Successfully growing wild pennywort in the home garden

Like other farming households in Quynh Van, in the past, Mr. Dau Duc Can's family in Hamlet 9, Quynh Van Commune, Quynh Luu District intensively cultivated vegetables such as tomatoes, mustard greens, and coriander. However, the reality is that every household grows vegetables spontaneously, each doing their own thing, so for many years vegetables fell into a situation of good harvests and low prices.

To ensure the pennywort grows well, Mr. Can's family installed an automatic watering system. Photo: Nhu Thuy

In 2013, realizing that pennywort has high economic value, people often dig it in the fields to import for restaurants to make pennywort salad, or dry it to make tea to drink to cool down in the summer, Mr. Can and his wife decided to bring pennywort seeds to grow in the garden to proactively control the source.

At first, the couple traveled around the fields digging up pennywort roots to plant, then the pennywort grew and covered the soil, then they separated the seeds and planted them in other beds. Just like that, from being proactive in the source of seeds, up to now, after 5 years, the family has expanded the pennywort growing area to 4 sao.

According to Mrs. Nguyen Thi Phuong, Mr. Can's wife: The natural gotu kola plant has a sweet, mild aroma, so it is very valuable and popular with customers. In this area, no family has dared to destroy vegetable crops to grow wild vegetables like my family. But thanks to our boldness, for the past 2 years we have had a stable source of regular income. The characteristics of gotu kola are that it grows quickly, is not affected by pests and diseases, so it is less labor-intensive to care for, and does not require the use of any pesticides.

Harvesting pennywort. Photo: Nhu Thuy

Mr. Can also said that as a wild vegetable, it is not affected by pests and diseases, so when planted in the garden, pennywort grows very quickly. It only needs to be fertilized twice a year with organic fertilizer and watered regularly twice a day. Especially due to the high market demand during the recent Lunar New Year, pennywort prices increased sharply to 35,000 VND/kg, his family earned over 200 million VND/year.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ly - a vegetable trader said: Wild pennywort is very rare so it is considered a specialty. The output is stable, currently supply cannot meet demand. Previously, to have a source of vegetables, we had to order people to dig in the fields and collect them, but now we have a vegetable garden where people can grow them so we are more proactive. Currently, pennywort purchased at the garden is 20,000 VND/kg and is supplied to restaurants and hotels to prepare dishes and cooling tea.

In addition to cooking, people also buy pennywort to dry and make a refreshing drink in the summer. Photo: Nhu Thuy

From the success of Mr. Can's family's model of growing pennywort, a specialty with high income, many households inside and outside the commune came to learn and buy seeds to grow./.