Planting mixed forest, multi-layered canopy, multiple advantages

Dong Phuc is a highland commune in Ba Be (Bac Kan) district with little rice land and the people’s economy depends heavily on afforestation. In the past, mainly fat trees, acacia trees were planted, the waiting time for the harvest was long and the profitability was therefore not high. Recently, several models of multi-storey, multi-canopy afforestation in combination with interim cultivation of medicinal plants under the canopy have appeared in Dong Phuc Municipality, opening a new direction of development.

Mr. Duong Van Chan’s family of Na Khau Village (Dong Phuc Township) is a pioneer in economic development under the forest canopy here. Mr. Chan led us along the path for more than 1 km and excitedly introduced us: Many years ago chestnut trees and black oaks were planted on the family’s nearly 1.5 ha hilly area, now these two trees have cast a shade and are growing more than 5m high. but it takes almost 10 years to exploit.

“From 2019, the family started growing yellow tea trees under the canopy of chestnut and tangerine trees. This species of tree prefers a cool climate, shady soil and high moisture content, making it very suitable for planting under the forest canopy. The tree is growing well. At present, yellow flower tea has a very high value, with the sale of fresh flowers reaching VND 500,000/kg, so it will be a significant source of income,” said Mr. Chan.

As the yellow flowering tea tree began to form a canopy, it was also the time Mr. Chan thought about what to plant more trees to be short and grow long for a quick harvest.

When the commune adopted the model of planting purple velvet trees under the forest canopy, Mr. Chan immediately followed suit. In 2021, his family planted 30,000 Purple Velvet trees on nearly 1.5 hectares. He said that the purple velvet tree grew very well after more than two years of planting. The characteristics of this plant are that it prefers soils with high humidity and cool climates and is therefore very suitable for planting under the canopy of the forest with many floors. Canopy.

“After a year of planting, the purple velvet tree is harvested, four times a year. About 1 quintal of fresh leaves and dried almost 30 kg of dried leaves can be harvested per year on an area of ​​1,000 square meters. Currently, each kilogram of dried velvet leaves is sold for VND 150-180,000, each hectare can yield nearly VND 60 million profit per year. “It’s a significant source of income for people living in mountainous areas,” Mr. Chan said of purple velvet’s effectiveness.

After the initial success of some households planting purple velvet, Dong Phuc Municipality is now expanding the area of ​​this plant under the forest canopy.

Mr. Hoang Van Tue, chairman of Dong Phuc Commune People’s Committee, said the whole Commune has planted more than 6 hectares, all of which have been harvested. In fact, this tree has good economy, low maintenance, is mainly planted under the canopy of perennial forests, the product is fully used by companies and traders.

“If only forests are planted for timber, the harvest takes from 7 to more than 10 years, depending on the tree species, so people face many economic difficulties. With the purple velvet tree planted under the forest canopy, one hectare brings in nearly VND 60 million per year, which will help households grow short and long and develop forestry. “In addition, this model also helps to reduce the situation of white exploitation. People mainly harvest wood in stages, so the soil erodes less,” Mr. Tue said.

In a mountainous province like Bac Kan, the natural forest area is large, but people cannot create new forests. Therefore, the cultivation of the purple velvet tree is also very suitable, since people have a higher income and are thereby motivated to protect the forest.

Mr. Hoang Van Hung, director of the Bac Kan Agricultural Extension Center, said that with the initial success of the model of planting purple velvet under the forest canopy, the agricultural sector is expanding in area. Priority is given to the buffer zones of special forests where people have very little productive land. In 2021, the entire province has planted 60 hectares, in 2022 another 60 hectares will be planted, and by 2024, about 180 hectares will be planted with purple velvet.

“The purple antler is a medicinal plant that grows naturally in the area, but due to extensive exploitation it is depleted. “The rebirth of the purple velvet tree toward raw material production not only makes economic sense, but also helps enrich the flora and restore the ecological environment of the native forest,” said Mr. Hung.

Exploitation of the “gold mine” under the forest canopy

In fact, it has been confirmed that planting medicinal plants under the forest canopy is very effective. Currently, there are dozens of cooperatives (cooperatives) in Bac Kan Province that successfully grow medicinal plants.

In 2016, Bao Chau Medicinal Plantation and Production Cooperative in Van Lang Township (Na Ri District) focused on the development of numerous medicinal plants such as prickly pear, trichium and giao co lam. When these trees are planted under the forest canopy, they grow quickly and produce high yields and good quality. After many years, it has grown from a small farmer’s cultivation area to dozens of hectares.

With a stable source of raw materials, Bao Chau Pharmaceutical Cooperative has invested in processing machinery into high-quality products whose labels and origins are well-known throughout the country.

At present, the cooperative continues to breed and propagate a number of medicinal plants for the people of the region to participate in planting in order to build a sustainable resource area. The cultivation and processing of medicines gives many members of the cooperative a stable income.

Resolution No. 10 of April 22, 2021 of the Bac Kan Provincial Party Committee on Agriculture and Forestry Development

In the direction of concentrated raw material production, the goal was set to plant 550 hectares of new medicinal plants by 2025, combined with the linking of raw materials and pre-processing and processing areas.

In 2022, Bac Kan Province will plant 237 ha of medicinal plants, mainly hat thu o, yellow flower tea, prickly pear, forest bitter gourd, jiao co lam, three halves, hoang lien, royal maiden, dandelion elder brother. These are mostly plants that grow under the canopy of the forest.

In 2023, the Bac Kan Provincial People’s Committee published Plan No. 69/KH-UBND of February 8, 2023 for the Implementation of the Medicinal Herb Planting Area Development Support Project.

Accordingly, Bac Kan Province supports affiliated cooperatives in the production and consumption of medicines, advises on link building, supports machines and equipment for project implementation, and builds agricultural expansion models. , technical training, seed support.

In Bac Kan, a number of projects on high-efficiency cultivation of medicinal herbs under the forest canopy, such as the “Research, Evaluation, Propagation and Techniques for Cultivation of Stone Ginger from Bac Kan” project, have contributed to the successful preservation and propagation of stone ginger plants . by cell culture method.

The project produced 22,000 tissue culture seedlings and set up a 2-hectare stone ginger cultivation model in Liem Thuy township, Na Ri district. The results show that the model of tissue-cultured seedlings breeding grows well, providing an important basis for the province to consider and promote the expansion of stone ginger cultivation area in the coming years.

In addition, the project “Strengthening Management and Fair Benefit-Sharing for Natural Health Chains in Vietnam” supported by Traffic International in Vietnam, which is being implemented in the four districts of Cho Don and Ba Be, Ngan Son and Na Ri, is also extremely effective. The project has contributed to raising people’s awareness, supporting the economic development of some communities, increasing income through sustainable collection of natural medicinal resources, and initially producing Jiaogulan tea products.

In addition, the project of planting 8 hectares of Ha Tho O, ginseng and banyan tree leaves attached to the canopy of Binh Van (Cho Moi) and Quan Ha (Bach Thong) communities brings good income to the participating households. Concretely, the 4-year-old Ha-Thu tree has a weight of 3-4 kg/root, the harvest rate in the 5th year is estimated at 60-70% of the tree compared to the time of planting.

Bac Kan Province has a forest area of ​​nearly 418,000 ha, which accounts for 86% of the total natural area, the forest cover rate is more than 73% in 2022. There are also nearly 1,200 species of medicinal plants in Bac Kan province, belonging to 190 different plant families. In it there are many rare and valuable species such as three halves, ha thu o, dan ginseng, terroirs, millet blood… This is a rich and diverse source of medicinal herbs that have great value in protection. rational exploitation and development.