Many localities have defined it as an important new economic sector and introduced measures to encourage its development. To date, Vietnam has about 35,000 hectares of specialized cultivation of ornamental plants and flowers, excluding small-scale household farms.
From 2005 to 2015, the sector's output value increased by 7.2 times, reaching VND6.5 trillion (US$281.2 million), of which export turnover was more than US$60 million. Tran Xuan Dinh, former deputy director of Cultivation Department, said flowers and ornamental plants were considered a key commodity in the restructuring of the crop sector.
Geographical location, soil conditions, climate, and the ingenuity and dedication of Vietnamese growers were great advantages in the development of flowers and ornamental plants, Dinh said. In addition, the production of ornamental plants and flowers does not require much land, irrigation water, fertilizers or pesticides. It's easy to apply new technologies while providing much higher incomes than other conventional crops under the same conditions.
Due to such high economic efficiency, many farms growing ornamental flowers and bonsai trees have been formed in Hanoi, HCM City and the provinces of Lao Cai, Hung Yen, Nam Dinh, Binh Dinh, Lam Dong and Dong Thap, with a turnover from VND800 million (US$35,000) to VND2.5 billion ($109,0000) per hectare per year.
According to the Institute of Vegetable and Fruit Research under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, demand for flowers and bonsai trees in the market is increasing strongly. In the last five years, the average demand for the products rose by about 15 percent each year.
Over the past years, the production and trading of flowers and ornamental plants have contributed to the export turnover of more than $4 billion of the vegetable and fruit industry, contributing to restructuring cultivation patterns, creating more jobs, and improving the living environment. Hanoi has developed more than 6,000 hectares of specialized cultivation of flowers and ornamental plants in 11 traditional villages.
The city has also identified four flowers and ornamental plant products as key products to encourage investment, namely orchids, roses, lilies and peaches.
“Thanks to using new and highly-productivity seedlings, advanced fertilization procedures, mineral nutrition, and automatically adjusted light and temperature systems, the yield of flowers and ornamental plants in the city is continuously increasing,” said Nguyen Van Chi, director of the Hanoi Rural Development Sub-department.
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