Autumn forest planting: Ensuring quantity and quality

(Baonghean) - Currently, the weather in mountainous and highland districts is rainy, so it is quite favorable for afforestation. Taking advantage of the favorable weather, localities in Nghe An province are urgently speeding up the progress of autumn afforestation, mainly concentrated afforestation, reforestation, and scattered tree planting according to the assigned plan.

Acacia seedlings at the nursery of Yen Thanh Protective Forest Management Board.

Proactive seedlings

This is the peak of the forest planting season, the nurseries of forestry companies, protective forest management boards... have invested to meet the demand for seedlings for localities. At the nursery of Yen Thanh Forest Protection Board these days, people come to get seedlings quite bustlingly. Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh - Deputy Director of Yen Thanh Forest Protection Board said: In previous years, there was often a situation of "burning out" of seedlings. Now, thanks to proactively renovating and expanding the nursery (currently there are 3 nurseries) with an investment of over 1 billion VND, in 2014, the board has proactively produced 1.5 million seedlings of all kinds, ensuring quality, enough to supply for units planting new over 400 hectares of forest of the WB3 Forest Planting Project, protective forests and production forests. In addition, the board also provides seedlings for people planting over 500 hectares of production forests in Yen Thanh district. Identifying the important role of varieties in the success of tree planting, the committee has focused on selecting good quality native and imported varieties such as eucalyptus, acacia auriculiformis, canarium, green lim, lat hoa, and mat... for sowing. Acacia seeds imported from Australia alone have sown nearly 700,000 trees. According to Mr. Anh, normally there are only 4 workers managing 3 nurseries, however, to promptly serve the people with seedlings, we have to hire more than 30 seasonal workers to both turn the pots and select seedlings for customers.

This time in Do Luong is also the peak season for forest planting, people everywhere are flocking to Do Luong Forestry One Member Co., Ltd. to get seedlings. Mr. Tran Nam in Bai Son - Do Luong said: Previously, we got acacia seedlings from family-owned establishments that did not have a registration license. The price of seedlings was cheap but the quality of the trees was not guaranteed, often stunted and slow to grow. Now, getting seedlings from Do Luong Forestry One Member Co., Ltd. is more secure about the quality and if there is a risk with the seedlings, they can still be "guaranteed". It is known that Do Luong Forestry One Member Co., Ltd. has produced over 1.3 million seedlings of all kinds, of which over 70,000 acacia trees imported from Australia, over 50,000 acacia trees "domestic" cuttings, the rest are native trees. Currently, the company has sold over 80,000 seedlings of all kinds, serving to ensure new planting varieties for over 600 hectares of Do Luong forest and some forest areas of neighboring districts. Seedling production here always focuses on quality, is carried out in accordance with regulations, making acceptance reports, checking and issuing certificates for seedling batches before exporting for forest planting, forest growers are assured of the quality of seedlings.

The province currently has 32 organizations and individuals producing and trading in forestry plant varieties with operating licenses. Among them are 10 forestry companies; 19 units are the Forest Protection Management Boards, Youth Volunteer Teams, 1 forestry cooperative and 2 households. Up to now, 25,201,912 seedlings of all kinds have been created, of which forestry units have created 20,819,866 seedlings. Currently, the units are continuing to create seedlings to ensure the autumn forest planting to implement the plan to plant 15,000 hectares of forest. Mr. Nguyen Tien Lam - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said: This year's forest planting season, forestry units have created enough tree seedlings to meet the demand for forest planting in the whole province, preventing the situation of seed shortage or "burnout" of tree seedlings. Organizations and individuals producing seedlings all comply with regulations, prepare acceptance reports, check and issue certificates for seedling batches before exporting them for forest planting. Some major forestry plants are quality-managed according to the chain of custody such as various types of acacia (acacia hybrid cuttings, acacia seeds), eucalyptus.

To improve the quality of plant varieties, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has strengthened inspection and supervision of households and small-scale businesses, paying special attention to the origin of seed lots put into production. It is determined not to allow the use of seed lots of unknown origin. The Forestry sector is focusing on investing in developing high-quality forestry varieties associated with upgrading and repairing seed nurseries at the Forest Protection Management Boards and Forestry LLCs. In addition, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has established regular inspection teams at seed production units. Specifically, checking seed records, seed origin, inventorying nursery work, and evaluating quality before releasing them from the garden. In addition, production technology, preserving original varieties, and propagating by tissue-cutting for raw material plants are also being gradually applied, aiming to provide seed sources that ensure both quantity and quality in the province.

Speed ​​up progress

Mr. Vi Tuan in Bai Xa village (Tam Quang - Tuong Duong) said: In 2014, my family registered to plant 2.2 hectares of forest, but planting in the spring season was not effective due to the dry weather, so from June 20, we prepared all the conditions to focus on planting in the fall season. Up to this point, about 1.8 hectares of forest have been planted, due to the cloudy weather and rain, the trees have initially grown well. According to Mr. Tuan, in recent years, hybrid acacia trees have been difficult to sell, so the family's 2.2 hectares of land are mainly planted with mixed mahogany and lat trees for easy sale later. According to the mechanism, the State will support with capital from Program 30a at 5 million VND/ha of forest planting, although up to this point the program has only been able to provide enough seeds, but people all spend their own money to plant forests. It is known that Bai Xa village has 11 households participating in forest planting with 11.1 hectares, up to now, 10 hectares have been planted, expected to be completed in about 5 days.

