Strengthening forestry plant variety management

People of Quai Nua commune (Tuan Giao district) participate in macadamia planting linkage projects in 2023.

Developing and expanding the macadamia growing area through attracting investment enterprises is a major policy and a key content in the agricultural development of Dien Bien province. Currently, the whole province has 13 macadamia growing projects of 11 enterprises and investors approved by the province for investment, with a planting scale of 91,645 hectares. The projects are implemented simultaneously in localities, causing many households to also change the crop structure on the fields from growing traditional trees to growing macadamia. However, when implementing macadamia planting spontaneously, people use varieties floating on the market, of unknown origin, without quality inspection.

For example, in 2022, people in some communes in Nam Po district contacted and bought macadamia seedlings from Dak Lak and Gia Lai provinces to spontaneously plant dozens of hectares. Also in 2022, people in Tat He village (Ang Nua commune, Muong Ang district) participated in a project in association with enterprises to plant macadamia trees. However, when people prepared the land and dug holes to get ready to implement the project, the enterprise did not provide seedlings. Therefore, people in Tat He village spent their own money and contacted to buy seedlings from Dak Lak province to plant in time for the season. Or recently, people in Muong Cha, Muong Nhe, and Nam Po districts have been massively planting cinnamon trees. Currently, the cinnamon area in the province is mainly grown spontaneously by people. Seedlings were purchased by people in the provinces of Yen Bai and Lao Cai.

Ms. Mai Huong, Deputy Head of the Forestry Sub-Department (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development) said: Poor quality seedlings will greatly affect the investment efficiency of forestry projects. People buying seedlings floating on the market themselves has many potential risks. For example, poor quality macadamia seedlings may grow well but produce few fruits, resulting in low economic efficiency. Or like cinnamon, if the quality of the seedlings is not guaranteed, the cinnamon tree will grow well but the essential oil content is low. Therefore, determining the origin and testing the quality of seedlings plays a particularly important role in the implementation process of forestry economic development projects.

At the conference where the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee had a dialogue with farmers, Mr. Nguyen Nhat Tan, Director of the Dien Bien Veterans Cooperative, suggested: "Up to now, the Cooperative has planted more than 15 hectares of macadamia. During the implementation process, the Cooperative has encountered many difficulties in accessing and purchasing quality seeds from establishments that are qualified to produce and trade macadamia seeds." Responding to the farmers' suggestions, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Thanh Do said: Currently, the Provincial People's Committee has assigned the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to manage macadamia seeds in the province. Accordingly, the Department and local authorities are responsible for providing information about qualified seedling production and trading establishments for people, businesses and cooperatives to access.

Regarding the management of agricultural and forestry plant varieties, in recent times, all levels and specialized sectors have basically paid attention to implementation. Regarding macadamia seedlings, currently in the province there is only one unit qualified for production and business. For enterprises implementing macadamia planting projects, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development regularly has plans to inspect the use of seedlings by enterprises and investors. The inspection results show that enterprises all use seedlings that ensure quality according to regulations. Regarding the spontaneous planting of macadamia and cinnamon trees by people, the management of plant varieties faces many difficulties. Every year, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development issues documents to the People's Committees of districts, towns and cities on the management of forestry plant varieties. At the same time, it provides information on a number of forestry plant variety production units that are currently receiving attention from localities for development; Contents related to the use of forestry plant varieties that need to be noted. On that basis, localities notify and advise people to limit risks.

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