To make ornamental plants a key economic sector

Economic efficiency

With a passion for ornamental plants, recently, Mr. Tran Trieu Vu (47 years old), in Nguyen Nghiem ward ( Quang Ngai city) has been diligently collecting many valuable bonsai trees. Among them, there are many ancient bonsai trees, hundreds of years old.

The ornamental garden of high economic value of Mr. Tran Trieu Vu, in Nguyen Nghiem ward (Quang Ngai city).

After 5 years of "getting involved" in the profession of producing and trading ornamental plants, Mr. Vu said that on average, each year, ornamental plants bring him a revenue of about 2 billion VND. Of which, each ornamental plant sold has a price of 200 million VND or more. "Choosing to trade ornamental plants with a high price segment, the annual cost of tree care is also very large. On average, each year, I create regular jobs for 4 workers. Of which, the remuneration for artisans who trim ornamental plants is about 1 million VND/day. To promote the products, each year I participate in about 10 exhibitions of ornamental plants in and outside the province. This is the profession, you have to invest and put all your passion and enthusiasm into it to reap the results", Mr. Vu confided.

Having been involved in the production and trading of ornamental plants for 24 years, Mr. Huynh Thai Thuan, in Nghia Chanh Ward (Quang Ngai City) not only produces and trades ornamental plants of high economic value, but also owns nurseries and displays of more than 500 types of flowers, urban trees, and indoor and outdoor decorative plants in the affordable price segment, with a total area of ​​up to 15,000 square meters. “I am both proactive in the production process and have a store displaying and trading ornamental plants. Thanks to that, the products I make go directly to consumers, without going through intermediaries. The income from this profession not only helps me take care of my family but also creates stable jobs for 10 workers,” said Mr. Thuan.

Artist Nguyen Phuong Uyen always makes her mark with her artistic bonsai works grown in ceramic pots with special shapes. Photo: NVCC

Making use of seemingly discarded ceramics to create many artistic bonsai pots, artisan Nguyen Phuong Uyen (54 years old), in Tran Phu ward (Quang Ngai city) is known by the Quang Ngai bonsai community as the “wizard” of broken ceramic pieces. The works of this talented artisan when brought to “introduce” at bonsai exhibitions always attract the attention of bonsai lovers.

Talking about the advantages of the ornamental plant profession, Mr. Nguyen Phuong Uyen said that the ornamental plant profession is quite suitable for the characteristics of the city - where the agricultural land area is increasingly narrowing. Like my ornamental plant garden, with only a rooftop area of ​​about 100m2, I can still take advantage of it to produce and trade in ornamental plants.

In recent years, the production and business of ornamental plants in Quang Ngai City has gradually shifted from developing individually for each garden to connecting with teams, groups, clubs, and professional associations.

Members of Thien But Bonsai Art Club (Quang Ngai City) share experiences in caring for bonsai.

Established in August 2024, Thien But Bonsai Art Club (Quang Ngai City) has become a place for owners of bonsai art gardens to exchange, learn experiences and support each other in production and business. In less than 1 year since its establishment, the club has grown from 40 members to 62 members. Most of the club members are owners of large gardens, with the commercial value of each garden ranging from 500 million VND to tens of billions of VND.

“We share with each other everything from bonsai care experience to input materials. Through that, we support each other to develop in a more stable and sustainable direction,” said Mr. Le Quang Nghia, in Le Hong Phong ward (Quang Ngai city), a member of the Thien But Bonsai Art Club.

Similarly, the Tinh Long Commune Ornamental Plants Club (Quang Ngai City) has also become a place to connect gardeners and ornamental plant artists. Over the past 5 years, the club has coordinated with units, garden owners, and artists to organize exhibitions and display bonsai art. Thereby, creating opportunities for garden owners to exchange, share experiences and promote products.

Bonsai Art Exhibition (February 2025), organized by Tinh Long Commune Ornamental Plants Club (Quang Ngai City).

According to many garden owners in Quang Ngai City, the demand for ornamental plants in the area has been increasing recently. There is still a lot of room for development in this profession. To meet the market demand, many ornamental plant businesses, especially ornamental plant businesses, have to import raw materials from outside the province because local raw materials cannot meet the demand.

“Owning a nursery, my production and business facilities can only meet 10% of market demand, the rest I have to import raw materials from other provinces and cities. Meanwhile, many types of decorative plants are quite easy to grow, such as the string of pearls tree, the flower tree, the areca tree, although the market demand is quite large, Quang Ngai does not have enough supply. Meanwhile, Quang Ngai province in general and Quang Ngai city in particular, do not lack hard-working farmers who have garden land to grow these types of plants. Therefore, in the coming time, if the local government directs and develops the ornamental plant profession more strongly, we, the producers and traders of ornamental plants, will be able to proactively source raw materials right in the locality, reducing transportation costs from other places,” analyzed the owner of an ornamental plant business in Quang Ngai city.

Vice Chairman of Quang Ngai City People's Committee Nguyen Lam said that according to the review of the Provincial Ornamental Plants Association, the whole province has more than 600 ornamental plant gardens and farms, of which there are about 120 large-scale ornamental plant gardens. Quang Ngai City is the locality with the most large ornamental plant gardens in the province, with more than 60 gardens. Ornamental plants in the city are increasingly developing in depth, bringing high income and creating stable jobs for many local workers. This is also an economic sector suitable for urban agriculture and will be of interest to the locality and promoted for development in the coming time.

Article and photos: Y THU

Source: https://baoquangngai.vn/trang-dia-phuong/thanh-pho-quang-ngai/202504/de-sinh-vat-canh-thanh-nganh-kinh-te-mui-nhon-3b21646/