Vietnam’s bamboo and rattan has not only played an important role in the country’s socio-economic strategy and increased export turnover, but also helped create many jobs for rural and ethnic minority labourers. However, the exhaustion of material sources is hindering the development of enterprises in this sector, forcing them to import materials for production.
Obvious economic efficiency
Bamboo, rattan and neohouzeaua are industrial crops which are popular and abundant in Vietnam, and among non-wood forest products with high economic value. Bamboo, rattan and neohouzeaua are planted in many localities across the country, particularly in northern, north central, central highlands and southeastern provinces. The total area of bamboo and neohouzeaua in Vietnam is nearly 1.4 million hectares, accounting for 10.5 per cent of total forest area, based on statistics of authorities. In actual fact, the area of bamboo and neohouzeaua grown in small plots cannot be calculated. Regarding rattan, Vietnam has about 30 species, including ten with high economic value, under six branches with a majority area distributed and exploited in provinces of Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dong Nai and Quang Nam.
In localities suitable for growing and processing bamboo, rattan and neohouzeaua products, the economic efficiency has increased obviously and locals’ living standards have been improved. For instance, the plantation of luong trees (Dendrocalamus barbatus) in Thanh Hoa province has brought in income for 30 per cent of local households with VND100,000 per day per labourer. The intensive cultivation of glutinous rattan in Thai Binh has also helped growers to earn stable profits of VND60 million-VND90 million per hectare per year after only five years of planting.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam currently has 2,017 craft villages. Of the total, the number of bamboo and rattan craft villages takes the lead with 723, attracting approximate 342,000 labourers. Export turnover of bamboo and rattan products in recent years continued impressive growth, from US$219 million in 2007 to US$224.7 million in 2008. 2010 exports reportedly reach US$300 million worth of products. Vietnamese rattan exports make up 20 per cent of the world market share. Currently, the sector contributes between US$200 million and US$300 million to the country’s total export turnover annually and Vietnam’s bamboo and rattan products are being sold in 120 nations and territories worldwide.
Materials gradually exhausted
Although having many potential and advantages for development, Vietnam’s bamboo and rattan industry is facing many difficulties and challenges, particularly the issue of material shortage. According to the statistics, the sector needs 400-500 million bamboo, neohouzeaua trees and 60,000-80,000 tons of rattan yearly for production to serve domestic consumption and export. Meanwhile, Vietnam imports about 33,000 tons of rattan from regional countries each year to serve the sector. Obviously, Vietnam is facing the serious shortage of bamboo, rattan materials.
Explaining the situation, Mr Nguyen Ngoc Binh, Vice Head of the Forestry Department, said over the past decades the exploitation and export of raw materials occurred without management and planning. As a result, Vietnam’s natural source of bamboo and rattan has gradually become exhausted. Besides, the lack of concentrated material areas with scale of 30,000-50,000 hectares, plus the lack of solutions to preserve bamboo and rattan forests, and overexploitation, all contribute to the degradation of volume and quality.
In order to ensure materials for production, in recent years, Vietnam has paid attention to planning and regenerating bamboo and rattan forests in many ways, such as intensive farming or combination of agriculture and afforestation. However, experts said because the process is in its first phase, the lack of material supplies in Vietnam will continue to be more and more serious. Many firms must import materials to serve production. So far, there is no feasible program to resolve the situation.
Importing materials from foreign countries, mainly from Indonesia, Laos and Cambodia at high prices has pushed prices of finished products on the market 15-20 per cent higher than the original production expense. This is also happening in many export sectors of Vietnam.
In order to encourage farmers to develop concentrated areas of materials, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Hung said the ministry is building priority policies and schemes for the material development for bamboo and rattan to submit to the government for approval in 2011. Under the ministry’s plan, the state will subsidize seeds as well as capital for plantation and protection of bamboo and rattan forests. Growers will benefit 100 per cent of exploited products after having extracted fees in accordance with the state’s rules. Firms and individuals who do business in bamboo and rattan products will be supported with 50 per cent of expenses for research and technology and 30 per cent of production costs if attending projects of material areas.
Apart from strategies and policies from the state and authorized agencies, craft villages and enterprises themselves need to actively grow and develop raw material areas for their production, helping Vietnam’s bamboo and rattan keep its advantages in the domestic market and gradually affirm its position in the global market.
Thien Hai
Vietnamese
