Study value chains of luong bamboo industry sector in Thanh Hoa province

Abstract

This research was undertaken to promote Luong-bamboo industry sector in Thanh Hoa province. The results of interviewing stakeholders (managers, forest owners, merchants and processors) and implementing measurement of 60 standard plots with an area of 500 m2/plot in five districts Ngoc Lac, Lang Chanh, Ba Thuoc, Quan Son and Quan Hoa shown that: (i) The revenue from
selling Luong trees ranges from 5.68 to 15.38 million VND per ha/year, (ii) The added value from buying and selling Luong-bamboo cane is 1.25 - 1.66 times, (iii) The Luong-bamboo product chains have different added values. With the bamboo production chains which use Luong-bamboo cane (buying price from 1,000 - 1,250 VND/kg), the production chain of the strand woven Luongbamboo product chain has the highest added value (4.62 - 5.77 times), followed by bamboo charcoal (2.40 - 3.00 times), and the production chain of the completed bamboo chopstick (2.24 - 2.81 times). The production chain of raw chopsticks has the lowest added value (1.04 - 1.31 times). With the production chains which use processed bamboo material, bamboo charcoal using the nodecutting material has the highest added-value (2.50 - 3.39 times), followed by paper pulp using wood shaving by-products which has an added value as high as 3.24 times. The production chain of incense sticks using bamboo slats without cutting has the lowest added-value (1.26 - 1.44 times).