Quynh Luu's perilla, Vietnamese balm, basil... are in high demand.
(Baonghean.vn) - Many farming households in Quynh Van commune, Quynh Luu district have converted some areas of tomato and vegetable cultivation to grow perilla, Vietnamese balm, and basil to supply the market.
With 500m2In her garden, Ms. Le Thi Thuy in Quynh Van commune often grows purple perilla and Vietnamese balm in rotation. Ms. Thuy shared: These are all vegetables that are easy to grow, easy to care for, and rarely have pests or diseases. The plants only grow for about 1.5 months, then the leaves start to be picked for 4-5 months. After harvesting, she takes the products to the market to sell and traders come to her house to buy. At the time when perilla has the highest price of 6,000 - 7,000 VND/bunch, she earns up to 700,000 VND per night by cutting and selling them, sometimes up to 1 million VND.
When the price is at its lowest, she earns 200,000 VND a day with 100 bunches. By planting in alternating seasons, she has herbs to sell 20 days a month.
To have seeds available for the family's year-round planting, in the cold season when perilla and Vietnamese balm bloom, Ms. Thuy often leaves a bed to collect seeds. According to her experience, this type of seed only needs to be dried in mild sunlight, after 2-3 days of sun, carefully wrapped in newspaper and stored in the refrigerator. Before planting a new crop, she takes the seeds out to the environment for 30 minutes, then sows them in the soil, the germination rate will be high.
The family of Mrs. Ho Thi Lan - in hamlet 9, Quynh Van commune, grows 1.5 sao of basil and perilla. Thanks to the addition of nutrients to the plants from fertilizer, phosphorus, nitrogen suitable for each stage, growth period and scientific watering, her family's plants grow quickly. Only needing to plant once, the basil plants can be harvested continuously for 2-3 years, then destroyed to plant a new crop. Moreover, this type of plant rarely has leaf-eating insects, so she does not have to use chemicals, which costs less investment. Every week, she cuts and sells 700 - 1,000 bunches. Over the past time, this type of spice has always been maintained at a price of 2,000 - 4,000 VND/bunch, earning an average of 2 million VND/week.
The entire Quynh Van commune currently has 20 hectares of herbs such as perilla, basil, Vietnamese balm, coriander, pennywort... Some areas are grown by people in the fields, but most are cultivated in home gardens.
Mr. Nguyen The Lai - Vice Chairman of Quynh Van Commune People's Committee said: Although aromatic vegetables are not as economically prominent as tomatoes and mustard greens, they have a very stable income, are easy to care for, and require little use of pesticides. On average in 2023, 1 sao of perilla will reach a value of 40 - 50 million VND; basil 30 - 40 million VND. For coriander, a 2-month planting period will bring people an income of 7 - 8 million VND/sao.
According to market insights, these herbs are currently chosen by many families, restaurants, and hotels to prepare a variety of delicious and nutritious dishes.
Perilla, Vietnamese balm, and basil are also medicinal plants that are very good for health and beauty. In particular, through research on many documents, in Oriental medicine, these aromatic plants are also used as medicines to treat many different diseases. Especially when the Covid-19 pandemic occurred, people used medicinal plants such as perilla and Vietnamese balm to fumigate rooms and treat diseases.
