Developing the economy under the forest canopy

Growing the Lingzhi mushroom under the canopy of acacia hybrid forest

in Xuan Loc District

With an area of over 73.2 thousand hectares of protection and production forests, the province has great potential for economic development under the forest canopy, but in reality, it has not been exploited effectively. The provincial forestry sector is actively seeking and applying many economic development models under the forest canopy in order to bring many practical benefits in terms of economy and environment, helping to manage and develop forests more sustainably.

The potential is not yet fully exploited

According to the report of the Provincial Forest Protection Department, the total forest area of ​​Dong Nai is 172.7 thousand hectares, including 123.7 thousand hectares of natural forests and 49,000 hectares of planted forests. According to the planning, it is divided into 3 types of forests, including: special-use forests, protection forests and production forests. In which, the province is still implementing the policy of closing all types of natural forests. Particularly, with more than 73.2 thousand hectares of protection forest and production forest, there is a lot of potential for economic development under the forest canopy. In the past time, a number of economic development models under the forest canopy have been implemented by people, such as planting medicinal plants such as Syzygium nervosum, Ming aralia, mint, and turmeric under the forest canopy. However, the economic efficiency has not been as expected.

 Recently, Dong Nai Cultural Nature Reserve has registered with the Department of Science and Technology to carry out the project "Building a model of pilot planting of Eurycoma longifolia". The project has been approved, the unit is carrying out the project, it is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Xuan Loc District Agricultural Service Center organized the pilot planting of 3 initial models with good results such as: growing cashew and medicinal plants such as cinnamon, Stephaniaglabra, cloves, lemongrass combined with additional planting of forest trees such as Hopea odorata, Dipterocarpaceae; planting cashew, forest vegetables in combination with additional planting of forestry trees and the model of cashew and forest bananas in combination with additional planting of forestry trees.

However, the economic development under the forest canopy has not yet attracted the attention of forest owners and planters due to many difficulties such as: there is no suitable model for local plant conditions; lack of water source for irrigation; Investment costs for production are high, the market for the products is not stable.

Mr. Hoang Dinh Long, Director of the Xuan Loc District Protection Forest Management Board, said that the district has more than 10,000 hectares of forest and forestry land, mainly planted forests. In which, more than 4.7 thousand hectares of acacia hybrid forest contracted to more than 2.2 thousand households in Xuan Loc District area. The economic value of forest land in recent years is still low, on average, only about 20-25 million VND per hectare per year. This is a difficult problem that for many years, the Management Board of Xuan Loc District Protection Forest has actively searched and applied many models to both ensure the right land use purpose and ensure both environmental problems and environmental problems, increase income and stabilize the lives of forest growers, but the results have not yet gained as expected.

Growing the Lingzhi mushroom under the canopy of acacia hybrid forest in Xuan Loc District bring high economic value.

Production chain of growing mushrooms under the forest canopy

The Xuan Loc Protection Forest Management Board and THE VOS Ecosystem Company Limited (Dong Thap Province) have just held a signing ceremony for a cooperation contract to grow herbal mushrooms under the forest canopy. THE VOS Ecosystem Co., Ltd. will cooperate with the Xuan Loc Protection Forest Management Board to invest in the project of planting Lingzhi mushrooms under the canopy of acacia hybrid forest with an initial scale of about 230ha. After implementing the project effectively, it will continue to expand the scale to households contracted to plant forests in the district. Households participating in the program will be supported by enterprises in mushroom varieties, cultivation techniques transfer and product consumption.

Mr. Hoang Dinh Long, Director of the Protection Forest Management Board of Xuan Loc District shared, the results of trial planting of Lingzhi mushroom under the forest canopy in the locality initially showed very effective such as: suitable for soil conditions, local weather; make use of the existing forest land; low investment costs but create high value products for the market; increase revenue for forest growers, reduce forest care costs, create jobs for local workers, etc. It is expected that the revenue from Lingzhi mushroom grown under the forest canopy in 8 months will reach about VND200 million per hectare, the profit is VND70 million per hectare, solving the livelihood problem for forest growers and bringing many practical economic and environmental benefits, helping to manage and develop forests more sustainably.

Mr. Tran Thanh Sang, General Director of VOS HARVEST Microbiological Agro-Forestry Company Limited (Xuan Loc District) and Project Development Director of THE VOS Ecosystem Co., Ltd. said that the enterprise realized that planted forests in Vietnam, in particular, with the hybrid acacia tree, which is called the tree of hunger eradication and poverty alleviation, has been exploited until the 5th year of planting. When harvesting planted forest trees too early, forest trees sold as firewood usually have a relatively low price, but when they are left in the 8th year, they can be harvested and sold at a price of 3 times higher than that of wood blocks. The biggest meaning of the model of growing Lingzhi mushroom under the forest canopy helps forest growers have more income to keep the forest longer. Enterprises have implemented this model in many provinces and cities and achieved good results. Lingzhi mushroom grown under the forest canopy is transplanted on acacia hybrid for a much higher yield than the traditional way of growing; Especially, Lingzhi mushroom grown under the forest canopy of the enterprise has been granted a certificate to produce medicinal herbs that are 1.5-2 times higher than that of Lingzhi of the same type in some countries around the world. Lingzhi mushroom grown under the forest canopy is purchased and exported to Japan by businesses. The goal of the project is to expand to people planting forests. Enterprises will provide the variety, transfer techniques, planting technology and buy products from growers.

 Phan Anh