This is a daily story of the people of Tan Phuc commune, Lang Chanh district, Thanh Hoa province. For generations, people here have lived mainly on bamboo trees. This type of tree is like an "ATM machine" that supports families and develops the economy...
Growing bamboo to raise 5 children to go to university
The small house of Mr. Vi Hong Nghi's family is nestled in the middle of bamboo forests in Tan Thuy village, Tan Phuc commune, Lang Chanh district. Mr. Nghi is 63 years old this year but has spent more than half of his life attached to bamboo trees.
He said that the land where his family lives is considered the bamboo capital of Thanh Hoa province. Therefore, almost every house here grows bamboo. Bamboo is the livelihood, the main tree for people in the area to make a living and develop the economy.
Mr. Vi Hong Nghi's family (Tan Thuy village, Tan Phuc commune, Lang Chanh district) planted 7 hectares of bamboo forest (Photo: Thanh Tung).
Mr. Nghi's family has 7 hectares of bamboo, this bamboo is a valuable asset of his family, each year generating an income of about 50 million VND.
Although life in the ethnic minority area is still difficult, Mr. Nghi's family is one of the few families in Tan Phuc commune with 5 children in university. He said that to have money to raise 5 children, he and his wife mainly rely on income from bamboo trees.
"In ethnic minority areas, it is difficult to have enough food to eat. Raising 5 children at the same time is even more difficult. Without bamboo trees, I would not be able to send my children to school," Mr. Nghi shared.
Thanks to growing bamboo, Mr. Nghi's family has money to cover their living expenses and send 5 children to university (Photo: Thanh Tung).
Recalling the years of raising his children to study, Mr. Nghi said that this was the most difficult time for his family. There was a time when both children ran out of money to pay tuition and monthly living expenses at the same time. At each time like that, he borrowed money from bamboo buyers, and when the bamboo was harvested, he would gradually pay back the debt.
According to Mr. Nghi, in the most difficult times of life, bamboo trees are the savior. Now his children are all stable and have their own lives. For many years, Mr. Nghi and his wife have continued to cling to the bamboo forest to make a living.
"Having bamboo means having money. When the couple is old and has no job, every time they run out of money to go to the market, they just need to go up the hill and cut down a few bamboo trees to get some money to buy food. In general, bamboo trees are not rich but they solve many problems," said Mr. Nghi.
The spacious house of Mr. Vi Van Quan's family (Photo: Thanh Tung).
Not far from Mr. Nghi's house, the family of Mr. Vi Van Quan (38 years old) is living in a spacious house. Mr. Quan said that the house was built in 2022 with a value of about 400 million VND, part of which was earned from growing bamboo.
"In addition to selling groceries, my family has 1 hectare of bamboo. My wife and I harvest a little each year and gradually save it. Last year, we built a house. Although we didn't have any money, we had bamboo so it was easy to borrow money. I just borrowed money and then gradually paid it back when I harvested the bamboo," Mr. Quan shared.
According to Mr. Quan, not only his family, but also the bamboo trees play a very important role for the local people. "The bamboo trees help us pay for our children's school fees, pay monthly bank interest, and even when there is a funeral or wedding, we only need to cut down a few bamboo trees to have money to go to the funeral," Mr. Quan confided.
People mainly exploit bamboo sporadically to serve daily life (Photo: Thanh Tung).
Although it is the main tree for economic development, in recent years, bamboo trees in Tan Phuc commune in particular and Lang Chanh district in general have not really fully exploited their potential and available advantages.
According to Mr. Le Van Phu, Chairman of Tan Phuc Commune People's Committee, there are currently 2,300 hectares of bamboo in the commune. This is the main tree in economic development, however, exploitation is still fragmented and small-scale, so bamboo is not really a tree to get rich.
"People are exploiting bamboo spontaneously, mainly for daily use. This is also due to low prices, inconvenient bamboo exploitation routes, and a lack of facilities for processing bamboo products. Therefore, bamboo has long been used only to alleviate hunger," said Mr. Phu.
So that bamboo is no longer a "hunger-eradicating" tree
Talking to Dan Tri reporter, Mr. Le Quang Tung, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Lang Chanh district, said that bamboo has been planted since 1960. Currently, the whole district has more than 13,000 hectares of bamboo and bamboo. Of which, it is mainly distributed in the communes of Tan Phuc, Tam Van, Lam Phu, Tri Nang, Giao An, Giao Thien, Dong Luong and Lang Chanh town.
Lang Chanh district has more than 13,000 hectares of bamboo (Photo: Thanh Tung).
Talking about history, Mr. Tung said that bamboo is a native plant. In the past, people planted bamboo to serve daily life such as building houses, making woven products, making water wheels, etc.
"In the plains, rice is the main crop, while in the mountainous districts, there are bamboo, reed and bamboo. These are the plants that sustain people's lives. Not only in Lang Chanh, but also in 11 mountainous districts in Thanh Hoa, people are closely attached to bamboo and reed plants," said Mr. Tung.
According to Mr. Tung, bamboo was once known locally as "green gold". Because the tree is renewable, a bamboo tree can be planted and exploited for 50-60 years, even up to 100 years without much care.
In recent years, bamboo has contributed to improving the economic structure of the agricultural and forestry sector, contributing to increasing the economic proportion of Lang Chanh district. However, the efficiency of bamboo has not been really high.
Mr. Tung said that the main reason is that bamboo exploitation is still scattered, bamboo products are sold mainly in raw, fragmented form. On average, each year, people earn about 9-12 million VND/ha/year.
In Lang Chanh district, there is a bamboo and rattan processing facility that is expected to create a boost in economic development in this locality (Photo: Thanh Tung).
Identifying this as a long-term step, Lang Chanh district is striving to form a raw material production area that is granted sustainable forest certification. "A company specializing in processing bamboo products is being built locally. It is expected that when it officially comes into operation, it will have a consumption capacity of about 1,500 tons/day," Mr. Tung added.
According to Mr. Tung, in recent times, the locality has always wanted bamboo trees to no longer be a hunger-eliminating tree, but to develop in the true sense of the word "green gold" tree.
It is necessary to invest in forestry routes to facilitate the transportation and trading of bamboo, bringing high efficiency (Photo: Thanh Tung).
Mr. Tung proposed a solution: there should be many forestry road systems to meet the infrastructure needs of the bamboo area. In addition, the bamboo species in the area have been planted for too long and are showing signs of aging. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the bamboo species.
In addition, it is necessary to form a close chain of links between growing areas and processing facilities to increase the value of bamboo. At the same time, bamboo products, if expanded to foreign markets, will promote great economic potential.
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