The economic efficiency has been confirmed by the mixed cultivation model with coffee beans with advanced varieties (A16, A38, QN1, OC, 246) implemented by the Son La Provincial Agricultural Advisory Center in collaboration with companies.
Positive results after 10 years of mixed culture
In 2012, Son La Province Agricultural Advisory Center worked with companies to build many models of home garden intensive cultivation of coffee tree macadamia tree with 10 advanced technical varieties of macadamia approved by Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Development recognized in the area of Mai Son and Thuan Chau 2 districts.
Up to now, it has been confirmed that macadamia trees in the province grow well and develop well through two methods of pure planting and mixed cultivation, especially mixed cultivation with coffee, which promises to bring macadamia into the fruit tree group and effectively contribute to socio-economic development, Increasing income for ethnic minorities in Son La province.
After 10 years of piloting mixed crops with coffee, the mixed crop areas gave good results. Picture: Sy Hong.
When we visited Mr. Tran Quoc Ruc’s family, Village 428, Hat Lot Township (Mai Son District), we were allowed to see the model of macadamia infused with coffee, a model of dragon fruit with red pulp, and fruit trees such as mangoes, longan … with a total area of over 10ha.
Mr Ruc said the family was initially assisted by Son La Provincial Agricultural Advisory Center with 300 macadamia trees to mix with 2 hectares of existing coffee in the home garden with a distance of 10 meters between rows and trees of 6 – 7m. After 3 years the tree bears fruit and flowers, and in the fourth year each tree bears an average of 2 to 3 kg. Realizing that macadamia trees are suitable for the soil and climate of Son La province and bring economic benefits from both macadamia trees and coffee trees, the family itself has determined that so far about 10 hectares of medium-sized macadamia trees are pure and pure are mixed with coffee.
The productivity of the mixed crop model is now in its 10th year, each hectare of Mr. Ruc’s family gets about 3 tons of macadamia nuts and 12 tons of fresh coffee. At the current selling price, the family will receive 300 million dongs from macadamia and 170 million dongs from coffee with no reduction in coffee yield compared to growing alone.
Mr. Tran Quoc Ruc said that after 10 years of growing macadamia nuts, he realized that if he continued to sell fresh macadamia nuts without processing, the economic efficiency would be very low, currently only about 100,000 VND/kg fresh nuts when processed sell around 200,000 VND/kg. Therefore, the family has invested in a shelling machine, a seed separator, a dehumidifier, a roasting machine, a vacuum machine for processing dried macadamia nuts with their shells and dried macadamia nuts. The family’s macadamia products have been certified by Son La Province as OCOP products with 3-star standards, helping to add value.
Both macadamia and coffee grow and develop well and produce high yields in catch crops. Picture: Sy Hong.
Ms. Cam Thi Tham, Deputy Director of Son La Provincial Agricultural Advisory Center said: From 2021 to 2023, the center will be a coffee-macadamia mixed cultivation model with a total area of 56 ha through lines A16, A38, QN1, OC, 246 are new lines of technical progress recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with 70 participating households in 2 districts of Thuan Chau and Mai Son. In addition, the center also supports training to raise awareness among participating households, to replicate the model and to support the establishment of a chain link collaborative group of planting, cultivating, processing and consuming macadamia products.
We visited the model of the project carried out at Mr. Ca Van Thinh’s family in Pua Village, Ban Lam Township, Thuan Chau District. Mr. Thinh said that his family was supported by the Provincial Agricultural Extension Center with 1 hectare of macadamia nuts in cover crops with coffee in 2021 at a planting density of 110 trees/ha, the family was supported with 100% seedlings, NPK fertilizers and fertilizers. microbial organic.
The model is very well invested by Mr. Thinh’s family, the entire model is downgraded to terraced bands to limit erosion and coffee is grown in bands; 2-3 coffee plantations are planted with a series of macadamia trees with different green growing lines, the height of the macadamia tree is over 2.5m, rising above the coffee roof.
The mixed macadamia trees deliver very high yields. Picture: Sy Hong.
