Developing agarwood craft village in Phuc Trach

Previously, Ms. Vo Thi Nga's family (village 8, Phuc Trach commune) mainly planted agarwood trees to sell raw materials to traders, a small part was used to process into agarwood to serve the needs of the region. However, at that time, production and processing were still manual, small-scale, products were monotonous in design, limited in quantity, so it was difficult to expand the market, mainly depending on outside traders. Income was therefore not stable, the economic value of agarwood trees had not been fully exploited.

The big turning point came in 2022, when the agarwood craft village of Phuc Trach commune was recognized as a traditional craft village. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ms. Nga's family boldly changed the way of doing things: investing in a system of modern machinery and equipment to serve the deep processing stages such as cutting, shaping, molding and refining agarwood essential oil. Thanks to that, the products are increasingly diverse. From agarwood incense, agarwood bracelets, essential oils to handicraft gift products, all meet the tastes of many different customer groups. This is also an important initial step to help her family gradually shift from small-scale production to commodity-oriented development, increasing the economic value of local agarwood trees.

Ms. Vo Thi Nga with the crafted agarwood products

Like Ms. Nga's family, since the agarwood craft village of Phuc Trach commune was recognized as a traditional craft village, Ms. Hoang Huong Lan's family (village 8) has boldly changed their production direction. Previously, the family mainly grew agarwood to sell to traders, the economic value was not high. Thanks to the encouragement of the local government and the desire to improve the quality of their hometown products, Ms. Lan invested in machinery and learned techniques to process agarwood worms into products such as agarwood incense, agarwood bracelets, essential oils, etc. This change helps the family increase their income, contributing to the sustainable development of the traditional craft village.

Ms. Lan said: “When the traditional craft village was recognized, the local government allowed us to visit, learn and organize training courses on processing agarwood. Since then, we have trained workers to work at home and have made many different products. The products not only retain the delicate craftsmanship but also meet consumer tastes, and are favored by markets inside and outside the province. Therefore, income has also increased and we have financial resources to invest in machinery and equipment in production.”

Agarwood products are diverse in design.

In October 2022, the Provincial People's Committee decided to recognize 41 households growing Agarwood trees and processing agarwood in village 8, Phuc Trach commune as a traditional craft village for agarwood processing.

Accordingly, the preservation and promotion of traditional craft villages are of interest. People in the craft village and in the commune pay more attention to passing on the craft, promoting the application of techniques to create agarwood and craft products such as agarwood cones, agarwood pieces, and handicrafts, contributing to the effective development of agarwood trees, becoming a key profession of the locality, bringing high income. From 41 initially recognized households, it has now expanded to 55 households. On average, each household in the agarwood craft village has an income of over 260 million VND/year.

Agarwood trees in Phuc Trach commune are processed into agarwood products.

Mr. Le Nguyen Kien Cuong - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Phuc Trach Commune said: In the coming time, the locality will focus on supporting the agarwood craft village to build a brand development strategy and perfect the identity of its typical products, creating a foundation to reach further in the market. Along with that, the commune will organize sightseeing activities, learn from experiences, encourage people to innovate and be creative in deep processing to improve quality, diversify designs, increase economic value and expand production scale.

Agarwood bracelets are crafted from agarwood trees.

In addition to product development, Phuc Trach also aims to combine the development of craft village tourism with the construction of new rural areas, creating attractive destinations for tourists to visit, experience the process of making agarwood, learn about traditional cultural values and shop for typical local products. This is considered an important direction to preserve and promote the value of craft villages.