Find cinnamon trees on cinnamon land

(Baonghean) - I do not know what the name Que Phong district has to do with the cinnamon trees in this land. But Que Phong used to be the capital of cinnamon trees in Western Nghe An; at its peak, the area had about 3,000 hectares of cinnamon. However, due to objective factors, the area of ​​this crop has gradually narrowed.

The Department of Agriculture of Que Phong district has numbered the remaining cinnamon trees in the area. In the photo is a nearly 30-year-old cinnamon tree of Mr. Ha Sy Que's family in Tien Phong commune.

Cinnamon trees in Que Phong district have long been called “Quỳ cinnamon”. Que Phong district was separated from Quy Chau district in 1963, so many products on this land are still associated with the land name and the old Muong name. With the desire to understand more about a type of forest product - an industrial tree that was once famous in the land located in the far Northwest of Nghe An, we went to the remote district of Que Phong…

From Highway 48, at Phu Phuong intersection (Tien Phong commune), our car turned onto Tay Nghe An road to go to Hanh Dich, Dong Van, Thong Thu... which are border communes of Que Phong district. On the road connecting Que Phong district with Thanh Hoa province, we occasionally saw men and women hurriedly carrying acacia wood from the forest onto trucks parked on the side of the road; we also saw many other people setting up tents at the edge of the forest to saw bamboo into pieces, classify them to sell to traders.

Mr. Pham Hoang Mai - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Que Phong district, who accompanied us, said that more than 15 years ago, this route was also a vast cinnamon forest, bustling with buyers and sellers, with a warm, fragrant aroma that filled the whole area. After a while, we finally came across a household living along the road harvesting and peeling cinnamon bark. That was the family of Mr. Sam Van Thanh and Mrs. Ha Thi Xuan in Hiep An village, Thong Thu commune. When we entered the stilt house, the couple were still struggling with more than a dozen cinnamon trees that had just been cut down. Their son and son-in-law also helped their parents peel the cinnamon bark.

Mrs. Ha Thi Xuan in Hiep An village, Thong Thu commune, dries the cinnamon bark that has just been peeled.

It is known that the cinnamon variety that Project 327 previously provided to people for planting was imported from Yen Bai province, not a native variety. So where to find the original Quỳ cinnamon trees? In 2015, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Que Phong district conducted research, survey and statistics on the remaining native Quỳ cinnamon trees. According to the Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the district, the essence of this activity is to preserve the native tree variety, not necessarily to bring economic value because this crop is no longer suitable.

However, we still wanted to see with our own eyes the tree species once known as: "The most cinnamon tree in Quy...". Mr. Thanh said that in 1992, his family participated in planting cinnamon under the 327 Project - greening barren hills. At that time, cinnamon was planted everywhere in the village. Several hills of Mr. Thanh's family were also covered with cinnamon trees. However, over time, the cinnamon area gradually narrowed, until now his family only has about 100 trees left and has also "liquidated" them without planting any more. Mrs. Ha Thi Xuan, Mr. Thanh's wife, said that 1 kg of cinnamon currently costs less than 30,000 VND, and 1 tree can only peel off about 5 kg of bark, while the planting time is up to 9 - 10 years.

Cinnamon tree of Mr. Ha Sy Que's family.

From the border commune of Thong Thu, we followed Tay Nghe An road to return to Tien Phong commune. We reached Long Quang village, asked for Mr. Ha Sy Que's house, a local pointed and said: "Mr. Que's house is close to the road, there is a really big "lame grass" tree there". That is the Thai ethnic people call cinnamon trees "lame grass" and the way the man showed the way made everyone happy. Mr. Que was not at home, his daughter told the guests: "Dad has gone to the commune. He is the commune police chief! There is a lot of work!" But then the cheerful daughter also pressed the phone to contact her father. They spoke to each other in Thai, I could only hear something like "lame grass".

When Mr. Ha Sy Que returned, instead of the usual greeting, he told us: "Oh, I don't sell cinnamon trees. I won't sell them for any money." After listening to our explanation, he laughed loudly and said that last year, someone in the commune came to ask to buy them. In a happy moment, he agreed to sell them and received 3.5 million VND from them. When he returned home, he was extremely remorseful, but his wife and children "fanned him", saying that it was not worth a few million VND to sell a precious tree that he had cared for and protected for so many years. "Luckily, the buyer was near the village, so I had to go to their house and make excuses to get their money back. Luckily, the tree hadn't been cut down yet," Mr. Que shared.

Young cinnamon trees grow around the roots of a cinnamon tree.

Then the host took us out to admire the rare cinnamon tree in Que Phong today. Mr. Ha Sy Que said the tree is about 30m high, with a base circumference of more than 130cm. "Compared to other woody plants, it is nothing, but compared to similar plants, it is the best or second best in Que Phong" - Mr. Pham Hoang Mai said.

This cinnamon tree was found by Mr. Ha Sy Que in the deep forest in 1988. At that time, the Pu Hoat mountainous area still had a lot of cinnamon. And it was normal for people to go into the forest to pick bamboo shoots, collect firewood and find a few trees to plant at home for medicine. The "lame grass" tree was planted by Mr. Que behind his house, on a gently sloping hill. "Every time someone in the family has a stomachache, they go out and pick some cinnamon leaves to chew and it will be cured!" - Mr. Que picked a leaf and boasted.

Unlike the cinnamon varieties of Yen Bai and Quang Nam, the cinnamon trees of Que Phong district have small, long leaves, thick bark, are spicier and more aromatic. The years 1987 - 1993 can be considered the prosperous period of the cinnamon trees. From the native cinnamon variety, it has been widely propagated in many communes. At that time, the whole district had thousands of hectares of cinnamon.

Mr. Le Khac Dong - former Deputy General Director of Hieu River Agriculture and Forestry Company said that during its golden age, Que Phong exported dozens of tons of seeds to Quang Nam province every year. Mr. Dong also said that during this period, cinnamon essential oil was also distilled from branches and leaves for export to the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. Considered a neutral tree, cinnamon trees are able to withstand extreme weather conditions, do not need too much light and grow well when planted in concentrated areas.

A young cinnamon tree.

When the cinnamon acreage development policy reached its peak, Nghe An began importing seeds from Yen Bai province. And this was also the period when the State implemented the 327 Project Program. The introduction of Yen Bai cinnamon variety began to cause the decline of Quy cinnamon variety with proven quality in practice. Besides, from planting to harvesting cinnamon trees takes 10 years, while the value is not high.

This is the reason why the area of ​​this crop has begun to shrink and gradually shrink on the industrial crop map of Nghe An. But what is more concerning is that the native cinnamon tree has also disappeared before the existence of higher value crops such as acacia, rubber... People regret it, remember it, but the need for food and clothing is not a game!

According to incomplete statistics of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Que Phong district, up to now, people in the district still preserve and care for about 25 Quỳ cinnamon trees that are 30 years old or older. Among the 19 trees in Muong Noc commune, there are 5 trees with a diameter of over 30cm, especially Mr. Vi Hai Truyen's family in Na Nga village still preserves and cares for 2 Quỳ cinnamon trees with a diameter of 45cm, equivalent to a rim index of 135cm. In addition, in Chau Kim commune, people are continuing to care for dozens of native "lame grass" trees of smaller size with the desire to preserve the precious tree species of their homeland. That can also be considered a "happy" ending for Quỳ cinnamon trees on Que land.

Dao Tuan