Dong Thap (VNS/VNA) - The Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap isexpected to increase its flower and ornamental plant output to 4.14 trillionVND (178 million USD) worth this year, up three times from 2015, according toits Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Farmers are expected to earn 150 - 180 million VND (6,400 - 7,300 USD) per1,000 square metres of growing them.

Dong Thap, one of the largest producers of flowers and ornamental plants in thedelta, has zoned areas for them in Sa Dec City and the districts of Lai Vung, LapVo and Cao Lanh.

It has developed a model under which flowers and ornamental plants are grown incombination with tourism services, and is implemented very successfully in Sa Dec,its largest flower growing area.

The city has attracted more than three million tourists in the last five years,including 170,000 foreigners.

Nguyen Phuoc Loc, who owns a 2.5ha garden in its Tan Khanh Dong commune, growsthousands of roses of more than 130 rose varieties and offers homestayservices.

Guests could see some unique flowers, enjoy speciality foods and buy DongThap’s speciality souvenirs, he said.

The city has many flower gardens offering homestay services.

Nguyen Phuoc Thien, director of the department, said the province’s freshflowers could be preserved for a long time and so have become popular.

The province plans to expand the area under flowers to 2,981ha and ornamentalplants to 1,169ha by 2025, focusing on new varieties, especially popular ones,though it will also focus on preserving traditional varieties, according to thedepartment.

Flowers and ornamental plants are one of its five key agricultural productsunder its restructuring plan.

Farmers in Dong Thap are growing some three million pots of flowers andornamental plants to sell during Tet (the Lunar New Year), which falls onFebruary 12 next year. 

The province’s High-Tech Agriculture Application Centre produced disease-freeseedlings of more than 100,000 varieties to supply to farmers. 

In Sa Dec, farmers are planting more new varieties of roses, daisies, yellowochna flowers, and others.

Tran Van Tiep, chairman of the Toi Yeu Mau Tim Clubhouse in Sa Dec’s Tan Quy Dongcommune, hopes to sell around 30,000 pots of flowers during Tet, 80 percent ofthem being new varieties.

He travelled to many places to look for flowers that could grow well in thelocal soil, including new varieties of daisy, stone lotus and others, he said.

“The new flowers are … growing well.”

Members of the Sa Dec City Yellow Ochna Flower Club are growing around 100bonsai trees for Tet.

Nguyen Hoang Tuan, its chairman, said the members searched for the yellow ochnaflower trees in many places, and they had been growing them for many years in uniqueshapes.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc, head of the Sa Dec Economic Bureau, said local farmers hadfound many new varieties to sell during Tet.

To support them, the bureau had trained them in new techniques in the contextof climate change, she said.

The city helped co-operatives and co-operative groups implement models thatproduce flowers and ornamental plants that are disease free and of highquality, she said.

It encouraged farmers to use organic fertilisers and pesticides, shesaid.  

“The city also helps farmers find outlets for flowers and ornamental plants.”

It has more than 2,500 varieties of flowers and ornamental plants and sellsthem to many provinces and cities, including HCM City.

It has nine companies and 12 co-operatives, co-operative groups and farmers’clubhouses growing them.

It encourages farmers to expand the flowers-ornamental plants-tourism servicescombination./.