Higher income from growing herbs
While quickly pulling celery to prepare for delivery to traders, Ms. Le Thi Tan in Lua village (Doan Thuong commune) said that her family has 3 sao specializing in growing herbs, mainly celery and leeks. This year, the weather is favorable so the vegetables grow well, yielding about 1.3-1.5 tons/sao of each type. The selling price of each kilo of leeks is about 18,000 VND, celery is 7,000 VND/kg, her family earns about 10 million VND/sao of leeks, 5-6 million VND/sao of celery. "Compared to cauliflower, kohlrabi... growing herbs brings in a higher income of 3-6 million VND/sao," Ms. Tan said.
Ms. Doan Thi Thuy's family in the same village as Ms. Tan also planted 3 sao of celery, and has now basically finished harvesting. After deducting expenses, her family earns 5 million VND per sao. "Compared to other plants, the cost of growing celery is low, only 1-1.2 million VND/sao. The care is also simple, so growers do not spend much time, suitable for families with few workers or large vegetable areas," Ms. Thuy shared.
Farmers in Gia Loc district (Hai Duong) harvest celery.
In addition to focusing on the winter crop, people also choose to grow in the summer-autumn crop. Mr. Hoang Van Thu in Toan Thang commune said that celery and leeks prefer the cold, so they grow and develop better in the winter. In the summer, the weather is hot and sunny, and there are frequent storms, so growing is more difficult and requires more effort. "I have to make a dome to cover the plants. In the summer, the plants grow and develop slowly, so it takes 4-5 months to harvest and the yield is only 7-8 quintals/sao, but in return, the selling price is higher than the winter crop, maybe 60,000-80,000 VND/kg. For each sao, my family also makes a profit of more than ten million VND," said Mr. Thu.
Crop rotation suitable for herbs
Although it brings higher economic efficiency than some other crops, growing herbs in Gia Loc also faces difficulties, with more and more pests and diseases appearing. According to Mr. Nguyen Van Ngo, Director of Toan Thang Commune Agricultural Service Cooperative, in recent years, the area of herbs in the locality has increased significantly, to about 10 hectares, mainly in Bai Ha village. However, recently, vegetables have been infected with many pests and diseases if not properly cared for.
Ms. Dang Thi Quyen in Lua village (Doan Thuong commune) said that celery is often affected by root rot and aphids, while leeks are affected by red spider mites. The reason is that people have been cultivating for many years, and the soil still has the seeds of pests and diseases.
“There are times when there are too many pests and diseases, so more care is needed. My current experience is that we need to rotate crops regularly, each crop growing a different type of vegetable because each vegetable plant has a different type of pest and disease. Doing so will eliminate the source of pests and diseases,” said Ms. Quyen.
According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Gia Loc district, the whole district has about 30 hectares of spices including celery, leeks, chili, coriander... grown by people in Doan Thuong, Toan Thang, Pham Tran communes... in many different crops.
Although this area is not large, compared to other crops, herbs bring higher income. To develop and expand the area of herbs, farmers need to carefully study market demand, arrange crops reasonably, and avoid oversupply. At the same time, pay attention to care measures to limit pests and diseases.
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