The northern mountainous province of Lào Cai has pledged to boost sustainable development of the cinnamon value chain by approving a project on cinnamon forest planting for 2021-2030.

Farmers in Bắc Hà District, Lào Cai Province, harvest organic cinnamon for export to India, the Middle East, the EU and Japan. — VNA/VNS Photo by To Nhu
It has also issued a policy to support the development of organic cinnamon certificates in the province for 2021-2025. With over 70 per cent of planted forests in Lào Cai bringing in annual revenue of nearly VNĐ600 billion (US$26.4 million), organic cinnamon is being cultivated as a key export crop in the province. Deputy Director of Lào Cai Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Tô Mạnh Tiến said currently, for cinnamon and cinnamon products, the province had applied the organic concept for only agricultural products but not for forest ones. 
Material areas developed with support from local authorities, factories, and production households but organic cinnamon areas are still small in scale and the high-value market share is also still limited, experts said. The supply chain is not strictly organised, has a weak marketing capacity and less market understanding. Accessing international export markets is still obstacle-laden.The area of organic cinnamon has begun to develop but is still very small, less than 7 per cent of the total area, and the products are not diversified. The supply chain has not been effectively implemented, especially the formation of cooperatives to connect with businesses. To expand organic cinnamon areas, it is required to set up cooperative groups to create a more efficient supply chain.
Lào Cai cinnamon has been directly exported to nine markets: Singapore, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Qatar, Lebanon, Israel and Turkey. However, the main export products are cinnamon bark raw materials and essential oils with low value. Although the province has 3,500ha of organic cinnamon, not many of the products are exported to high standard markets such as the EU and US. Cinnamon is mostly consumed in India, accounting for 81 per cent of the country's market share.
 Source: Vietnamnews