The story of exported Calla Lily branches

Da Lat, the land of colorful flowers, is famous for its exported flowers. Among them, there are Calla Lily branches, unique trumpet-shaped flowers, sleeping day and night in the ground, waiting for the day to bloom for flower lovers everywhere.

Calla Lily grown at Bonnie Farm

Bonnie Farm Co., Ltd., a foreign-invested enterprise specializing in growing and exporting flowers in Tram Hanh commune, Da Lat city, has a large Calla Lily garden serving the Japanese market. Mr. Ha Van Manh, Bonnie Farm manager, said that Calla Lily is also called Rum by farmers, and some businesses call it Hoa Vien Hi. This is a type of flower that has a trumpet-shaped shape, diverse colors and good meanings, and is loved by flower lovers. Originating from South Africa, Calla Lily is widely grown in many places around the world , including Da Lat.

Growing Calla Lily is not difficult, but to have standard export flower branches, businesses spend a lot of time and effort. Mr. Ha Van Manh said: “First of all, growing Calla Lily for export requires copyrighted varieties, imported from reputable companies. The life cycle of a Calla tree is very long, very labor-intensive, requiring businesses to invest a lot of effort. In particular, Calla Lily must be grown in greenhouses because the plant is grown from bulbs, if the amount of water is not managed, it will cause the bulbs to rot and the plant to die.”

According to Mr. Ha Van Manh, it can take up to 18 months for a Calla Lily to flower from the time it is planted. First, a tiny tissue culture plant is planted for the first time, and the tissue culture plant produces tubers. After 6 months, the tubers from the standard tissue culture plant are harvested, dug up and left to sleep in a cold storage for 2-4 months. After a dormant period, accumulating enough vitality, the tubers are thawed and planted again for 6 months to produce large tubers. These large tubers are harvested before being grown commercially. This type of tubers is planted after 2 months to start harvesting the first Calla Lily flowers. The planting process is extremely strict, ensuring a dormant period with low temperatures, similar to the natural conditions in the homeland of this flower.

After the process of planting - harvesting - hibernating bulbs - continuing to grow commercial flowers, Calla Lily still has many conditions to meet export standards. Although it is a disease-free flower plant, Calla Lily is affected by a harmful organism, which is thrips. Therefore, in the Calla Lily garden, monitoring and plant protection are handled very strictly to kill thrips. Yellow, sticky tapes are used around the garden to reduce harmful insects. What pesticides to spray, what spraying techniques, businesses must meet the requirements of partners to ensure safety.

“For export products, the harvest time and post-harvest technology also require a strict process, meeting the requirements of the partner,” said Mr. Ha Van Manh. Like Calla Lily, Bonnie Farm always harvests early in the morning to ensure the plants are fresh, avoiding dehydration and softening the plants. Immediately after harvesting, the flowers are put in storage, treated to kill all harmful insects as well as using fresh flower care chemicals, Calla Lily is shipped to the Japanese market by air. Only 24 hours later, the colorful Calla Lily branches arrived at the flower trading floor of the Japanese partner.

Mr. Ha Van Manh shared: “The post-harvest process for flower export is strictly ensured by the company. The Japanese market is most afraid of harmful insects remaining in the flowers. If even one harmful insect is found in the flowers, the shipment will be immediately canceled and destroyed, and the company will suffer huge losses, even losing the market. Therefore, our company always ensures a strict and rigorous post-harvest processing process, ensuring that the flower branches are free of pests and diseases”. The processing process in cold storage lasts for 24 - 30 hours, ensuring that all risks from harmful microorganisms are completely eliminated.

It is known that the Japanese market favors colorful flowers, so Bonnie Farm grows dozens of different colors, yellow, pink, purple, and variegated colors... After harvesting and undergoing the correct post-harvest processing, a Calla Lily branch can be planted for 15 days. Currently, Bonnie Farm is growing 3 hectares of Calla Lily, cutting and exporting 10,000 flower branches/week. Around October, the company will plant 10 hectares of Calla Lily to serve the Japanese New Year market. It is known that white and yellow Calla Lily are the two colors most favored by the Japanese market, suitable for the requirements of partners. In addition, many other colors of Calla Lily are also grown by Bonnie Farm to increase the choices for partners.

After days of sleeping peacefully in the soil, under the care of hands, Calla Lily flowers bloom in the sky and land of the mountain town, following the planes to faraway markets...

Source: http://baolamdong.vn/kinh-te/202410/chuyen-nhung-canh-calla-lily-xuat-khau-7802cb9/