Mr. Thinh said that in order to reach such a height, the family spends a lot of effort taking care of, pruning and creating a canopy; Invest 10-20 kg of rotting chicken manure and 0.5 kg of NPK fertilizer in each hole before and after planting; in the second year, each hole is fertilized with 5-10 kg of rotting chicken manure and 0.5 kg of NPK fertilizer, 2 kg of micro-organic fertilizer from the project support.
Policy and guidance for the development of macadamia trees
Mr. Tran Dung Tien, deputy director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Son La Province, said: The macadamia tree has been tested and cultivated in the province since 2003. Through surveys and evaluations, Son La is an area with natural conditions. However, in order to develop macadamia trees, some models of macadamia plantations give relatively high yields of fruit.
The macadamia tree is a tree resistant to frost, drought, degraded soils, fewer pests and diseases, able to cover many species of trees (coffee, tea …) that can be developed into a multipurpose forest tree. Contribute to socio-economic development, increase forest area, create jobs and increase people’s income. The area of macadamia trees planted in the province by the end of 2022 is 922.8 ha, of which about 330 ha are more than 5 years old and will be harvested.
Growing macadamia has many meanings as it is a multi-purpose tree with very good hedging value. Picture: Sy Hong.
In order to determine the role and value of macadamia trees, in 2021 the provincial people’s committee led the release of a plan to develop macadamia trees in the province by 2025 and aim for 2030, with a total area targeting the whole world 5,000 ha by 2025, approx. 10,000 ha by 2030.
The development of the macadamia trees in Son La is done in a careful, methodical and planned way; the creation of concentrated raw material areas, the investment in intensive agriculture, the application of science and technology related to the processing, conservation and consumption of facilities, and the attraction of enterprises, enterprises and cooperatives belonging to the Vietnam Macadamia Association have the capacity and Experience of investing in planting, processing and developing products from macadamia trees.
Land objects for the development of macadamia trees in two ways. One is intercropping on land where existing industrial crops are being grown. The province has 17,420 ha of coffee and 5,890 ha of tea, applied cover crops with macadamia trees, the average density is between 124 and 138 trees/ha. The second is to plant only on non-forest areas planned as production forests allocated to the community for inefficient use; the unallocated forest area and the land area temporarily managed by the municipal people’s committee under the planning of production forest areas (empty land, bare hills); unused land, hilly land currently used to grow food crops and low-efficiency industrial equipment.
Son La currently has more than 17,000 hectares of coffee and nearly 6,000 hectares of tea, which represents great potential for co-cropping with macadamia. Picture: Sy Hong.
Therefore, in order to achieve the planned very large macadamia acreage, it requires the support of local authorities at all levels, combined with the support of the state, the participation of people and companies and the Vietnam Macadamia Association with accompanying support guidelines such as:
– Land review, completion of land lease document procedures for macadamia development companies.
– Mobilize and maximize financial and social resources, mainly those invested by enterprises towards concentrated size (enterprises invest in the development of the central raw material area, core material areas) and integrate resources from the state budget into national target programs, sustainable forestry development programs and develop local socio-economic development programs for sustainable development macadamia resource areas.
– To encourage companies to connect with macadamia farmers through a bridge connecting cooperatives and cooperative groups, the Vietnam Macadamia Association is building a concentrated macadamia cultivation area and forming a chain of macadamia products from cultivation to processing and consumption of the products.
Son La continues to take cautious steps in the process of expanding the macadamia area. Picture: Sy Hong.
– Research, application and transfer of advanced and modern technologies in the selection, breeding and testing of macadamia varieties with high yield, quality, resistance to pests and diseases, good adaptation to living conditions. establish a system of macadamia seed sources to ensure quality, provenance and provenance in accordance with regulations; Research and development of standards and regulations on the quality of macadamia products in accordance with international standards and regulations to create a premise for the management and improvement of the quality of macadamia products on site….
In order to attract investment in macadamia development projects, there are 04 companies in the province that have been granted investment guidelines to implement macadamia development investment projects covering 3,617 ha. Including Lien Viet Son La Joint Stock Company 155ha, Muong Va Development Investment Joint Stock Company 200ha, Muong Gion Cooperative 500ha; Lien Viet Son La Macadamia Joint Stock Company 2,762 ha.