Ha Tinh farmers grow yellow-flowered morning glory vines as a specialty vegetable, and sell out as soon as they are picked.

Morning glory - a climbing plant whose flowers are picked as a specialty vegetable

Farmers in Thien Nhan village, Son Tien commune, Huong Son, Ha Tinh province, harvest morning glory flowers. Photo: PV

Mr. Vo Xuan Anh's family (Thien Nhan village, Son Tien commune, Huong Son) is one of the leading households in growing morning glory flowers in the commune. For the past month, his family has been busy picking flowers to sell to traders.

Mr. Vo Xuan Anh said: "On this hilly land, my family used to grow many types of trees such as jackfruit, grapefruit, oranges... but the results were not high.

Implementing the policy of converting the crop structure of the commune, realizing that the passion flower is easy to care for and has a high selling price, my family boldly renovated the garden to grow it on a trial basis. The plants grow well, there is no need to worry about output, so up to now, we have expanded the area from 1 sao to 7 sao, can earn from 80 - 100 million VND/year."

According to Mr. Vo Xuan Anh (Thien Nhan village, Son Tien commune, Huong Son), the passion flower is easy to grow, easy to care for, harvests quickly, and sells for a good price. Photo: PV

"The passion flower is suitable for dry, well-drained land. Planting and caring for the passion flower is less difficult than other crops. To grow passion flower, you must make a trellis for the plant to climb. Making a trellis is not too difficult. You can use bamboo, wood or concrete poles about 1 meter long to make stakes, burying them about 25-30 cm into the ground to make the stakes sturdy and not fall over.

The distance between the stakes is 3-3.5m, place the stakes in 2 rows on the 2 edges of the trellis, above you can use bamboo branches to cross or use zinc wire stretched and interwoven into the trellis," Mr. Anh shared.

Many households in the mountainous areas of Huong Son district, Ha Tinh are converting the passion flower into a main crop, bringing high economic efficiency. Photo; PV

This year, in addition to favorable weather, with lots of sunshine, suitable for the growth and development of passion flower plants, people have focused on applying proper pruning, fertilizing and watering techniques, so the plants produce beautiful flowers, many flowers and better quality flowers, resulting in high yields, and are purchased by traders at a price 2,000-3,000 VND/kg higher than last year.

The flower has many beautiful names such as jasmine and jasmine and is processed into attractive dishes by many families. Photo: PV

From an area of ​​5 sao of garden land on a sloping hill where lemon trees were grown ineffectively, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Binh’s family in Vuc Rong village, Son Tien commune decided to switch to growing passionflowers. Thanks to her diligence in learning and understanding how to grow and care for them, the flower yield has increased day by day.

Easy to grow, low capital, high profit

Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh, Vuc Rong village, Son Tien commune, Huong Son said, "My family grows 3 sao, every 2-3 days we harvest about 20-25kg/sao, the selling price fluctuates from 30,000-50,000 VND/kg (depending on the time). The monthly income is 10-12 million VND/sao. Thanks to growing passion fruit, my family's life has improved significantly."

"The passionflower is easy to grow, the care technique is not complicated, just water and fertilize with composted manure according to each stage of development, then the plant will grow well. The roots of the passionflower do not grow deep so they cannot withstand waterlogging, so planting on hills like in the area is very suitable," Ms. Binh revealed.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh, Vuc Rong village, Son Tien commune, Huong Son, is excited to harvest the morning glory flower season. Photo: PV

To have quality flower products, according to Ms. Binh, it is necessary to take good care during the growing process, as well as after each harvest, especially choosing the right time to pick flowers to keep the highest amount of nutrients in the flowers.

According to Ms. Binh, in addition to fertilizing with decomposed manure when newly planted, when the tree begins to branch and bud, it needs to be fertilized. At the same time, weed around the base, use dry grass, corn stalks or rice husks to cover and keep the soil moist during hot summer days, so that the tree has enough strength to "reproduce" many beautiful flowers.

"To harvest the morning glory flowers, you must do so early in the morning, in cool weather, so that they can be kept for a long time. The time from when the flowers form buds until they are ready to be harvested lasts 3 days. If you wait more than 3 days before picking them, the flowers will be old and the nutrients in the flowers will have been lost, making them difficult to sell. During the harvest season, growers need to pay attention to the flowering cycle to harvest at the right time," said Ms. Binh.

The field of morning glory flowers in the mountainous district of Huong Son, Ha Tinh is growing lushly, the flowers are in full bloom, and farmers are excited to harvest. Photo: PV

Characteristics, climbing plant, very easy to grow, low investment cost, quick harvest, flowers after 4-5 months, each harvest lasts 4-5 months, can be harvested many times in many consecutive years, few pests, no need to use pesticides, so passion flower is a clean vegetable, very popular in the market.

Propagating the passion flower is quite simple, just choose a vine that is not too old or too young, cut it into pieces about 7-10cm long, then spray root stimulant and circle the base before placing the cuttings in the ground, keep 2-3 leaf eyes on the top, the plant can grow and develop normally.

Traders come to buy Thien Ly flowers in the field. Photo: PV

The demand for buyers of passionflowers is high, easy to sell, high economic value, traders come to the place to buy. From a few households growing them for decoration in rows, growing them along fences, now, many households in Son Tien commune focus on investing in growing passionflowers for sale as commodities.

Up to now, the whole commune has nearly 200 households growing passionflower with a total area of ​​over 10 hectares, most concentrated in the villages: Vuc Rong, Thien Nhan, Ao Tron. Many households earn from 60 - 80 million VND/crop, some families with large areas earn up to hundreds of millions of VND.

The value of the passion flower is much higher than other crops, so many households choose passion flower as the main crop for economic development.

Thanks to growing passionflower, many households in the mountainous district of Huong Son, Ha Tinh have changed their lives and their family economy has improved significantly. Photo: PV

Mr. Hoang Huy Hieu - Vice Chairman of Son Tien Commune People's Committee, said: "In the roadmap to build new rural areas, converting crop structure, eliminating mixed gardens and developing the economy is one of the important goals.

The locality is gradually orienting and propagating to farmers to know, select and develop models and types of plants with high economic efficiency, bringing stable income to people. In particular, the model of growing passion fruit trees is bringing quite clear results and is being applied and implemented by many households.

"In addition to self-study and technical exchange among households, every year, the local government has coordinated with specialized units to provide training and guidance on planting, care, and pest control techniques. At the same time, the results are checked and evaluated to serve as a basis for replication, aiming to select the passionflower plant, the local key crop in the coming time," emphasized Mr. Hoang Huy Hieu, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Son Tien Commune.

Source: https://danviet.vn/nong-dan-ha-tinh-trong-day-thien-ly-ra-hoa-vang-lam-rau-dac-san-cu-hai-den-dau-ban-het-den-do-20240902111031458.htm