Ochna cultivation in An Tay commune of Ben Cat town has been around for a long time. Initially only a few households planted the plant in their home on the occasion of Lunar New Year; gradually due to the large demand, many households in the commune took advantage of the area around their houses and the land for cultivating ochna. Each year, on the occasion of New Year, thousands of yellow ochna blossoms have been supplied by local families in the market inside and outside the province.
8,000 ochna trees expected to be delivered on Tet
To promote ochna cultivation, in February 2012, An Tay Ochna Blossom Co-operative was established with 19 households involving in ochna cultivation on an area of nearly 10 hectares. Bui Duc Dzung, a member of the cooperative, said that in order to have the ochna blossoms at the right time, farmers have to uphold weather monitoring time and care for the whole year, not just in a few days. The cultivation process for beautiful blooming flowers right on the occasion of Tet not only requires meticulousness and handling techniques, but also knowledge about the art of ochna cultivation and increase the value of ochna trees.
A farmer at An Tay Commune is taking care of his ochna garden to be prepared for Tet. Photo: Q. Nhien
Thanks to favorable weather, the ochna blossom trees bloomed on the occasion of the Lunar New Year of 2017. The An Tay ochna blossom cooperative has provided over 5,000 ochna trees for the market, bringing in over VND 2 billion. It is expected that the Lunar New Year in 2018, cooperative will supply about 8,000 ochna trees to the market in and around the province.
According to Huynh Ngoc Can, Head of the An Tay Ochna Blossom Co-operative, to this time, the weather is relatively favorable for ochna trees. The time from the 13th to 15th of lunar December is an important period, greatly affecting the bloom of flowers on the occasion of Tet. "Three-year investment, three-day yield" is the joke that ochna growers often say to each other during this period. It takes three years for ochna trees to be sold to the market and within 3 days it is decisive to take off the leaves from the trees; early or late leave picking shall affect the bloom at the right time as well as the bloom sizes and appearance.
Well preparation for Tet
Nguyen Le Cong Minh, Chairman of An Tay commune Association of Farmers, now, informed that in the cooperative team planting ochna in An Tay commune, members of least ochna cultivation have even more than 5,000 m2 of land for cultivation. For each 1,000m2 of land, 500-700 ochna roots can be cultivated. On the occasion of Tet, 300 new ochna trees sold to the market could bringing up revenue of VND 200-300 million for net profit not less than 50% of the same.
In recent years, ochna growers in An Tay also take care of and lease ochna from the 25th of lunar December to the 8th of lunar January at prices ranging from 50 to 70% of the value of the tree. After Tet, if needed, the ochna enthusiasts can send back to the gardener for caring of their ochna trees.
Dzung added that he is preparing more than 700 pots of ochna to supply to market in the upcoming Lunar New Year. He is also preparing 300 pots of ochna for lease on Tet. He usually offers lease from the 28th of lunar December to the 7th of lunar January with an average price of VND 2-8 million a tree. In particular, large trees of beautiful canopy and bloom, he would lease from VND 15 to 20 million per tree.
Can informed of better life on switching to ochna cultivation. Averagely, for 1,000 m2 of land, farmers can cultivate about 500 ochna roots; after 3 years of care, each tree could yield the price of VND 2-5 million giving ochna growers nearly VND 200 million of interest. Meanwhile, together with the area mentioned above, rice farmers can only earn about VND 8 million per year.
In order to develop the ochna blossom cooperative in An Tay commune, the local Association of Farmers regularly cooperates with the Ben Cat Town Association of Farmers to provide scientific and technical information to facilitate the members in the team exchanging experience and gradually forming the brand name of An Tay ochna. In addition, from the funds of farmer assistant, members of the team can borrow VND 50 million a person to get more capital resources to expand the scale, develop their garden.
Reported by Quynh Nhien – Translated by Vi Bao
