Remember, about five years ago, I wrote a series of articles about the people in the Central Highlands cut off smallholder rubber trees to grow pepper because then, the price of pepper was at its peak (200-250 thousand VND / kg. ), while the price of rubber is … plummeting without braking!
Chopping rubber, planting pepper
At that time, Mr. Tran Duc Manh (Doan Ket village, Chu Pong commune, Chu Se district, Gia Lai) had 1.6 hectares of pepper, he bought about 2 hectares of rubber in the 7th year to switch to growing pepper. Mr. Manh said: “The price of rubber is too low, I bought it from my neighbor about 2 hectares but cut it down to plant pepper because rubber was not effective, in the immediate future take advantage of rubber trees to support the climbing climbing.”
Pepper once was dubbed the “black gold”, the tree enriched. Photo: Tran Viet
In 2014, Chu Pong commune had about 51 hectares of smallholder rubber plantations, most of which were converted to pepper.
In Gia Lai at that time, some districts which were not traditional places of pepper like Dak Doa and Mang Yang were also cut off rubber by people to plant pepper. Many people think that this is a new land so pepper can grow well and be difficult to be infected. But the reality is not so.
In Dak Lak at that time, the movement of cutting rubber to convert to other crops was also enthusiastically responded by farmers. In 2008, Mr. N.V.H in Ea Sol commune (EaH’leo district) mobilized all financial resources, bought 5 hectares of land to plant rubber, in the hope that by the time the rubber tree for latex would regain capital. When the rubber garden reached the age of shaving, the price of rubber plunged dramatically, the more holes were shaved. So, half of the aforementioned rubber area was cut down to grow pepper. “At the beginning of planting rubber, I did not think that one day the price of rubber would be so miserable. Well had to cut down half of the area to grow more pepper, corn … take short to grow long. “
By the end of 2014, the area of small-scale rubber plantation in Ea H'leo district was about 14,000 hectares, but thousands of hectares were cut down to grow pepper, due to the low rubber price, while the pepper was “throne”.
In Dak Nong, the rubber area in this province has been less and less because people break down to grow pepper. Only in 2015, the whole Dak Nong province had nearly 2,000 hectares of rubber being cut down to replace with pepper. On June 15, 2015, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dak Nong province issued Official Letter No. 808 / SNN-BTVT, advising farmers not to cut rubber to expand pepper area. Regardless, rubber is still tight, and pepper is still massively planted by farmers.
 Now many people are in debt because of death, the price has dropped sharply. Photo: NK |
Statistics of Dak Nong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, by the end of 2015, the whole province had 32,000 hectares of rubber, including 5,970 hectares of state rubber, 3,990 hectares of rubber from private enterprises and 22,300 hectares of rubber. Filling, total area under exploitation is 12,766 ha. Through checking and reviewing, farmers have cut down thousands of hectares of rubber to switch to growing pepper, coffee … concentrated in Dak R'lap, Dak Song, Tuy Duc, Krong No, Chu Jut and scattered districts. Garbage in some other localities …
The billionaire “black gold”
Mr. Hoang Phuoc Binh – Permanent Vice Chairman of Chu Se Pepper Association (Gia Lai), recalled: About 20 years ago, in the “Pepper Kingdom” (the two districts of Chu Se and Chu Puh now) Many people “waved” thanks to pepper. Those are the people who are considered “publicizing the country” for this “Pepper Kingdom”: They seek as far as Binh Duong, Dong Nai to learn how to plant and care, then buy seeds to plant in Chu Se – place the first pepper strings for this fertile basalt land.
Mr. Le Phuoc Tuan, Mr. Tran Duy Thi (Ia Blang commune, Chu Se) are a typical example: At that time, each man planted 5 hectares of pepper for high income, was considered the “King of pepper”. The two men and some other men were dubbed the “King” in this “Kingdom” – not only because of the large area of pepper, high income, but also the pioneers who brought the pepper tree back. Chu Se land that day.
Also in Ia Blang commune, 6 ha of pepper at that time of Mr. Nguyen Van Luyen, harvest shavings, seventy tons of dried seeds every year is a tremendous fortune.
But Hai Kha “King of pepper” in Nhon Hoa town (Chu Pưh district, Gia Lai) is known by many people inside and outside the province: At the time of peak pepper price, his family owns 8 hectares of pepper. lush green lush, annual income to hundreds of tons of dry seeds. He is one of the richest pepper growers in this land of pepper. His pepper farm is filled with visitors, they come from all the pepper growing areas across the country to learn from experience, to buy seeds, and to … see for their eyes …
 Growing pepper in the golden age (Artwork) |
From typical examples such as Mr. Tuan, Mr. Thi, Mr. Kha, and Mr. Luyen … pepper trees have grown and replicated on Chu Se land, then spread to other districts. Kinh people cultivate pepper, ethnic minorities grow pepper, and people from other lands come to settle down or rent land to grow pepper. It is undeniable that: Besides rubber trees and coffee in a golden age, pepper also contributed significantly to changing the face of rural Central Highlands. From the pepper gardens, many farmers became billionaires; many households escaped from poverty and rose to get rich; there are poor ethnic minority households all year round, thanks to pepper gardens, they have been able to drive hunger out of the stilted houses …
Chu Se and Chu Puh five to seven years ago, it was common for farmers to drive a car to visit pepper gardens. I have a friend who owns a car salon in Pleiku city. On the day of the fair, I sat down to drink beer at his car showroom (when the pepper was good season), there were two J'rai middle-aged men who came to look and ask. After being introduced, consulting about the car, about the price, one of the two pickpockets took out fifty million, deposited a deposit for the KIA CAREN (price back then more than 600 million). After completing the procedure, he turned to ask his friend to accompany him: “Did you buy it?”, The friend answered: “I did not bring a deposit”, he picked up his pocket, took out fifty million for you. Deposit to get the car. It's like … going to the market to buy vegetables, weigh meat.
That is the story of the golden pepper era.
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