Focus on developing native forestry trees

(Baonghean) - Currently in Nghe An, the tree species chosen for production forest planting is mainly hybrid acacia (except for some areas with foreign investment). Hybrid acacia has the advantage of being healthy, adaptable to many types of terrain, growing quickly, is a popular raw material for wood chips and paper, easy to consume, has a short business cycle so capital can be recovered quickly; but after harvesting acacia, people have to clean up the site, prepare the land to prepare for a new planting cycle, so the soil quality is getting worse and worse.

If planting large timber trees (production cycle over 10 years), native trees, the time for the product will be longer but the value will be greater. It can be compared that 3 acacia crops will take about 23 - 25 years, along with this period of time, if investing in planting native timber trees of group 3 (common types of wood for making household furniture) such as black star, teak, truong mat, sang le, de, mit, doi, da huong... then the trees will have a diameter of about 20 - 25cm and can be harvested with a reserve equal to or greater than 7-8 year old hybrid acacia trees. If calculating the value, hybrid acacia wood used as raw material for paper or mine pillars has a minimum price of 400,000 - 500,000 VND/m3, group III wood has an average minimum price of 350,000 VND/m3 (according to the minimum price list for calculating resource tax in Decision 23/2013/QD-UBND dated April 23, 2013 of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee). In addition, if planting multi-purpose trees such as resin pine, black canarium, white canarium..., producers will have annual harvests from non-timber forest products (pine resin, canarium resin, canarium fruit...) that can still be higher than from timber exploitation.

Thus, in terms of economics, planting large timber trees, native trees, and multi-purpose trees is at least twice as beneficial as planting hybrid acacia. In terms of the environment, the area of ​​native forest plantations for 25 years is continuously covered by a layer of vegetation and forest canopy, the forest ecosystem develops stably; while hybrid acacia plantations are interrupted through 2 times of clear-cutting, equivalent to 5-6 years of land without enough cover, which not only causes soil erosion and loss of nutrients but also affects climate change. In addition, planting native trees is also meaningful in preserving genetic resources and biodiversity, which is valuable not only in the short term but also in the long term for the country.

From the above practical calculations, it can be affirmed that planting native trees, large timber trees, and long-term multi-purpose trees has double benefits compared to planting hybrid acacia. The biggest difficulty in planting long-term trees is that the waiting time for harvesting products is very long, so producers will not have income from planted forests for a long time. This is too difficult for the poor or those with little capital who have to borrow from banks, so very few households invest in planting native trees.

In our opinion, the development of native tree planting and large timber trees in production forest areas requires the State to have more appropriate policies for planting perennial forestry trees, in order to create sustainability in the forestry sector. Based on the "Forestry restructuring project" approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Decision No. 1565/QD-BNN-TCLN dated July 8, 2013, we would like to propose to the authorities at all levels, the agriculture and rural development sector and related sectors the following issues:

1 -Planning and planning work: Review and supplement the planning for production forests with an appropriate area for planting native trees and large timber trees; develop tasks, targets and annual plans for planting native trees and large timber trees and seriously direct the implementation of the planning and plans.

2 -Regarding native tree varieties: Implement existing policies of the Government and the Provincial People's Committee, promptly build native tree seed forests, initially select and transform suitable seed forests in the locality and issue certificates, creating conditions for seed production and trading establishments and forest growers to have quality seeds and comply with State management regulations.

3 -Regarding policies: In addition to the production forest development policy in Decision 147/2007/QD-TTg and Decision 66/2011/QD-TTg, it is necessary to supplement additional support policies for all areas growing native trees and large timber trees according to each crop business cycle group to reduce difficulties and encourage producers.

4 -Regarding propaganda: Propaganda about the dual benefits of native trees and large timber trees, propaganda about the State's policies and the tasks of all levels, sectors and people regarding planting and protecting native trees on mass media channels.

5 -Regarding agricultural and forestry extension: Strengthen training, education, and guidance for producers on comprehensive knowledge to choose production methods suitable to existing conditions to bring about the highest efficiency, combine agricultural and forestry cultivation by planting native trees, large timber trees interspersed with paper raw materials, annual crops, livestock and services to get short-term income to support long-term income; at the same time, guide farmers to make household production plans and account for short-term, medium-term, and long-term product lines to develop production in a safe and sustainable direction.

Nguyen Thi Ha

(Provincial Agricultural Extension Center)