In order to bring the trees from the nursery to the planting locations, the Board had to hire hundreds of workers to use baskets or cloth bags to “carry” the trees and walk dozens of kilometers through the forest to plant them. Therefore, the people who “plant trees to create forests” of the Thuan Nam Forest Protection and Management Board often jokingly say to each other that “Carrying Thanh That to plant is the job of bees looking for sweet honey.
Up to now, the Thuan Nam Forest Protection Management Board has planted more than 568 hectares of Thanh That tree in 3 communes. Currently, the survival rate of trees is over 90% compared to the original planting density, and in drought seasons the trees still grow and grow well. The height of the tree is 2 – 5m, base diameter 8 – 12cm, canopy diameter 1.2 – 3m.
The arduous journey of growing trees on rocks.
Standing under the forest growing straight on the rocky ground, Mr. Le Xuan Hoa, Head of the Thuan Nam Forest Protection and Management Board, said that after 8 years of trial planting, the Thanh Hoa tree has taken root and grown well after being experimentally planted by the Thuan Nam Forest Protection Management Board. Forests are gradually greening the arid rocky mountainous areas in the south of the province, which previously only saw rocks, opening up opportunities to increase forest cover, and at the same time, contribute to improving the local environment.
Head of the Thuan Nam Forest Protection and Management Board said that the afforestation area under the Thuan Nam Forest Protection and Forestry Management Board has harsh natural conditions with hot and dry weather all year round, poor soil nutrients, strong erosion, thin topsoil, and high soil density. If the ratio of rocks is high, the successful planting of Thanh That tree has contributed to greening the rocky mountain areas.
Planting Astragalus trees also creates underground water, increases forest cover, creates conditions for people to raise livestock under the forest canopy, and opens up new directions in selecting promising tree species for restoration. anise forest in the coastal mountainous areas of Thuan Nam district.
Not only thriving in Thuan Nam, in Vinh Hai commune (Ninh Hai), Nui Chua National Park area, in addition to the typical thorn tree steppe, Nui Chua is now also covered with a green tree.
From the beginning of the forest area in Da Hang village, stretching down to the edge of the sea at Nui Chua, is the deep green color of blue-green trees. This plant is also “chosen for gold” by Nui Chua National Park when planted as a decorative ornamental along the central road from provincial road 702 leading into the stone park.
According to the Binh Thuan Forest Protection Department, up to now, the entire Ninh Thuan province has a total area of afforestation with the Astragalus tree species of about more than 1,200 hectares. Thanh That is present in most forests in Ninh Thuan, especially coastal rocky mountain forests stretching from Thuan Nam district to Nui Chua in Ninh Hai and Thuan Bac districts.
Planting forests on rocks – something that seems difficult, has been successfully implemented in the rocky mountains of Ninh Thuan, opening up opportunities to increase forest cover for this sunny and windy land. And the Qingxia tree with its persistent and resilient vitality has become a tree with the task of resiliently protecting the country of Ninh Thuan.
Thanh That is fighting against the scorching sun and fierce winds of Ninh Thuan. The surrounding grass has burned down, the forest bushes have lost their leaves, but by the strategy of deeply rooting, prioritizing tree trunk development, with little foliage, Thanh That still firmly withstands the drought. Thanh That still radiates a green canopy.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ninh Thuan, with the Thanh That tree, the dry, harsh land in the South of the province is being clearly revived. The successful planting of this tree has contributed to greening rocky mountain areas, increasing forest cover, creating conditions for people to raise livestock under the forest canopy.
At the same time, it opens up new directions in selecting promising tree species for forest restoration in rocky mountain forests and coastal protection forests in Ninh Thuan and for the entire South Central region today.
Ailanthus triphysa (scientific name Ailanthus triphysa), also known as pen tree, belongs to the Simaroubaceae family. This is a large tree, can be up to 30 m tall, has a diameter of 1.2 m, straight round trunk, high branches, gray-brown bark, with a pungent smell…
In Vietnam, trees grow scattered in secondary forests in provinces from North to South, distributed at altitudes from 60 – 1,500 m above sea level.
More fruit trees in the home garden
To cope with unfavorable climatic conditions, since more than 10 years ago, Ninh Thuan has actively converted areas of ineffective rice production land and mixed garden land to planting upland crops and fruit trees combined with the application of agricultural land. Apply science and technology associated with production links to form concentrated commodity production areas of high economic value.
Currently, the area of fruit trees in Ninh Thuan is about 5,951 hectares, concentrated in the districts of Ninh Phuoc, Ninh Son, Thuan Nam and City. Phan Rang – Thap Cham. In addition to grapes – the brand “ambassador” of this land, key fruits that are focused on expanding the area include: apples, green-skinned grapefruit, avocado, mangosteen, rambutan, jackfruit, mango…
Grape – brand “ambassador” of Ninh Thuan land
Thanks to promoting crop conversion, fruit trees have brought in income many times higher than previous rice growing and mixed gardens. With the available advantages of many uncultivated lands in Ninh Thuan, farmers have developed a garden tourism model and found a good direction to sustainably escape poverty and build a more prosperous homeland.
In particular, these fruits are also grown intercropped on hillsides, mountain slopes, etc. Thanks to the implementation of forest protection contracts, afforestation and livelihood development associated with forest protection for community groups. and households contracted to grow fruit trees on hillsides and mountainsides, and raise livestock under the forest canopy have helped people’s income increase significantly. Ethnic people no longer think about having to climb back up the mountain to plant, prune or illegally exploit forest products like before.
Ninh Thuan province currently has over 200,000 hectares of forest and forest land, of which 160.4 thousand hectares of forested land and nearly 40,000 hectares of non-forest land.
To effectively implement forest management and protection, from 2016 up to now, forest owners in Ninh Thuan province have contracted community groups and households to protect forests in localities with area of 52,200 hectares, with support from 300 – 400 thousand VND/year/ha.
With thousands of hectares of forest contracted for protection, people grow many fruit tree varieties such as grapefruit, mangosteen, raise cows… each year earning hundreds of millions of dong, improving their lives. much.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, to improve the efficiency of planted forests, units increase the planting of many types of trees that can adapt to dry climates such as: Trom, Nem, Thanh That, Hybrid Acacia, Ironwood, Cashew and other types of trees. Supporting trees with economic value such as jackfruit, avocado, grapefruit… to cover bare land and bare hills.
According to assessments of the agricultural sector of Ninh Thuan province, converting crops helps to significantly save the amount of irrigation water, reducing by 25 – 30% compared to rice cultivation, limiting the exploitation of underground water and the amount of water used for irrigation. daily needs, drinking water for livestock and storage and regulation for production in the next crop.
