NamDinh (VNS/VNA) - Farmers across Vietnam have found lotus aprofitable alternative crop for rice, especially when their land isunfertilised.

Fifty-year-old farmer Nguyen Van Don in Xuan Vinh commune, Xuan Truong district,the northern province of Nam Dinh, started growing lotus three years ago onmore than 2ha area of sunken land that he rented from other local farmers.

The land had not been used for years as it was unfertilised and failed to growrice, Don said, adding that he rented the land and restored it for lotuscultivation.

With proper farming technique and fertilising, Don’s lotus plants havegrown well on the land.

Don said his family harvested about four tonnes of lotus seeds and thousands oflotus flowers each year.

He sold each kilo of seeds for 25,000 -35,000 VND (1.07 -1.5 USD) and eachflower for 3,000 VND.

“Compared with rice production, growing lotus is much more stable andeconomically profitable,” he said

Don calculated that he could harvest about 170kg of lotus seed per sao (1 sao equals 360sq.m) per year,which helped him earn more than 5million VND (214 USD) while he earned only 500,000VND when growing rice.

“When growing rice, we have to buy fertiliser, pesticides and hire labourers toplant and harvest while we hardly spend any money on fertiliser or pesticide,” Donsaid, adding that he could have some extra income thanks to shrimp and fishcaught from the lotus pond.

“Without fertiliser, a lotus pond is a good place for shrimp and fish to live,”he said.

The beauty of lotus flowers and their scent during summer days also attractsmany visitors to Don’s lotus pond.

Vu Manh Cam, head of the Xuan Vinh commune Farmers’ Association, said localfarmers shifted from rice to lotus three years ago and the area of lotus farmshas steadily increased.

Now, more than 10ha of land is used for lotus cultivation.

“Lotus plants help many households in the commune escape poverty and generatejobs in the rural area,” Cam said.

InThach Ha town, Thach Ha district in the central province of Ha Tinh, farmersalso earn about 70 million VND (3,000 USD) per hectare of lotus,double the income they gained from rice.

Le Phi Quoc of Thanh Chau hamlet, Thach Ha town, said that he first broughtlotus to grow on his unused land for fun as he saw lotus flowers were sobeautiful.

For years, Quoc and many local farmers did not grow rice on the land afterlosing crops, he said, adding that they were very surprised and happy to seelotus grow well.

“We harvested lotus seeds and could sell them for quite high prices, so westarted concentrating on nursing lotus plants to get seeds and flowers,” hesaid.

A kilo of fresh seeds can be sold at 30,000-50,000 VND (1.29 -2.15 USD) whilethe dried seeds are 160,000 VND (7 USD) per kilo.

Vice chairman of Thach Ha town People’s Committee Nguyen Dinh Duc tolddanviet.vn that local authorities encouraged farmers to make used ofunfertilised land to grow lotus.

Meanwhile, about 100 households in My Son hamlet, Duy Phu commune, Duy Xuyen districtin the central province of Quang Nam have used their unfertilised land to growlotus.

Tran Anh Lang, a local farmer, said that lotus could generate income threetimes higher than rice.

With 0.5ha of lotus, his family earned more than 100 million VND yearly.

Local farmers also received technical assistance from the district’sAgriculture Technology Centre and last year, the province’s Farming ProductsQuality Control Department helped them grow lotus to meet VietGap standards.

In Duy Xuyen district, lotus is grown on about 100ha, mostly in Duy Phu and DuySon communes.

The district plans to expand its lotus cultivation area and develop avalue chain for lotus so growers could benefit from the province’s supportingpolicy which offers free seedless farming materials and find a market forproducts, said head of the district’s Agriculture Department Tran Huy Tuong./.