Families in Trung Than hamlet (Hoa Trung commune, Dong Hy district, Thai Nguyen province) grow wild orchids together - an ornamental plant that is considered a noble flower because of the concept that "kings play with orchids, mandarins play with tea". The whole Trung Than village is rich thanks to growing wild orchids, enjoying "freely", and having plenty of money to spend.
Clip: Villagers growing wild orchids in Trung Than (Hoa Trung commune, Dong Hy district, Thai Nguyen province) share about the process of converting crop structure and the formation of a model of growing wild orchids - a noble flower that brings prosperity and high income to the people. Clip: Ha Thanh
The aristocratic flower growing village with the secret to creating beautiful orchid pots
In mid-December, when the cold of winter began to set in, we came to Trung Than orchid village (Hoa Trung commune, Dong Hy district, Thai Nguyen province).
Located about 10km from the center of Thai Nguyen city, near National Highway 1B, as soon as we arrived, Trung Than orchid village appeared before our eyes with green color covered by orchid pots hanging on the trellis of each household.
In the dry and cold sunshine of early winter, we started talking with the locals about the journey to build the orchid brand as it is today.
People in Trung Than hamlet, Hoa Trung commune (Dong Hy district, Thai Nguyen province) have been growing orchids for more than 20 years.
In the past, the life of the people in the village was very difficult and hard, because their income mainly depended on rice and tea. From that reality, some households in the village have found new ways to increase their income.
Trung Than hamlet (Hoa Trung commune, Dong Hy district, Thai Nguyen province) is covered with green wild orchid gardens all year round. Villagers have had enough to eat and save since changing their crop structure to grow noble flowers. Photo: Ha Thanh
At first, people in the village took orchid branches from the forest to plant with the purpose of beautifying the landscape, but gradually, seeing the beautiful flowers and many people asking to buy them, selling them at a good price, the model gradually developed.
Like many households in the hamlet, Mr. Truong Van Tuan's family (Head of Trung Than hamlet) has about 20 years of experience growing orchids.
Sharing with PV Dan Viet, Mr. Tuan said: Initially, many households in the village only grew a few dozen hamlets, but now they have grown to several hundred hamlets. Of which, the household that grows the most hamlets is about 10,000 hamlets.
Mr. Tuan shared more: "Before, I worked as a factory worker but my salary was very low, my income was not worth much. Because I love orchids, whenever I had salary, I bought orchids to play with.
When I saw my neighbor's brother go to the forest to find orchids to sell, which was very profitable , I came to learn their experience and techniques and quit my job as a worker to stay home and grow orchids.
In 2011, I officially invested in developing wild orchids on a large scale. Then, over time, I gradually developed, expanding the area a little each year."
Mr. Truong Van Tuan (Chief of Trung Than hamlet) has had experience growing wild orchids - a noble flower - for about 20 years now. Photo: Ha Thanh
Up to now, Mr. Tuan has propagated a number of single-stem, drooping-stem and terrestrial orchids such as: Phi Diep orchid, Dai Chau wild orchid, Fox wild orchid, Tam Bao Sac wild orchid, Que Lan Huong wild orchid, Hoang Nhan orchid... with about 6,000 - 7,000 orchid pots of various types divided into 3 trellises.
These orchids are sold at prices ranging from 200,000 VND to several million VND depending on the care process and age of the orchid.
Currently, Mr. Tuan's family's orchid garden has about 6,000 - 7,000 orchid pots with main types of orchids such as: wild orchids, Dai Chau wild orchids, fox orchids, three-color wild orchids, cinnamon orchids, wild orchids, etc. Photo: Ha Thanh.
According to Mr. Tuan, during the growth and development process, orchids depend a lot on weather factors. The suitable weather for orchids to grow is in spring and autumn when the temperature is warm and cool.
In addition to weather factors, in the process of making a trellis, orchid growers also need to choose the appropriate trellis direction to facilitate orchid growth.
Mr. Tuan shared that to have a beautiful orchid, each person will have a different way of taking care of it. For his family, he uses a substrate made of charcoal burned from acacia trees, which is very suitable.
With this substrate, the advantage is that when the orchid is acclimatized, it has a high moisture absorption capacity, and the nutrients in charcoal are very good for the growth of orchids. Growing orchids with charcoal substrate also helps the growth rate of orchids to be 2-3 times faster than growing with pine bark substrate.
"For single-stem orchids, the appropriate humidity in the dry season must be above 60%, because if the humidity is low, the plant will lose water and the leaves will fall, so the orchid will no longer retain its beauty.
Therefore, experienced orchid growers will feel the humidity to adjust accordingly. Normally, when the weather is dry, they need to water twice a day," Mr. Tuan shared.
Mr. Tuan grows orchids using charcoal substrate because it has many nutrients and high moisture absorption capacity. Photo: Ha Thanh
In addition, it should be noted that for orchids with drooping stems, in the rainy season, there are often sucking insects, so they are susceptible to fungal diseases. Therefore, at this time, it is necessary to spray medicine to prevent diseases for orchids more frequently than in other seasons of the year.
