Stable income from under-processing
Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong (39 years old, residing in village 1, Phuc Trach commune, Huong Khe district) has been involved in the production and processing of agarwood at Hien Linh Affordable Amorphoon Cooperative (in village 1) for 5 years now.
According to Ms. Phuong, she is currently paid 7 million VND per month. Previously, my family mainly worked in the fields, and life was difficult. In the past few years, thanks to working at this Hien Linh agarwood facility, my family's life has improved," Ms. Phuong shared.
Ms. Phuong is in charge of the machine to punch open holes in large round sedges like peanuts to tie a rope to create a sedge ring worn around the wrist or around the neck that many people often wear with the belief that they will get lucky.
In other departments such as making incense with buds, cards, and thickly chewing on the scene, workers also work meticulously and meticulously and are paid an income of 7 - 10 million VND/month depending on productivity.
Mr. Bui Thuc Chinh - Director of Hien Linh Assengue Cooperative - said that he has been involved in the production and processing of Assengue since 2013; however, the Cooperative was not established until 2021.
Currently, Hien Linh facility employs 7 workers, with an income of 7 million - 10 million VND/person/month.
Not only producing and processing sedge, Hien Linh Cooperative also grows 6 hectares of sedge plants. However, currently, only nearly 1 hectare can be exploited for the production and processing of agarwood.
Therefore, this Cooperative also purchases agarwood plants from the families of workers working at its facility to help ensure a stable source of raw materials.
Hoping to expand the market to develop the craft of manufacturing
Mr. Tran Quoc Khanh - Chairman of Phuc Trach Commune People's Committee - said that currently, nearly 100% of households (with 1,800 households) in Phuc Trach commune grow agarwood trees with a total area of about 350 hectares. Of which, the household grows the most on about 10 hectares.
However, currently the whole commune only has 5 places producing and processing agarwood recognized as OCOP products. If including some households participating in production and processing agarwood, the total number of places is about 20.
Most of the facilities are still small in scale, employing only 3-5 workers. Therefore, there are only about 70 workers participating in the production and processing of agarwood. This number is too small compared to the famous land for growing asparagus with a fairly large area like Phuc Trach, Mr. Khanh shared.
According to Mr. Khanh, the reason why there are still few households and facilities producing and processing agarwood is due to difficult output, lack of large, stable and legitimate partners from the export market.
The Chairman of Phuc Trach Commune People's Committee shared that every week, many container trucks from big cities come to buy raw materials to cut down and transport them, causing concern, even regret.
"I hope that the market for the consumption of agarwood products will be large and stable so that our locality will have more aftershock production and processing facilities established. Thereby creating more jobs and improving people's lives," Mr. Khanh confided.
