Earn millions every day by growing lotus and selling flowers

Article and photos: DUY TAN

With an area of more than 1 hectare of lotus flowers for sale, Mr. Huynh Luong Nhan (28 years old, residing in Long Hung ward, O Mon district, Can Tho city) has become rich on his homeland with an income of more than 1 million VND per day.

The field is over 1 hectare wide and grows 3 types of lotus flowers: white, pink and Juwaba.

Taking us to visit the vast lotus fields surrounded by fruit gardens and rice fields. Nhan proudly boasted that the desire to convert to a new farming model had urged him to convince his parents to completely convert 1 hectare of rice fields to grow ornamental lotus flowers for sale.

Nhan said, graduated from the Department of Plant Science, Faculty of Agriculture , Can Tho University in 2017. He applied for a job in his major. Thanks to traveling to many places, knowing many new models, realizing the effectiveness of growing lotus to sell flowers, he cherished the idea of starting a business. He bought lotus seeds from a garden in Sa Dec City (Dong Thap) and brought them back to test on 3 hectares of rice fields. After understanding the growth process and planting techniques, he successfully propagated and expanded the lotus growing area to more than 1 hectare.

“When we brought the lotus to plant in an area where everyone had grown rice and fruit trees, our family had to endure a lot of criticism, because many people thought it was a “nonsense” thing to do and that it would be difficult to succeed. But then, when the lotus took root and bloomed, bringing in a good income, everyone was amazed,” said Mr. Nhan.

According to Mr. Nhan, the lotus varieties he chose are white Quan Am lotus, pink Quan Am lotus and Juwaba lotus. These are lotus varieties with large, beautiful flowers, many petals, attractive fragrance and long lasting, classified as large lotus. When fully blooming, this lotus has a diameter of up to 30cm, showing off hundreds of small, pretty petals inside large layers of petals covering the outside, also known as hundred-petal lotus, which cannot be confused with any other lotus species. Meanwhile, Juwaba lotus has double pink petals, the petals spread out in layers covering the yellow pistil, creating a graceful, gentle beauty.

Lotus flowers can be harvested after about 2 months of planting. “Growing lotus for flowers is different from traditional lotus for shoots, because after 3 months of harvesting, the old variety must be completely discarded, the soil must be improved, and new varieties must be planted. If the plant is planted again without treatment, it will die completely,” said Mr. Nhan.

Lotus is relatively easy to grow and care for. To care for and prevent pests and diseases so that the plant blooms at the right time, beautifully, durably and with the right color, it is necessary to strictly follow the planting process, fertilize and spray enough pesticides so that the plant develops beautiful flowers.

In addition to selling flowers, Mr. Nhan also uses all parts of the plant to earn extra income, such as white lotus flowers that he uses as medicine, to make tea, stems to make straws, and lotus leaves to sell to wholesale markets to wrap sticky rice...

Every day, Mr. Nhan's family harvests more than 300 flowers, the wholesale price ranges from 5,000 to 6,000 VND. Thanks to that, they earn an income of over 1 million VND/day. In addition, Mr. Nhan also propagates and plants lotus in pots to sell as ornamental lotus at 35,000 VND/pot.

He is responsible for purchasing and selling the products to wholesale flower markets in Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces and cities across the country. To ensure sufficient supply of raw materials, he has also linked up with 6 farmers to grow lotus on an area of 5 hectares in Can Tho City, An Giang , Dong Thap, Soc Trang, etc.

Mr. Tu Hung (50 years old, living in Long Hung ward) said: “Before, I also cultivated rice but the economic efficiency was too poor. Seeing Nhan's family growing lotus effectively and with quite high income, I also asked for technical support, seed sources and planted on an area of 3.5 hectares of land. After a period of planting, I found that the income was 2-3 times higher than growing rice, less labor and having flowers to sell to earn money every day was also very leisurely”.

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