Farmers in Kim Thanh expect to earn billions of dong from peach blossoms for Tet.

(Baonghean.vn) - During a visit to Kim Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, it's easy to spot vast orchards of lush peach trees.

For peach growers, this is the most crucial time in terms of technical aspects of cultivation, pruning, and shaping, ensuring the peach trees bloom precisely for Tet (Lunar New Year), thus providing an additional source of income at the end of the year.

Ms. Thai Thi Hoa (Trai Mat hamlet) focuses on caring for nearly 1,000 peach trees in her garden.

Mr. Phan Van Thanh, residing in Dong Ban hamlet, has been cultivating peach blossoms for nearly 10 years. His 4 sao (approximately 0.4 hectares) of hillside garden is now covered with nearly 1,000 peach blossom trees, providing him with an average annual income of about 30 million VND from selling peach blossoms during Tet (Lunar New Year). If the weather remains favorable between now and Tet, with the 500 beautiful peach blossom trees currently in his garden, his family expects to earn around 150 million VND.

As for the family of Ms. Thai Thi Hoa (Trai Mat hamlet), they own 7 sao (approximately 0.7 hectares) of hilly land and their garden is also covered with thousands of native peach blossom trees, including many ancient trees that are decades old. During the recent Tet holiday, despite unfavorable weather conditions and prolonged severe cold, thanks to the application of scientific and technical advancements in peach blossom cultivation, the flowers bloomed just in time for Tet, selling at a good price. Her family earned approximately 70 million VND, and they expect to earn much more this year.

Kim Thanh peach blossoms are a native variety of peach blossom that used to grow naturally in forests, its trunks and branches covered in moss, yet still blooming with five delicate pink petals during Tet (Vietnamese New Year). Especially since the government's policy of allocating land and forests to individual households, this peach variety has been cared for and protected by the people, and has been propagated and planted on hillsides or brought back to home gardens.

Mr. Phan Tat Thanh from Dong Ban hamlet shared his secret to getting peach blossoms to bloom just in time for Tet.

Traditionally, at this time in previous years, the peach blossoms would have aged and begun to turn yellow, falling naturally around the middle of November in the lunar calendar, with new shoots and flowers appearing a month later. However, this year, due to unpredictable weather patterns, a prolonged period of severe cold at the beginning of the year, and continuous rain and floods for the past few months, the late cold spell has somewhat affected the growth and development of the trees. Currently, most peach orchards still have lush green leaves. Therefore, peach growers in Kim Thanh are working day and night in their orchards, caring for the trees, preventing the soil from becoming too wet during the rainy season, and regularly pruning to prevent the trees from growing too tall and removing newly sprouted branches. From now until the end of the lunar year, depending on the actual conditions, they will prune the leaves appropriately to ensure the peach blossoms bloom on time.

Although the Lunar New Year of the Rooster 2017 is still nearly three months away, customers from many places inside and outside the province are already coming to Kim Thanh to visit, survey the orchards, and place orders for the Tet holiday.

The beauty of the native peach blossoms of Kim Thanh.

Currently, in Kim Thanh commune, 500 households have invested in peach cultivation on approximately 20 hectares, with many households boldly converting their home gardens into fields for peach trees to generate higher income. Due to the economic benefits and the natural beauty of the local peach variety, in 2014, Kim Thanh commune was granted the "Kim Thanh Peach Blossom" trademark certification by the Vietnam Intellectual Property Association. This serves as encouragement, helping people to foster creativity and boldly invest in development, aiming to restructure the agricultural and rural economy.

Thanks to growing and selling peach blossoms during Tet (Lunar New Year), many households have escaped poverty and become well-off.

Mr. Nguyen Van Quan, Chairman of the Kim Thanh Commune People's Committee, said: The local government has issued a specialized resolution on the development of peach cultivation, considering it one of the key economic crops, very suitable for the semi-mountainous area of ​​the commune. Accordingly, every year the Commune People's Committee has policies to support the people, coordinating with the Agricultural Extension Station and the District Ornamental Plants Association to organize many training courses and transfer advanced scientific and technical knowledge for peach cultivation, thereby helping farmers gain more knowledge, feel secure in production, and ensure an income of 50-60 million VND/sao (1 sao = 360 square meters).

Sun

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