High-tech profits for flower growers
HCM CITY — The use of advanced technology in the cultivation of flowers and ornamental plants could bring higher profits to the industry in HCM City, an expert has said. Dr Tran Viet My, director of the HCM City Agricultural Promotion Centre, said that earnings from ornamental plants were higher than other agricultural produce.
Speaking at a conference on Thursday, My said the area under cultivation in HCM City had increased to 1,400 ha in June this year from 591.5 ha in 2003.
Most of the plants are grown in the city's outlying districts, including District 12 and Cu Chi, Binh Chanh and Hoc Mon districts.
More farmers are raising plants because of the high economic value and suitable climate of HCM City.
The areas under orchid cultivation rose by 795 per cent, from 20 ha in 2003 to 179 ha in June, the highest growth rate compared to other ornamental plants.
That was followed by apricot plant cultivation, which increased by 160.5 per cent, from 190 ha in 2003 to 495 in June.
However, most farmers have not invested in high-tech methods or cross-breeds, and most quality orchid breeds are imported from Thailand, Taiwan and China.
The number of orchid breeds propagated by the city's Biotechnology Centre does not meet the demand in the city, according to its director Duong Hoa Xo.
Since it opened in 2005, the centre has supplied the market with more than 350,000 orchid breeds and ornamental trees.
It has collected 329 orchid breed strains from different parts of the country, most of them originating from Australia, Taiwan and Thailand, for the purposes of hybridisation and propagation and supplied disease-free breeds to farmers, including 102 rare wild-orchid species.
The climate in the city is conducive to growing more than 260 of the collected orchid strains. — VNS