Van Lang Flowers and Ornamental Plants – Livelihood from the Village

In Van Lang commune, growing flowers and ornamental plants is not only a refined hobby but has become a profession, creating sustainable livelihoods and high incomes for households, contributing positively to improving the living environment in rural areas.

Thanks to techniques in planting, caring for, and shaping bonsai art, farmers in Van Lang are gradually expanding their flower and ornamental plant cultivation model, transforming it from a "hobby" into an " economic " venture, yielding superior profits compared to rice and corn crops, and creating a stable income.

Following National Highway 32C along the right bank of the Thao River, we visited the peach blossom cultivation model of Mr. Do Ngoc Nam's family in Zone 1, Bang Gia. Mr. Nam is known as a pioneer in switching from traditional tree cultivation to peach blossom cultivation in his garden, bringing in hundreds of millions of dong in income each year, paving the way for many other households to learn from and develop this profession.

Mr. Do Ngoc Nam takes care of the peach orchard.

Like many households in the commune, Nam's family also faced difficulties as the land deteriorated after many seasons of cultivation. Growing fruit trees, corn, rice, and vegetables was only enough to sustain their lives; it was very difficult to become wealthy from farming.

After years of unsuccessful experiments with fruit tree cultivation models, in 2013, Mr. Nam learned about the Nhat Tan peach tree and decided to bring this variety back to his hometown to try growing it. Initially lacking experience, Mr. Nam only dared to plant 150 large peach trees and 500 smaller, closely spaced peach trees.

Nam shared: "Back then, I simply thought that no one in my hometown was growing peach trees, and during Tet (Lunar New Year), if I wanted to buy a peach tree or branch to display, I would have to travel very far. However, when I started, I realized how difficult it was because the techniques for planting, caring for, and getting peach blossoms to bloom at the right time were not simple at all. The effort I put in without achieving results made me a little discouraged, but those failures helped me understand the land better and made me more determined."

That thought motivated Mr. Nam to continue learning the art of peach tree cultivation in a more systematic way from experienced gardeners in other places, from selecting varieties, grafting, shaping the canopy to adjusting the flowering time. Over the years, his family's peach orchard gradually stabilized, the cultivated area expanded, and income increased from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dong per harvest. Mr. Nam's family currently grows about 1,700 peach trees, including varieties such as pink peaches and light pink peaches, with tree values ​​ranging from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of dong. In addition, Mr. Nam dedicates more than 1.3 hectares to growing peach tree saplings for grafting and selling to other gardeners.

The business of selling seedlings, fruit trees, and ornamental plants has helped many families in Van Lang earn a stable income.

Although he didn't directly cultivate them, noticing the high demand for flowers and ornamental plants in the market, Mr. Tran Xuan Thu in Zone 3, Minh Coi, Van Lang commune, boldly borrowed capital to rent land, import goods, and build a nursery model specializing in supplying seedlings, fruit trees, flowers, ornamental plants, and forestry trees.

According to Mr. Thu, this business model has many advantages such as requiring less care, low investment capital, suitability for various display spaces and customer segments, thus opening up a wide market and therefore yielding higher profits compared to other types of ornamental plants.

Sharing his plans for the future, Mr. Thu confided that his family needs to raise capital to expand the garden with more types of flowers and ornamental plants. In addition, he is also willing to share his experience and provide technical guidance on the process of caring for and selling ornamental plants to anyone who needs it, aiming to help people have a more stable life.

Mr. Do Van Luc, residing in Zone 2, Van Lang Commune, specializes in supplying various types of pots and planters to gardeners in the commune.

In order to gather and connect people with a shared passion, and gradually shift from small-scale production to professional collaboration, the Van Lang Commune Farmers' Association established the Van Lang Commune Flower and Ornamental Plant Growing Association with 15 initial members.

Launching the Flower and Ornamental Plant Growing Association of Van Lang Commune.

Comrade Luu Manh Hung – Standing Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Van Lang commune, said: The establishment of the branch association is an important step to gather and connect people with a shared passion, gradually shifting from small-scale production to professional linkages. The branch association will be a focal point connecting members in exchanging experiences, providing capital support, linking production, and selling products. The local government will also pay attention to planning production areas, investing in infrastructure, and supporting market connections so that the flower and ornamental plant growing profession can develop stably and sustainably, contributing to improving the economic efficiency of agriculture in the locality.

Ngoc Tuan

Source: https://baophutho.vn/hoa-va-cay-canh-van-lang--sinh-ke-tu-lang-251899.htm