Mr. Ho Viet Son - Chairman of Tam Quang Commune People's Committee said: In fact, most of Tam Quang's forest land has been covered with green bare land and hills. In 2014, the district assigned the target of planting 77 hectares of forest. After reviewing, the commune registered to plant 113.2 hectares of forest, mainly in areas with difficult traffic conditions, far from residential areas. Although facing many difficulties such as lack of capital, rugged and complicated terrain, taking advantage of favorable weather, up to now, people have planted over 100 hectares of forest. Of which, many villages have completed planting the assigned area such as Son Ha village planted 22.2 hectares, Tam Bong village over 30 hectares... Besides, people also invested their own capital to plant about 40 hectares along Lam River and streams. Mainly mixed forests are planted according to the standard of 450 lat trees and 595 xoan trees/ha.

Mr. Lo Van Thanh - Deputy Head of Tuong Duong Agriculture Department added: According to the province's target, in 2014 Tuong Duong was assigned to plant over 1,300 hectares of forest, right from the spring crop, the district planted over 30% of the area, due to unfavorable weather, the remaining 70% of the area was concentrated on planting in the autumn crop. Up to this point, the whole district has planted over 1,000 hectares of forest, in which many communes have planted over 90% of the area such as Tam Dinh, Nga My, Xieng My, Yen Hoa... To plant forests effectively and with quality, in addition to implementing well the planning and design work, the communes that plant forests all have 2-3 technical staff from the Agriculture Department and the District Agricultural Extension Station "stationed" at the grassroots level to supervise and guide people on the forest planting process.

In particular, to facilitate the output of raw materials, in the 2014 forest planting season, Tuong Duong mainly planted trees such as xoan and lat. Farmers were advised to apply suitable fertilizers before planting and to strengthen the protection of crops against damage by buffalo and cows. The forest planting area of ​​over 1,300 hectares was supported with 5 million VND/ha from Program 30a.

In Con Cuong district, all communes are urgently focusing on afforestation. According to the province's target, Con Cuong will plant nearly 1,500 hectares of forest, of which 500 hectares are planted under Project 147, the remaining area is planted by local people with their own capital. Up to this point, the district has planted over 1,000 hectares, of which 500 hectares belong to Project 147. The new feature in afforestation this year is that the area planted under Project 147 is mainly imported acacia (Australian acacia) grown by Con Cuong Forestry One Member Co., Ltd. Planting Australian acacia has the advantage of large trees, good prices and easy consumption, while "domestic acacia" is currently difficult to consume, resulting in a loss. According to Ms. Mai Thi Binh - Deputy Head of Agriculture Department of Con Cuong district, to effectively plant Australian acacia (Acacia auriculiformis), the district has instructed people to apply the correct process: For example, the land for planting Acacia auriculiformis needs to be cleared of vegetation around the hole with a diameter of 1 - 1.2 m. In the case of concentrated forest planting, it is best to clear the entire area. The planting hole has a size of 40 x 40 x 40 cm. Fill 2/3 of the hole with a layer of fine topsoil + fertilizer, the amount of fertilizer is 2 - 5 kg of decomposed manure or 0.2 kg of NPK/hole, mix the fertilizer with the topsoil, then fill the hole with the mixture in a raspberry shape to plant the tree. Replant dead trees after 8 - 10 days of planting. Con Cuong is striving to complete the planting of the above area by the end of August 2014.

Up to this point, the province has planted over 9,222 hectares of concentrated forests/15,000 hectares, reaching 61.5% of the assigned plan, and planted 4.3 million trees/5 million trees, reaching 86% of the plan. Of which, enterprises and households have self-funded 6,103 hectares/9,360 hectares, reaching 65.2%. Many districts have achieved the target well, such as Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, Quy Chau, Que Phong, Quy Hop... The difference in this year's forest planting is that the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has directed the planting of increased areas of imported acacia (Australian acacia) to limit acacia chips, and increase large wood acacia to increase economic value per unit area. According to experts, the acacia variety imported from Australia has outstanding advantages: strong, deep roots that keep the soil moist, fast growth rate, large biomass capacity, after a 5-7 year cycle reaching 100-120 cubic meters/ha, does not make the soil infertile, suitable seedling prices, favorable acacia wood consumption market. If acacia wood is processed into household products according to orders, the value can double or triple, thus creating conditions for localities to develop more forest product processing industries. It is expected that by the end of the forest planting season, the whole province will have planted about 6,000 hectares of imported acacia (Australian acacia).

Regarding the investment capital in Decision No. 116/QD-UBND dated January 15, 2014, up to now, the projects have implemented 2,162.9 ha/2,640 ha, reaching 82% of the plan. However, some units have implemented too slowly such as Nam Dan Special-use Forest Management Board (the result of planting special-use forests has only been implemented on 6 ha/50 ha, reaching 12% of the plan). WB3 project has implemented 956.2 ha/1,800 ha of the plan, reaching 53.6%, still at an average level, only Yen Thanh district has achieved the highest rate of 196 ha/280 ha, reaching 70% of the plan, Thanh Chuong district has implemented 215 ha/530 ha, reaching 40.5%.

The current difficulty is that the JICA2 Project alone in 2014 planned to plant 800 hectares of protective forest in the three districts of Tuong Duong, Tan Ky, and Quynh Luu. It has been 7 months since the project's afforestation work has not been implemented. At the Tuong Duong Forest Protection Management Board, the JICA2 Project was implemented on 300 hectares, but 221 hectares in Huoi Pai village, Yen Tinh commune were not contracted by the people. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development directed the Tuong Duong Forest Protection Management Board to review and have a plan to request a change of area, however, the adjusted design results only met 110 hectares/300 hectares, reaching 37%. At the Tan Ky Forest Protection Management Board, some areas in the JICA2 Project's afforestation plan did not meet the project's requirements.

Van Truong