Switch to growing areca?

For nearly a month, the price of areca nuts has skyrocketed, so many people compare them to 'areca nuts as expensive as gold'. Traders are searching for areca nuts to export to China, causing many people to consider cutting down other trees to plant areca nuts.

Hearing the story of a farmer in Tu Ky who was planning to abandon bananas and plant areca nuts made me worried. The reason he gave to convince his wife was that China has a large demand for purchasing areca nuts, so planting areca nuts would be many times more profitable than planting bananas or other fruit trees. And areca nuts do not require much care, just plant and harvest. Many people in the village are also looking to buy areca nuts to plant instead of banana trees. Hearing that, his wife even persuaded her younger sister to abandon bananas and plant areca nuts.

The story of 'cut - plant - plant - cut' is no longer strange to many farmers, even those from Hai Duong. There was a time when lychee prices were low and lychee trees did not bring high economic value, so farmers in some places in Thanh Ha rushed to cut down lychee trees and switched to growing guava, kumquat and other vegetables. The fact that farmers were competing to destroy lychee trees at that time caused many local leaders and the agricultural sector headaches. In the middle of the country's famous lychee specialty region, it was really sad that farmers cut down traditional trees.

And then they had to replant when the lychee had a stable output, giving higher economic value. Lychee was not only consumed well domestically but also exported, the Thanh Ha lychee brand was affirmed.

The planning of growing areas is very important. The lesson is clearly seen in Korea and Thailand. In recent years, they have planned specialized growing areas quite systematically. Local authorities and farmers together build brands for their agricultural areas and cultivate professionally in planned areas. Therefore, it is rare for a ginseng growing area to have a few households growing cabbage to make kimchi.

Hai Duong is the rice and vegetable granary of the northern provinces. The province has also built large-scale specialized areas such as: onions and garlic in Kinh Mon; carrots in Nam Sach, Cam Giang; guava, lychee in Thanh Ha; rice areas in Thanh Mien, Binh Giang... Specialized areas create their own brand value. Cultivation in specialized areas not only helps control diseases but also makes it easier to find outlets for products. Agricultural processing enterprises often seek out specialized areas to purchase because of stable output and quality.

Returning to the story of areca nut cultivation, farmers need to calculate and consider carefully. In our country, areca nut is only a food for old women or used for worship and weddings. Recently, China often buys areca nut to make snacks, especially young areca nut. Areca nut chosen by traders to make candy is the young areca nut, small seeds or no seeds, boiled in boiling water, then dried, packed in bags and shipped to China to make candy. This type of candy has a sweet taste like ginger candy, has the effect of preventing sore throat, keeping the body warm, so it is very popular with Chinese people. And the price of areca nut "expensive as gold" is only temporary, because immediately after that, the price of areca nut "dropped" without brakes.

In fact, there have been many times when domestic farmers have been in trouble because of planting trees en masse following the trend when Chinese traders increased their purchases. Areca is not a main crop or a key agricultural product. Hai Duong also does not have a plan for areca growing areas, so people need to consider and calculate carefully before expanding the area of ​​this tree.