Local farmers harvest cinnamon. (Photo: VNA)
Yen Bai (VNA) – The lives of people in northern Yen Bai province’s Van Yen district have been greatly improved thanks to cinnamon growing.
Cinnamon is a very popular spice product not only in Vietnam but also around the world. It is mainly extracted from the bark of the stem and bank. Essential oil extracted by steam distillation.
Cinnamon is used to treat cardiovascular, respiratory, and digestive symptoms.
In the cosmetic industry, cinnamon can be used to make perfumes and lotions. It is also used as a spice in food processing. It can help stimulate digestion and is used as a flavoring in many fields of production.
With its characteristic aroma and beautiful colour, cinnamon is also used in interior decoration, furniture making, and household appliances. It is favoured by many people.
With the largest area and output in the country, up to 16,000ha, Van Yen district is known as the cinnamon capital of Vietnam.
As one of the "four treasures of oriental medicine" and an indispensable cosmetic and spice ingredient in many dishes, Van Yen cinnamon is considered the best cinnamon variety in Vietnam. It has the second highest essential oil content in Vietnam after Tra My cinnamon.
Drying cinnamon in Yen Bai province. (Photo: VNA)
Since ancient times, cinnamon has been planted by the Dao ethnic minority people in the district. The Dao people believe that when children reach working age, regardless of boy or girl, their parents will guide them on how to grow and care for cinnamon. At the age of 15, parents will let their children take care and harvest a part of their cinnamon growing area.
Thanks to hard work, diligence and the experience of growing cinnamon handed down from their ancestors, young people in the locality have a certain amount of assets when they get married. However, in the past, the harvested cinnamon bark was mainly used by families as gifts for relatives or sold to traders at low prices, so no one considered cinnamon as the main source of income.
Cinnamon has become a key crop with high value in recent years. It has become a precious raw material for production in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and handicraft industries. People here consider cinnamon to be a “gift from heaven.”
Untapped potential
Farmers start harvesting cinnamon in August to provide raw materials for essential oil factories and distilleries. The bark, wood, leaves, and roots of cinnamon are valuable, so cinnamon is considered a multi-benefit crop with high economic value. The prices of cinnamon products on the market are relatively stable.
Yen Bai province now has 50,000 hectares under cinnamon cultivation.
With suitable climate and soil, cinnamon trees here grow and develop well each year. The district exports about 6,000 tonnes of dried cinnamon bark to the domestic and international markets. The annual output of cinnamon leaves is about 63,000 tonnes per year and about 300 tonnes per year of essential oil. The output of cinnamon wood is nearly 51,000 cu.m per year.
Cinnamon can be peeled and collected starting at five years old. The older the trees, the higher the profit they can bring.
As the price of raw materials is very high, people here can earn a good income. For this reason, all communes of the district engage in cinnamon production. They provide materials for processing and auxiliary services for nearly 200 businesses, cooperatives and households in the area.
Seeing its effectiveness, cinnamon is grown in 27 communes across the district. It has become the district’s main crop and brings in over 700 billion VND for local farmers per year. The average income per capita is about 4 million VND annually. This promotes socio-economic development for the locality.
A farmer peels the bark of cinnamon. (Photo: VNA)
In 2011, Van Yen, cinnamon was granted geographical indication protection by the National Office of Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Van Yen cinnamon is one of 39 Vietnamese items that are protected by the European Union under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
The province has developed a plan for safe production of cinnamon towards organic cultivation in key cinnamon growing areas.
In addition to choosing standard varieties of cinnamon with clear origin, special cultivation methods will be applied to ensure the amount of essential oil meets the demand of customers./.
