(VOVworld)-Located in the north of Thanh Hoa province, Dong Cuong village is famous for flower cultivation with more than 200 households engaged in the craft and supplying the product for the entire province and neighboring localities. During the last days of the year, Dong Cuong village has become busier with trading.

Lilies are already in bloom for Tet holiday. (Photo: truyenhinhtpth.vn)

A number of households in Dai Khoi hamlet started the flower business about 20 years ago, which then spread to other hamlets in Dong Cuong. Initially, the locals only grew daisies. Then other types of flowers, such as roses, gladiolus, lilies, and ornamental tree varieties, were grown.

Currently, 7 out of 10 hamlets of Dong Cuong are involved in flower cultivation on 35 hectares. Nguyen Huy Loi, Deputy Chairman of the Dong Cuong village People’s Committee, told us that the villagers earn 17,600 USD per hectare a year from growing flowers.

“Flower growing began in Dong Cuong village in the 1990s with just 5 households at first. Flowers have brought local farmers an income 5 to 7 times that from rice,” Loi added.

Nguyen Huu Tinh family, one of the leaders of the flower business in Dong Cuong.  (Photo: truyenhinhtpth.vn)

We visited the flower fields of Tran Van Bay family, one of the leaders of the local flower business. Rose bushes were ready to blossom for the Tet holiday. Beds of Sorbonne flowers and lilies were already in bloom. Bay told us his family has been doing this job for almost two decades.

Bay said: “We began growing flowers in 1996. Since then the craft has helped us build a new house, and buy a car. Now we grow on nearly 3,000 square meters. But it is a difficult career.”

Bay recalled the time when he started growing flowers. Due to inexperience, his flowers were of low quality and quantity. Determined to pursue this career, he went to flower growing villages in Hanoi to learn floriculture techniques and buy better seedlings.

Bay recalled: “I applied what I learned in Hanoi and step by step drew my own lessons. Now I have mastered how to make flowers beautiful, how to prune and bend trees, and most importantly, how to make flowers blossom precisely at the Tet holiday.”

Le Thi Thom, Bay’s wife, said she still remembers how her family felt when they harvested their first crop:

“We were worried about whether we could sell all our production to make enough money to pay for the seedlings, the fertilizer, and the time and effort needed to care for the flowers. On the 25^th and 26^th day of the last lunar month, traders came to my fields to gather flowers. In the following days we had to bring flowers to the market to sell.”

Bay said he and other flower growers in Dong Cuong want financial and technical support from the state to develop a more professional flower production model.

“I want to expand my flower production and hope the commune will invest in high-end flower species which will produce higher profits,” said Bay.