Thanh Chuong: A 'miserable land' prospers thanks to the nursery business

Lying on both sides of Ho Chi Minh Highway, My Lam hamlet, Thanh My commune has many favorable conditions for agricultural production, especially the nursery industry. Here, the long nurseries identified by advertising signs have created a green and bustling "nursery street". Photo: Huy Thu

According to locals, the acacia nursery profession has appeared in My Lam for nearly 15 years. At first, only a few families followed the profession, but now the whole hamlet has about 160 households working in the acacia nursery profession. Photo: Huy Thu

To grow acacia trees, one must go through many stages, such as preparing the soil, cutting branches, planting in pots, spraying water, turning the trees... To do this job, families must have land to grow mother trees, grow branches, and a spraying system (well, pump, water tank, nozzle system). In addition, they need experience and techniques... Photo: Huy Thu

People in My Lam hamlet mainly grow acacia trees for planting forests and apply branch nursery techniques..According to the locals, this method helps seedlings grow quickly, produce more wood, and is less likely to fall during storms. Photo: Huy Thu

Only when the mother tree garden is well cared for will the branches be of good quality. On average, each mother tree garden will have to be replanted after 3-4 years of cutting branches. Choosing and cutting branches properly is an important factor in growing good seedlings. Photo: Huy Thu

Recently, many households have boldly invested in building automatic irrigation systems, buying more pumps, tilling machines, etc. Some households in the hamlet have rented land in neighboring localities, expanding the scale of their nurseries. To improve product quality, the leading households in the nursery business in My Lam have started building greenhouses. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Le Van Thanh (34 years old), the owner of a tree nursery here, said: “In 2008 - 2009, while traveling to Binh Dinh, my father accidentally learned about the acacia nursery profession. Realizing that this was a new profession with great potential that could bring benefits to the family and the homeland, he decided to send us to study”. Currently, 5 brothers in Mr. Thanh's family are all in the acacia nursery profession. His family alone supplies the market with hundreds of thousands to hundreds of thousands of acacia seedlings each year. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Le Chan Tai (28 years old), a young man who works as a nurseryman in the village, shared: “Although the nursery work is not hard, it requires carefulness, skill, and diligence. On average, my family plants about 10 batches each year, each batch has 150,000 - 200,000 trees. The survival rate of the trees depends a lot on the weather. If there is a lot of sunshine, the seedlings will grow well, reaching 80 - 90%”. According to Mr. Tai, with the current selling price (600 - 700 VND/tree), each successful batch of acacia seedlings can bring his family from 20 - 40 million VND. Families with large nurseries, if the price is good, can earn hundreds of millions of VND. Photo: Huy Thu

Not only does it bring stable income to households, the nursery business also creates regular jobs for hundreds of local workers with an income of 3-6 million VND/person/month. Photo: Huy Thu

Nurseries here operate all year round, from potting, cutting, turning trees, fertilizing, and watering. Taking advantage of many different sales channels (directly, via social networks, etc.), batches of acacia seedlings from My Lam hamlet are continuously exported to all localities in the province and neighboring provinces such as Ha Tinh, Thanh Hoa, Hoa Binh, Quang Tri, etc. Photo: Huy Thu

Thanks to the nursery business, the previously desolate and poor “land” has a new, prosperous appearance, and many households have become prosperous. Along with building and constructing houses, many households have purchased cars, trucks, etc. Currently, households are also interested in advances in nursery techniques and how to have quality seedlings. Photo: Huy Thu