Starting out in the Ornamental Flower Village

Farmer Tran Van Trieu prunes and shapes Thai bougainvillea into animal figures.

The ornamental flower village in Ward 4 is one of the major suppliers of ornamental flowers, seedlings, bonsai, and ornamental plants in Tra Vinh city. Among these, bougainvillea is the main source of income for the villagers. Because the craft is a traditional family business, the households here face obstacles such as a lack of production capital and a limited market.

In recent years, ornamental plants from Ward 4 have been popular both within and outside the province, with many varieties such as bougainvillea and other short-lived ornamental plants like marigolds, chrysanthemums, and sunflowers, grown to serve the Lunar New Year market every year. Currently, traditional bougainvillea varieties in the craft village are not as popular as before, because traditional bougainvillea only blooms seasonally. Therefore, households in the craft village have collected many new bougainvillea varieties from countries like Thailand, Taiwan, India, and China to keep up with current market trends. The advantages of imported bougainvillea varieties are their more beautiful colors, year-round blooming adaptability to current climate change conditions, and stable and high market prices.

Experienced bougainvillea growers purchase traditional bougainvillea rootstocks, graft them with imported bougainvillea varieties from Thailand, China, India, etc., and then shape them into animal forms corresponding to each year and the 12 zodiac animals. This creates a wider variety of colors, richer variety, and sharper colors, contributing to boosting the market, increasing income, and providing employment for local workers. Each Thai bougainvillea plant, after successful grafting and care for 6 months to 1 year, yields a profit of 30% per finished potted plant.

Farmer Tran Van Trieu, from Long Binh hamlet, Ward 4, who has over 25 years of experience growing bougainvillea, shared: "With 0.2 hectares of land, I grow 500 pots of various bougainvillea varieties. Through a 'stroke of luck' – acquiring two Thai bougainvillea varieties from Dong Thap province and grafting them onto traditional bougainvillea rootstocks – I gradually switched entirely to grafted Thai bougainvillea varieties on traditional bougainvillea rootstocks. Recently, I've also added Indian bougainvillea varieties to diversify the range for the market. The advantages of Thai bougainvillea are its sharper, more vibrant colors, and especially its year-round flowering. With 500 pots of Thai bougainvillea, the selling price ranges from 10 to 30 million VND per pot, depending on size. From the beginning of 2023 to the present, revenue has reached 150 million VND, with a profit margin of over 30%."

To ensure a sufficient supply of ornamental plants for the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) market, in addition to the existing bougainvillea plants, Mr. Trieu rented more land to cultivate an additional 100 pots of bougainvillea shaped like gates and fences for consumers. Despite the erratic heavy rains in the days leading up to the harvest, the damage to the bougainvillea plants was negligible.

Farmer Pham Ngoc Vinh's (left) pots of Tiger chrysanthemums, planted over a month ago, are being flooded and their growth is slowing down.

Farmer Pham Ngoc Vinh, residing in the same hamlet, chose to cultivate approximately 2,000 pots of Chinese bougainvillea and short-term ornamental flowers on an area of ​​0.4 hectares. Mr. Vinh stated that this year's ornamental flower production has faced numerous difficulties, especially due to an unstable market. Furthermore, production costs have increased significantly, and the market is slower than last year. His family's revenue so far this year has exceeded 50 million VND. In addition, the unusual weather with heavy rains has slowed the growth of 200 pots of Tiger and Ruby chrysanthemums that were planted earlier. Therefore, he is taking advantage of the warm, sunny weather to prepare the soil, pot the plants, fertilize, and treat the coconut coir so that he can plant marigolds and sunflowers in time for the Lunar New Year market by the end of October (lunar calendar), with an expected planting of 100-200 pots.

Comrade Huynh Quang Nhuong, Vice Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Ward 4, said: currently, there are 161 farmer members in the ward, of which 85 households participate in agricultural production, mainly ornamental flowers and various types of crops. Besides focusing on producing paper flowers for year-round sale, households also plant short-term flowers such as chrysanthemums, marigolds, sunflowers, etc., to serve the Lunar New Year market. These are short-lived flowers that generate high income during the end of the year, so people focus on planting and caring for them diligently.

Text and photos: MY NHAN

Source: https://www.baotravinh.vn/kinh-te/khoi-dong-o-lang-nghe-hoa-kieng-33265.html