Innovation to enhance crop value

In some northern communes of the province, many farmers have proactively exploited natural advantages to increase the value of their crops. Instead of relying on chemicals, they have proactively raised forest ant colonies to protect their macadamia gardens, or used tree leaves to create biological products for application in production, creating products of high economic value. These creative methods contribute to increasing people's income and opening up a direction for green, sustainable agricultural development...

Mr. Hoang Van Quoc, Thanh Thinh commune, raises and releases forest ants, turning them into a "natural army" to help protect the macadamia garden from pests.

On the red soil hillside in Thanh Thinh commune, instead of using pesticides as is commonly done, Mr. Hoang Van Quoc chose a different approach. That is, he brought 7 yellow ant nests from the forest to raise, turning them into a "natural army" to protect the macadamia garden. The ants, which only eat insects, quickly developed in the family's macadamia garden.

Thanks to that, his macadamia garden is always green, the fruit is clean, and almost free of pests. "If there are ants, there is no need to spray pesticides, even biological pesticides. The macadamia fruit is therefore kept clean, and the selling price is also higher," said Mr. Quoc.

The obvious effectiveness has prompted many households in the commune to follow suit. Up to now, Thanh Thinh Home Garden Cooperative has nearly 10 hectares of macadamia, all of which apply the method of raising forest ants to kill pests.

Mr. Vu Nhu Hoi, Vice Chairman of Thanh Thinh Commune People's Committee, said: Farmers have learned to rely on nature to protect crops, both reducing costs and creating clean products. This is a sustainable development direction, and the locality will encourage replication in the coming time.

In Yen Phong commune, Mr. Trieu Ung Lai has been attached to the Aquilaria tree for many years, looking for ways to increase the economic value of this tree. According to him, the biological product he researched is made from many types of forest leaves combined with natural secretions of insects, creating a favorable environment for the tree to form agarwood.

Thanks to that, the dó bầu tree, which had a timber value of only a few million VND, now has many times higher value. Currently, Mr. Lai's family has planted more than 13,000 dó bầu trees on an area of ​​4.5 hectares, and has also cooperated with people from many other communes, bringing the total number to more than 20,000 trees.

Mr. Trieu Ung Lai, Yen Phong commune uses biological products to create a favorable environment for trees to form agarwood.

Through testing, the agarwood essential oil obtained has a clarity and fragrance retention ability superior to other products on the market. Currently, a liter of essential oil costs about 600 million VND, while if processed into agarwood wine, the value is even higher.

The model is still in the testing phase, the output is not much and depends on each tree, but initially it has proven to be clearly economic effective. This is an important basis for continuing research, perfecting techniques and expanding scale in the coming time.

The outstanding common point between the macadamia garden in Thanh Thinh and the Aquilaria trees in Yen Phong is the creativity of the mountain farmers. They know how to take advantage of natural factors to increase the value of the crops.

The “ant armies” or products made from forest leaves are not only creative, but also demonstrate the wisdom and will of farmers. This is also the direction for green, sustainable development of mountainous agriculture and integration with the market.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202509/sang-tao-de-nang-caogia-tricay-trong-fc10a99/