{"id":1501,"date":"2026-08-25T18:49:03","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T09:49:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/?post_type=industry_news&p=1501"},"modified":"2026-08-25T18:49:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T09:49:03","slug":"hue-acacia-farmer","status":"publish","type":"industry_news","link":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/industry_news\/hue-acacia-farmer\/","title":{"rendered":"Acacia alone for 40 years: a Hue farmer is chosen as one of 96 nationwide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do Viet Tuyen (born 1962), a forestry farmer in the Phu Bai area of Hue, was named a '2026 Outstanding Vietnamese Farmer (40 Years of Doi Moi)' on the strength of eight hectares of acacia forest alone. In an honor given to only 96 people nationwide, he made the list not with large-scale fruit orchards or premium aquaculture but with a single focus on short-rotation acacia for paper raw material. For Japanese procurement staff handling timber and pulp, this case is a clue to reading the supply side's design.<\/p>\n

Vietnam is the largest supplier of wood chips for Japanese papermaking, and at the center of that raw material is the acacia Tuyen grows. The unflashy earning method of a single farmer connects to the upstream of Japan's paper.<\/p>\n

Forty years on acacia alone: one of 96 nationwide on eight hectares<\/h2>\n

Tuyen has made his living for 40 years on acacia (keo) afforestation alone. What he produces is not large-diameter timber for furniture but raw-material wood for paper pulp. Rather than felling his eight hectares all at once, he harvests roughly two hectares each year. By staggering, plot by plot, a cycle of felling four years after planting and replanting the cleared land, the setup secures a steady volume of felling and cash income every year.<\/p>\n

This accumulation led in 2026 to the 'Outstanding Vietnamese Farmer (40 Years of Doi Moi)' honor, received by only 96 people nationwide in the field of agriculture and rural development. Central Hue is less a region for high-value crops than one saddled with poor hill land and a path for typhoons. The weight of this award lies in the fact that he single-mindedly refined the acacia rotation on that land.<\/p>\n

Giving up on five-to-seven-year large-diameter timber and felling at four years<\/h2>\n

The reason Tuyen deliberately chooses a short four-year cycle lies in typhoons. If acacia's rotation is extended to five to seven years, the trunks thicken and the unit price rises as large-diameter timber for furniture and plywood. But the taller the trees grow, the more vulnerable they are to toppling, and the danger of a forest being wiped out in a single night during the central region's typhoon season jumps. He does not take this risk, choosing instead to cash in as paper raw material while the trunks are still thin. The price is lower, but it is a decision that lowers the probability of losing several years' investment to a typhoon.<\/p>\n

Even within the same forestry, aims diverge. In Nghe An province, a plan to grow large-diameter timber and understory medicinal plants together in a 618-hectare high-tech forestry zone<\/a> is underway. The north-central design that chases unit price with a long rotation and the Hue design that sheds disaster risk with a short rotation differ in their business premises even with the same acacia. When the procurement side evaluates a producing region, it needs to grasp not only the area and tree species but also the premise of how many years until felling.<\/p>\n

Economics of 80-90 million VND net profit per hectare<\/h2>\n

Tuyen's business figures straightforwardly reflect the economics of raw-material acacia. Sales per hectare are 100-115 million VND, costs such as seedlings, planting and extraction are 15-20 million VND, and the net profit remaining in hand is 80-90 million VND. On the premise of felling two hectares each year, the annual net comes to a level of 160-180 million VND (roughly JPY 910,000-1.03 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Item<\/th>\nPer hectare (VND)<\/th>\nApproximate in yen<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Revenue<\/td>\n100-115 million<\/td>\nAbout JPY 570,000-660,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cost (seedlings, planting, extraction)<\/td>\n15-20 million<\/td>\nAbout JPY 90,000-110,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Net profit<\/td>\n80-90 million<\/td>\nAbout JPY 460,000-510,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Converted approximately at about 175 VND per JPY 1. It varies with the market.<\/small><\/p>\n

He himself says of the market, 'The price of raw-material acacia is relatively stable for now, and it can yield a profit of 80-90 million VND per hectare.' It is not an outstanding return, but it pays back in four years and the price is predictable. The reason raw-material acacia has spread across remote hill land lies in this stability.<\/p>\n

Acacia's outlet: the largest supplier of wood chips to Japan<\/h2>\n

This farmer's earning method is directly linked to Japan. Vietnam is the largest supplier of wood chips to Japan, and Vietnamese product accounts for the mainstay of the chips Japanese paper makers import. The central tree species are the acacia Tuyen grows and low-density eucalyptus. Both are short-rotation afforestation that can be felled in a few years, and low- and mid-grade chips from Southeast Asia have risen to the mainstay of Japan's pulp raw material.<\/p>\n

Tracing the upstream of Japan's paper, cardboard and sanitary products leads to the acacia felled two hectares at a time each year in and around Hue. For procurement staff at Japanese paper makers and trading houses, this supply is not anonymous 'Vietnamese chips' but an aggregation of individual afforestation operations that have calculated typhoon risk and rotation. Whether one can grasp a region's rotation design and the year-to-year variation in typhoon damage determines the stable procurement of chips.<\/p>\n

Practical points for the procurement side to grasp<\/h2>\n