Hi-tech floriculture in Hanoi and Bac Ninh and Lam Dong provinces yielded from several hundred million to billions of dong per hectare per year. Insight by the Vietnam Economic News.

High economic efficiency

Net houses, greenhouses, modern watering systems, temperature and light control systems, tissue culture laboratories and cold warehouses are something needed for hi-tech floriculture. With these conditions, many localities in Vietnam are now able to grow high-grade flower varieties such as lilies, gladioli, tulips, Cymbidium, butterfly flowers, and gerbera that couldn’t be cultivated in the country before.

Many localities across the country have developed hi-tech floriculture and built their own flower product brands, contributing to rural and agricultural modernisation. Lam Dong province has become a highlight in this regard. The province has about 2,416ha of hi-tech floriculture area, mostly in the city of Da Lat and Duc Trong and Don Duong districts, with estimated revenue of 800 million VND - more than 1 billion VND per hectare per year (1.6 times the country’s average).

In Hanoi, hi-tech floriculture is a potential business for suburban districts of Dan Phuong and Tu Liem, bringing in revenue of 300-600 million VND per hectare per year, while traditional flower production offers revenue of only 50-70 million VND per hectare per year.

Bui Thi Bich from Phung township in Dan Phuong district, Hanoi, said that her family has two hectares of net house to produce flowers and a modern tissue culture laboratory. Without the net house, her family must stop growing flowers in the rainy season and now they can grow flowers all year round. Her family hires tens of employees to grow flowers and paid them an average of 5-7 million VND per capita per month.

In Bac Ninh province, the provincial Department of Science and Technology has promoted hi-tech floriculture in many households and businesses since 2005. The department’s deputy director, Nguyen Minh Tan, said that the province has so far had 40,000 square metres of hi-tech floriculture providing revenue of 500 million VND - 1 billion VND per hectare per year.

Replication needing funding

According to Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Ly, Director of the Flower and Bonsai Center of the Agricultural Genetics Institute, flowers grow with high technology, especially orchids, gladioli and lilies have attracted buyers as they carved a 65-80 percent niche on the Tet (Lunar New Year Holidays) flower market in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. These flowers were not only sold domestically but also exported to many countries and territories around the world including Singapore, China, Japan, North America and Europe.

Bac Ninh province’s Department of Science and Technology Deputy Director Nguyen Minh Tan said that although hi-tech floriculture is potential business that can bring in a high economic efficiency it has a high cost of hundreds of millions of dong and requires a large acreage of several thousand square metres to several hectares of land so not all people have the necessary conditions to do it. Seeds still need to be imported and sales remain difficult in northern provinces due to scattered production.

Thus, apart from performance of authorities at different levels in directing farmers to develop hi-tech floriculture, it is necessary to build connectivity between producers, investors and scientific institutions and between domestic and foreign partners in flower production and sales development.-VNA