Lotus flowers fill the rice fields with their fragrance.

With a determination to develop the economy , the family of Mr. Lung Duc Hieu (Nam Ooc village, Nam Lu commune, Muong Khuong district) has converted their low-yield rice cultivation area to lotus farming, bringing high efficiency.

On a scorching summer day at the end of May, we had the opportunity to visit a lotus pond spanning over 1 hectare in Nam Ooc village, Nam Lu commune, belonging to the family of Mr. Lung Duc Hieu. Leading us around the pond, Mr. Hieu said: "The decision to abandon rice farming and switch to lotus cultivation has changed my family's life. Everyone here grows rice, so when I brought lotus here, many people were worried about its success. But when the lotus took root, bloomed with fragrant flowers, and yielded a high income, everyone was happy."

According to Mr. Hieu, his family's rice paddies were previously used for rice cultivation, but due to the low-lying terrain, yields were low, and some seasons resulted in total crop failure. In early 2022, after discussing with his wife, he decided to invest over 100 million VND to switch from rice cultivation to lotus farming. After researching, he found that the Quan Am lotus has large, beautiful flowers with many petals, a captivating fragrance, and lasts a long time, while the Juwaba lotus has double pink petals that spread wide in layers surrounding a yellow pistil, creating an elegant and delicate beauty. Importantly, both lotus varieties are easy to grow and have high economic value, so his family decided to invest in cultivating these two varieties.

After the Lunar New Year, Mr. Hieu and his wife began preparing the land, buying seeds and necessary materials to plant lotus. However, the conversion did not go as they had hoped. Initially, despite diligent care, the plants grew slowly, and over 60% died. Undeterred, he researched and learned how to care for lotus plants and prevent and control pests and diseases. After understanding their characteristics and knowing how to care for them properly, the lotus plants began to bloom.

The Quan Am lotus and Jubawa lotus varieties are harvested from March to October according to the lunar calendar. A unique and outstanding feature of growing these lotus varieties is the daily harvest of flowers. To ensure healthy growth and abundant flowering, Mr. Hieu regularly fertilizes the plants with organic fertilizer once a month. During the harvest season, rain or shine, he and his wife are always at the pond early in the morning to pick the flowers. According to Mr. Hieu, growing lotus for daily harvesting is advantageous. Furthermore, while the initial investment in planting is minimal, after that, it only requires care and harvesting.

However, when they first started growing flowers, not many people in the area knew about it, so Mr. Hieu and his wife mainly sold them at the local market. Seeing that there were few customers, he looked for a new way to sell them. With his understanding of social media, he realized it was an easy way to promote his products to a wider audience, so he and his wife took photos and videos and posted them on Facebook and TikTok. The results came quickly. Through their social media accounts, customers contacted them to order flowers in large numbers, and at times, the supply couldn't meet customer demand.

Initially, I only sold about 60-70 lotus flowers a day, with the most I sold being 100. After posting on social media, the number of customers contacting me to order lotus flowers increased significantly, and I now sell an average of 200 flowers a day. On holidays, full moon days, and the first day of the lunar month, my family sells around 500 flowers a day, with prices ranging from 5,000 to 5,500 VND per flower.
Mr. Lùng Đức Hiểu, Nấm Oọc village, Nấm Lư commune, Mường Khương district

Thanks to effective social media marketing, Mr. Hieu has now gained a fairly wide market for his products. Social media has also helped many people learn about and visit his family's lotus pond. Besides growing lotus for its flowers, Mr. Hieu has also invested in creating a scenic environment for tourists to take photos at the pond.

With hard work and perseverance, Mr. and Mrs. Lùng Đức Hiểu have successfully cultivated lotus plants in Nấm Lư commune, bringing high economic efficiency, beautifying the environment, and contributing to the socio-economic development of the locality.

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