Ia Blu farmers grow Sophora japonica flowers according to VietGAP standards

Mr. Phan Thanh - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Ia Blu Commune - said: Sophora japonica has been widely grown by people in the commune since 2016. Up to now, the whole commune has over 100 hectares, with an average yield of 4 tons/ha.

In previous years, when the price of Sophora japonica flowers was high, after deducting expenses, many households earned a profit of nearly 500 million VND/ha/year. From 2023 to now, the price of Sophora japonica flowers has decreased to 70-100 thousand VND/kg, so each year, people only earn about 250 million VND/ha.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung (Thai Ha village) next to his family's locust flower garden. Photo: NH

“Realizing that Sophora japonica has high economic value, in 2022, the Commune Farmers' Association established the Sophora japonica growing professional association of Ia Blu commune, consisting of 20 members, with Mr. Nguyen Van Hung (Thai Ha village) as the head of the group.

The group is responsible for providing quality seedlings, technical guidance and product consumption for members and local people. In recent years, the group has cooperated with Dat Doan One Member Co., Ltd. (Thai Binh province) to consume 150-200 tons of products for local people each year.

In addition, in early 2025, the Commune People's Committee also coordinated with the Provincial Center for Application of Science and Technology Advances (Department of Science and Technology) to support households growing Sophora japonica flowers according to VietGAP standards; at the same time, guide the registration of OCOP product certification to increase value and facilitate product output" - Mr. Thanh informed.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung’s family (Phu Ha village) was the first household to grow Sophora japonica flowers in Ia Blu commune and has a high income from this crop. Currently, Mr. Hung is applying the Sophora japonica care process according to VietGAP standards to increase the value of the product.

He said: His hometown is Thai Binh province - one of the localities that strongly develop Sophora japonica trees in the country. He himself also has experience in planting and caring for this type of tree. In 2010, he bought some Sophora japonica seedlings to test and found that Sophora japonica flowers are suitable for the local climate and soil.

Therefore, in 2013, when his family's entire 4-hectare pepper garden died due to disease, he boldly converted the entire area to growing Sophora japonica. Eight months later, the Sophora japonica garden yielded year-round crops, helping him to have a source of income to repay his previous investment in growing pepper.

According to Mr. Hung, the investment cost for Sophora japonica is low, about 70 million VND/ha, in the following years if you use labor to make profit, you only spend about 25-30 million VND to buy fertilizer. After 8 months of planting and caring, Sophora japonica trees will continuously yield harvests for 10 years.

However, to achieve high efficiency, Mr. Hung only harvests for the first 6 years, after that, he destroys and replants.

In addition, to ensure high productivity, he plants with a distance of 2.5-3 m between rows and plants. At the same time, he applies the planting process according to VietGAP standards, in which priority is given to using organic fertilizers or chemical fertilizers according to the correct process, dosage and time to create products that are safe for users' health.

“The advantage of growing Sophora japonica is that it is rarely affected by pests and diseases, mainly brown planthoppers and white mealybugs at a mild level, so I only treat it by watering the plants to save on pesticides. On average, I harvest over 16 tons each year. In the period of 2021-2022, Sophora japonica flowers were sold for 150-250 thousand VND/kg, my family earned a profit of about 2 billion VND/year. From 2023 to now, the price of Sophora japonica flowers has decreased to 70-100 thousand VND/kg, each year after deducting costs, I earn nearly 1 billion VND in profit,” said Mr. Hung.

Similarly, Mr. Nguyen Van Sy’s family (in the same village) also has a high income from growing Sophora japonica. Mr. Sy said: In 2013, he bought 1,000 Sophora japonica seedlings to plant in his pepper garden.

In early 2021, when the price of Sophora japonica flowers increased, he demolished the entire pepper garden and bought more land to grow Sophora japonica flowers. Currently, his family has 8 hectares of land growing Sophora japonica flowers, of which 4 hectares have been harvested with a yield of about 16 tons/year.

“Because my family hires all the workers, my profit is lower than other households. During the period when the price of Sophora japonica flowers was high, after deducting expenses, my family earned over 1.2 billion VND/year. From 2023 until now, when the price of Sophora japonica flowers decreased, I earned over 600 million VND/year. In the coming time, when the remaining 4 hectares are harvested, my family will have an additional stable source of income,” said Mr. Sy.

In the past 2 years, although he hired workers to grow, care for and harvest Sophora japonica flowers, after deducting expenses, Mr. Sy still earned a profit of 600 million VND each year from 4 hectares of Sophora japonica flowers harvested in bulk. Photo: NH

Meanwhile, Mr. Dang Chu (in the same village) shared: “Growing Sophora japonica is low-risk because it is almost free of pests and diseases, yields quickly and has low investment costs. With the current selling price of 70-80 thousand VND/kg, farmers still make high profits. Therefore, recently, in addition to the 5 sao planted since 2022, my family has expanded by 1.5 hectares and is being guided by the Commune Farmers' Association to cultivate according to VietGAP standards.”

Talking to reporters, the Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Ia Blu commune added: With the economic efficiency of Sophora japonica, in recent years, many households who went to the Southern provinces to work for hire after pepper was killed by disease have returned and chosen this crop to develop their family economy.

The commune is currently monitoring the situation to provide guidance on farming techniques according to VietGAP standards to households and support product consumption. In addition, it encourages people not to plant massively, but to combine with other crops to ensure production efficiency and avoid risks.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/nong-dan-ia-blu-trong-hoa-hoe-theo-tieu-chuan-vietgap-post323149.html