Viet Nam News
NAM DINH — Every year ahead of Tet (Lunar New Year), My Tan Commune in Nam Dinh Province is filled with splendid flowers.
The flowers are in full bloom for spring in time for the biggest holiday of the year.
The bright flowers are matched by the smiles on locals’ faces as visitors flock in.
My Tan Commune, the largest flower village in Nam Dinh Province, has about 600 farmers working on more than 200ha. Thanks to rising demand, many have expanded their cultivation areas and can earn VND200-250 million (US$8,500-10,600) per season.
The flowers are the main source of income for local farmers.
My Tan Commune is located by the Hong (Red) River, so the land is fed by the river alluvium. This produces more vivid colours than flowers grown in other areas.
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| Violets are grown by farmers in My Tan Commune. |
About 80 per cent of the flowers grown in the commune are daisies because they are easy to grow. The investment planting is also low. Thanks to fabourable weather conditions this year, daisies are being sold for VND1,500-2,000 ($0.06-0.08) per stem. Daisies could earn farmers from VND25 to 30 million ($1,060-1,280) per sao (360 sq.m), Nguyen Thi Ut, a farmer in Hong Ha 1 Village, said.
Ut’s farm covers 3,000 sq.m. She is one of the few farmers in the village to install electricity and irrigation systems for gladiolies and different types of daisies with ear-catching names such as cuc vang pha le (crystal golden daisy), cuc trang tuyet (snow white daisy) and cuc anh bac (silver daisy).
In Hong Ha 2 Village, making use of the land and experience they have, a lot of farmers have switched to growing lilies.
Nguyen Van Dai, a farmer, said that growing lilies took a lot of effort because farmers had to follow weather conditions.
This year he has 3.6ha of lilies. Each stem will be sold for VND30,000-40,000 ($1.2-1.7). He estimates that profits will reach up to VND150-200 million ($6,300-8,500). — VNS