management, Mr. Quach Dai Ninh - Deputy Director of the Forest Development Department (General Department of Forestry) affirmed: "Currently, Vietnam has 10 quality macadamia varieties recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with nearly 500 hectares of macadamia with clear origin assessed to meet the standards for supply to the market. Farmers need to use these varieties".

According to Dr. Tran Vinh, out of the 10 varieties that the institute has researched, 4-5 are suitable for the conditions of the Central Highlands. “Regarding the cultivation method, we find that the intercropping method is very effective, without affecting other plants. Coffee trees like shade, when intercropping macadamia, it creates shade for the coffee trees, and macadamia trees benefit from irrigation water from the coffee trees, making the macadamia trees have a higher rate of flowers and fruit set. We re-evaluate that macadamia can be grown completely in the Central Highlands, intercropping to bring economic efficiency to farmers” - Dr. Vinh said.

According to tienphong.vn/danviet.vn