Cassia was planted by the Dao ethnic people in Lao Cai province nearly 50 years ago in some lowland communes in the districts of Bac Ha, Van Ban, Bao Yen and Bao Thang. Up to now, cassia trees have been planted in 100/152 communes, wards and towns in the province with a total area of over 53,300 ha; in which, the key cassia area in the lowland districts is 48,582 ha. Revenue from cassia in the whole province reached about 600 billion VND…
Annually, the average output of the whole Lao Cai is 5,100 tons of dried bark, and 51,000 tons of branches and leaves. This number is expected to increase gradually in the coming years due to an increase in the area of cassia reaching the age of exploitation (by 2030 each year in Lao Cai, about 4,000 ha of cassia will be exploited, not to mention the average thinning output of 24,000 tons/year…).
Through the review and sampling, the content and quality of cassia oil in Lao Cai ranked third in the country. Currently, cassia bark products are processed into products of cassia stick, cassia stick, cassia powder, cassia pipe… but only at the level of an intermediary unit to export preliminary products. The market for cassia bark consumption is mainly India, China…
For cassia essential oil, 85% of the province’s cassia oil production is sold to China, India, Japan… A small part of about 15% of cassia essential oil is consumed domestically. The development of the province’s cassia material area has basically been associated with a system of processing facilities including 9 factories and 1 cooperative. Design capacity of processing facilities ranges from 60-120 tons of cassia essential oil/year/ 1 factory. The province’s annual output of cassia essential oil reaches 350-400 tons of essential oil/year…
However, the current reality of the development of the cassia value chain is not commensurate with the potential and expectations of the province. The area of cassia has grown rapidly, but has not yet spread as planned; Some places planted outside the ecological zone lead to slow growth of cassia, poor quality, and low efficiency. The area of cassia forest that meets the standards of organic cassia accounts for a low percentage…
The main processing is to extract cassia essential oil from branches and leaves, while the greatest value of cassia products is from cassia bark (accounting for 70%) which has not been invested by businesses. Enterprises investing in processing cassia products at present are mainly extracting cassia essential oil from branches and leaves, while the greatest value of cassia products is from cassia bark (accounting for 70%) which has not been noticed by businesses. important investment… The design of cassia products is not beautiful, not meeting the needs of the market, especially the foreign market; There are no leading enterprises in processing cassia products on a large scale. The market for cassia products has not been expanded…
Resolution No. 10-NQ/TU of the Lao Cai Provincial Party Committee on the Strategy for the Development of Commodity Agriculture to 2030, with a Vision to 2050, defining the formation of concentrated cassia-growing areas, towards commodity production, improving high-added value and sustainable development. Focus on developing a chain of organic cassia products bearing the national product brand; gradually reach out to the world market and become the main export agricultural and forestry products; Associating the development of raw material areas with concentrated production according to standards… Focusing on building the Lao Cai cassia brand, by 2025, 30% of cassia products will be recognized as organic. By 2050, over 50% of cassia products will be certified organic and managed on a digital authentication system (QRS).
