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Strategy urged for flourishing flower industry
The flower business is still flourishing in Da Lat, in the Central Highland province of Lam Dong.
Fifteen years ago, Da Lat had only 120ha to grow flower on, with yields of about 40 million flowers per year, said Tran Huy Duong, Chairman of the Da Lat Flower Association.
Now, he added, the total area had increased to 2,000ha, with a total yield of roughly 1 billion flowers per year. Farmers were also experimenting with hybrid species, which had so far brought some surprising profits.
Duong also said that it was not uncommon for a household to earn an annual revenue of VND100-200 million (US$5,500-11,000) per hectare. Also, thanks to the flower industry, many big companies have been established, and are seeing large profits.
These companies have invested a lot of time and money into new technologies and human resources. Many of them, such as Dalat Hasfarm, Hien Ha and Sakico, are earning billions of dong per year thanks to the flower industry.
The city has about 20 companies specialising in producing and trading flowers. Their technologies were the same as other companies in the region, said Pham S, Director of Lam Dong Province's Science and Technology Department.
Despite the fact that the industry had brought many profits to farmers, there are still many challenges.
The development of trademarks is one amongst them. As of recently, only 20 trademarks for Da Lat flowers had been registered. Meanwhile, thousands of households and companies in the province were trading flowers, said Nguyen Minh Tam, Deputy Director of the provincial Science and Technology Department.
Moreover, infrastructure to develop the flower industry is still poor. Some companies have invested in new technologies, but most households and companies still use out-of-date equipment. They grow flowers along with vegetables, and their flowers cannot meet the demands of importers.
A modern distribution system had not been established, nor had a wholesale market, said Duong. Farmers had not changed their ways. Their organisational and management skills were not good.
Due to these weaknesses, local farmers cannot expand their markets and are not able to sign long-term contracts.
To overcome these challenges, experts have said that the city needed an overall strategy to develop areas specialising in flower growth. Financial and technological support will also be necessary.
The province should organise many conferences so that flower growers could meet each other and share experiences and find new markets, experts said.
vietnamnews
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