To have a beautiful pot of wild orchids, according to Mr. Tuan, it takes 2-3 years of care, even 5-10 years. Photo: Ha Thanh
Usually in November and December every year, traders from all over will flock to Trung Than orchid village to collect and buy flowers, then wait until the flowers bloom beautifully before selling them to wild orchid players.
Wild orchids usually bloom from February to June every year. At this time, if you come to Trung Than hamlet, you will be overwhelmed by the variety of wild orchids competing to show off their colors.
Thanks to growing orchids, many households have high incomes, build spacious houses, and buy nice cars.
Currently, customers mainly from Vinh Phuc and Phu Tho provinces come to the craft village to buy orchids because the village has had a brand and reputation for many years. Since the beginning of the year, Mr. Tuan's family has sold about 1,000 orchid pots of various types to the market.
Each sao of wild orchids will bring in an income of more than 100 million VND. Compared to before growing orchids, Mr. Tuan's family's life was very difficult, but now all living expenses are much more abundant.
Visitors from many places flock to see and buy wild orchids at Mr. Tuan's family garden. Photo: Ha Thanh
Thanks to growing wild orchids, he was able to buy a car at a high price. Therefore, he hopes that the households in the village will strongly develop this model to have an increasingly prosperous economy.
Each sao of wild orchid cultivation will bring in an income of more than 100 million VND, much higher than that of rice and tea cultivation. Photo: Ha Thanh.
Mr. Tuan's plan in the near future is to expand the area and scale of orchid growing, in order to expand the product consumption market.
However, due to some difficulties such as capital, orchid growing and care techniques, he hopes that relevant levels and sectors will open more training courses on science and technology so that orchid growers can have more in-depth knowledge as well as support capital to help people produce more effectively.
Mac Van Quyet's family has been growing orchids since 2017 for about 7 years. Because he is a lover of beauty, and seeing people in the neighborhood have better economic conditions from growing orchids, Quyet boldly learned and followed suit.
Mr. Mac Van Quyet's family (Trung Than hamlet) has about 200 square meters of area for growing various types of orchids, earning more than 100 million VND per year. Photo: Ha Thanh
Currently, Mr. Quyet's family has about 200 square meters of orchid growing area with 1,500 orchid pots, mainly fox orchids and tricolor orchids.
Customers mainly prefer orchids with many flowers and beautiful leaves, so the best time to sell flowers is from February to June when the flowers are in full bloom. His family's orchid market is present in many provinces and cities across the country with a sales volume of several hundred pots per year, bringing in an income of more than 100 million VND.
"The important thing is that the investment cost for growing orchids is not too large, the care is not too demanding and not too difficult, but it requires meticulousness, regulating humidity and appropriate light, choosing clean, suitable substrate for the orchids to grow best," said Mr. Quyet.
Also a household with many years of experience growing orchids in Trung Than hamlet, with many main types of orchids such as: Sword, Weasel, Tam Bao Sac... Thanks to growing orchids, Mr. Truong Van Nam and his wife were able to raise two children to study at a decent university in Hanoi.
Thanks to growing orchids, Mr. Truong Van Nam and his wife have the means to raise two children to study in Hanoi. Photo: Ha Thanh
"If we didn't grow orchids, my wife and I wouldn't have been able to afford to send our children to school in Hanoi at such an expensive cost. Since growing orchids, our family's economy has become much more stable," Mr. Nam confided. Along with growing tea, the couple has built a spacious, well-furnished house and has a high income.
Building a famous orchid village brand
Trung Than Hamlet currently has 180 households, of which 110 households grow orchids, creating jobs for nearly 300 local workers. Orchid growing households alone have an average income of 9 - 10 million VND/person/month, nearly double the average income of the whole hamlet. Up to now, there are no poor or near-poor households in the hamlet growing orchids.
At the end of 2022, Trung Than hamlet was recognized by the People's Committee of Thai Nguyen province as an orchid craft village. Thanks to orchid cultivation, people's lives have changed dramatically, many households have built spacious houses, bought nice cars, and roads have been renovated and upgraded to be more beautiful and convenient.
According to Mr. Truong Van Tuan - Head of Trung Than hamlet: The long-term orientation of the locality will strongly develop the orchid growing model, making this industry a main economic sector, creating a green, clean, sustainable and effective environment.
Thanks to growing wild orchids - a noble flower, many households in Trung Than hamlet, Hoa Trung commune, Dong Hy district, Thai Nguyen province have built spacious houses. Photo: Ha Thanh
Source: https://danviet.vn/trong-lan-rung-ca-lang-thai-nguyen-nha-nao-cung-giau-len-nho-hoa-quy-toc-giai-tri-xa-lang-ra-tien-20241221095842008.htm
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