In the chilly weather of the last months of the year, flower growing villages in the province seem to be busier with the work of taking care of flowers to serve the Tet market. And behind that brilliant beauty are the efforts to preserve and nurture the traditional profession of many generations of people.
People in Phuong Vien flower and ornamental plant growing village take care of chrysanthemums for Tet.
Beautiful for life, rich for yourself
The province has 6 flower growing villages, of which 3 are peach blossom growing villages, 3 are fresh flower growing villages combined with other ornamental plants, with an average revenue of 4-7 billion VND/village/year. The villages were all established about 30, 40 years ago, or even longer, so they play an important role in the local economic development and become a unique cultural feature.
Phuong Vien flower and ornamental plant craft village, Tan Phuong commune, Thanh Thuy district has 20 households growing peach trees, 15 households growing fresh flowers with an area of over 3 hectares, with a revenue of 4 billion VND/year. Seemingly familiar with the sudden visits of strangers to learn about the craft village, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nho - Head of the craft village warmly welcomed the guests, his voice was emotional and a bit proud when talking about the flower growing profession that was formed in the 50s of the last century. The generations who opened the flower craft village at first only grew flowers such as dahlias, roses, gerberas... to serve the needs of their families, selling in the village, not having the conditions to bring flowers to sell everywhere like now. It is the flower growing that has shaped, built and has a certain position in the lives and activities of the people. He slowly calculated: "Fresh flowers bring in an average revenue of 60 million VND/sao/crop, minus expenses, half is left. The main types of flowers are chrysanthemums, gladiolus, and lilies. The planting time is from 3.5 to 4 months. Flowers are grown year-round in a rotational manner. There will be a season when the land will rest, but during Tet, the harvest time is from the 15th of December to the 15th of January. The maximum area will be planted because Tet accounts for more than 50% of the revenue. The flower growing profession has its ups and downs, but until now, people have still been able to follow the profession. The profession of beautifying life and enriching ourselves is something that we are very excited about."
In the middle of the flower land, the farmers' stories help us understand more about their profession and their love for the profession. Growing flowers is a lot of work, but to make the flowers bloom on the right day, week, and Tet holiday is not only a matter of experience but also the application of science and technology in the fields. Gardeners control the season with techniques such as: covering, lighting, preventing pests, stimulating flowers to bloom... especially how to watch the weather to plant, care for, and harvest at the right time.
Not as old as Phuong Vien flower village, the flower growing profession in Thuong flower village, Tien Du commune, Phu Ninh district was formed nearly 30 years ago. But that amount of time is enough to help people have the techniques to grow and care for flowers, and understand the characteristics of each species. The craft village has 32 households growing flowers with an area of about 3 hectares. Previously, in addition to rice, the main source of income for people was fruit trees and vegetables. Since about 1999, Thuong villagers have gone to flower growing areas in and outside the province to learn experiences and techniques in growing flowers and buy seeds to grow. The calloused, rough hands that were only familiar with rice and corn meticulously take care of each flower bush. From the original rose variety, up to now, the flower structure in Thuong village has been diverse in species; there are dozens of chrysanthemums alone.
To help us understand how much effort is put into growing flowers, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tai, the village head, compared that when the kitchen smoke disperses in the morning sunlight, the flower growers have gone to the fields and by night the flower fields are still bright to stimulate flower growth. During peak season, eating and sleeping with the flowers is a common thing. Every year when the weather is favorable, flower growers are more relaxed, but on the contrary, when the weather is harsh, it takes a lot of effort to take care of them. Then the storms and frost also make farmers "flutter". But his face relaxes when talking about the results of the profession: "In the past, every family had difficulties, since the flower profession, life has become much more prosperous. Although it is hard, the income is high, thanks to that, children can eat and study properly, and the house is also more spacious. For the Tet flower crop, we plant seeds from the beginning of the 10th lunar month, put in a lot of effort and look forward to the flower crop at the end of the year".
Hope the profession develops
The story of preserving and passing on the profession has always been a concern of any craft village in the flow of urbanization and market economy. Because flower growing requires technical skills and depends on the weather, it takes a lot of labor. In order for the profession to develop, flower villages must also research the market and find new varieties to suit customer tastes.
Caring for and shaping peach trees at Phuong Vien flower and ornamental plant growing village.
Leading us down to visit the kumquat fields, in the smooth dark green color, we could see the plump fruits turning yellow, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nho - Head of Phuong Vien flower and ornamental plant growing village excitedly said: "Growing fresh flowers brings seasonal income, while peach and kumquat trees bring harvest during Tet. A variety of trees brings a stable source of income, and we also hope to preserve the profession. It sounds simple, but to grow different types of trees, we have to learn how to prune and shape the peach trees to bloom in time for Tet; to grow kumquat trees with big fruits and beautiful canopy is a whole process. In fact, the flower growing profession brings a stable income, there is no tree that can replace the flower tree, so the number of households that grow flowers is basically still maintained, there is a continuation of the younger generation, there are families with 2, 3 generations attached to the profession and developing fresh flower business services. We also hope that the profession will continue to be passed down through the generations".
This year, affected by storm No. 3, prolonged heavy rains caused flooding, all flower villages suffered more or less damage, and people in the flower village were more worried. For households growing fresh flowers, they had to plant the second or even third time. Mr. Nguyen Dai Nhan is one of the households growing the most flowers in Phuong Vien flower village with 10 sao of chrysanthemums, 300 kumquat trees, and 1,000 peach trees. Pointing to the newly planted flower fields, Mr. Nhan sadly said: "Growing flowers requires techniques and choosing according to the weather to adjust accordingly, but in a historic flood like the one in September this year, we had to endure it, 2 sao of chrysanthemums were ready to be harvested and hundreds of peach trees died, causing a preliminary loss of 200 million VND. This job is really hard, but it is a passion, and people do not give up the job, the job does not disappoint people". His eyes lit up with joy when talking about his son who is studying at university, majoring in agriculture, and after graduating, he will probably follow his father's footsteps.
Thuong flower village (Tien Du commune, Phu Ninh district) grows chrysanthemums in batches, for year-round harvest.
To preserve the craft villages, localities have proposed solutions on craft village planning, infrastructure investment, vocational training... so that the craft can continue. Because in some flower craft villages, the youngest worker is over 40 years old. Comrade Nguyen Hong Chat - Vice Chairman of Tien Du Commune People's Committee said: "The challenge for craft villages is the gradual lack of young workers. In Thuong flower craft village, the majority of workers are middle-aged, the majority of young people work in industrial parks and clusters or go abroad to work, so households in the craft actively work and exchange labor. The commune is researching and orienting the re-planning of craft villages in terms of scale, methods of organizing activities and mobilizing resources to invest in internal transportation in flower growing areas to create conditions for the craft to develop sustainably".
The Provincial People's Committee has issued a Plan to implement the Program for preserving and developing craft villages in Phu Tho province for the period 2022-2030 to preserve and promote the values and traditional cultural identities of craft villages with comprehensive solutions on preserving and developing craft villages; preserving and promoting the values of artisans; promoting trade, building product brands; training human resources; applying scientific and technological advances... Implementing the Plan will contribute to promoting the development of flower craft villages in particular and craft villages in the province in general.
Leaving the flower village, our hearts were still filled with the colors and scents and the simple but passionate stories of the people. We hope that they will have bumper flower seasons, so that their efforts to preserve the profession will be duly rewarded and in the future, the craft villages can take advantage to develop tourism associated with agriculture, so that the craft villages can become destinations rich in identity.
Nguyen Hue
Source: https://baophutho.vn/gin-giu-vun-dap-nghe-truyen-thong-224573.htm
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