Quynh Luu: Opening the way to get rich from vetiver

(Baonghean) - In order to replace ineffective crops on hilly garden land in mountainous communes of Quynh Luu district, in recent years, farmers have proactively planted vetiver. This is considered a suitable crop for high hilly land with limited water resources, easy to grow, easy to care for and brings high economic efficiency.

Mr. Cao Nhat Le's family in Hamlet 8, Quynh Tam Commune, Quynh Luu District started their business on the hilly garden land in the gas station area that served the national defense mission in the past. Because the land was contaminated with gasoline and oil for a long time, it was difficult to cultivate. For many years, only bamboo and eucalyptus trees could withstand it. However, due to the distance from the center, eucalyptus raw materials were cheap because of high transportation costs. After much consideration, he decided to visit many models of garden and hilly areas in many localities and decided to destroy eucalyptus and bamboo trees to invest in experimental planting of vetiver. Although the area was large, over 2.5 hectares, in this first year, he only rented a leveling machine and plowed over 7 sao. According to his calculations, each sao of vetiver cost about 3 million VND. If the vetiver grows well, with a survival rate of over 90% of the area, after 1 year, 300 kg of dry roots can be harvested, earning an income of 12 to 15 million VND. Thus, after deducting expenses, each sao, farmers earn over 10 million VND. For Mr. Le, this is truly a "super profitable" tree for this barren land. He said: "I have both tested and grown seedlings, but I am also very excited that the vetiver seems to like this soil, with a fairly high survival rate, over 95%. Next year, I plan to plant 1.5 hectares in the hill garden to develop the family economy."

Mr. Le takes care of the experimental vetiver planting area.

In Quynh Chau commune, after the mixed forest land and bare hills were allocated to households, people renovated and planted fuel trees for paper production including hybrid acacia, eucalyptus, cajuput, and high-yield pineapple, sugarcane, and cassava. However, because the output of the above-mentioned trees is very unstable, most people have now destroyed them and switched to growing vetiver. This is an easy-to-grow tree, with a proactive source of seeds, a long harvest time, and especially even when harvested, if the price is not good and cannot be sold, people can store it and wait for the price to increase for a long time. This is an outstanding advantage of vetiver compared to other crops such as sugarcane, cassava, or pineapple. Ms. Trinh Thi Ngoan, a resident of Hamlet 1, Quynh Chau commune, Quynh Luu district, said: "Since switching to growing vetiver, my income has been much higher than growing eucalyptus. After deducting expenses, each sao also brings in a profit of 10 million VND."

Currently, along with communes with large areas of growing vetiver such as Quynh Thang, Tan Thang, and the Youth Union Team, localities such as Quynh Tam, Quynh Chau, Quynh Tan, and Tan Son are also gradually expanding the area of ​​this crop. However, to avoid repeating the situation where when output increases, prices are pushed down like sugarcane, pineapple, and high-yield cassava, causing farmers to struggle in a vicious cycle of destroying this crop to plant another and vice versa, localities need to have a reasonable plan for crops; provide specific guidance for farmers so that they do not fall into a passive position and have prices forced down like before. Only then will farmers' income and life improve.

Article and photos:Nguyen Van