Vietnam Flower Exports Hit Obstacles

Vietnam Flower Exports Hit Obstacles

In the current context of development, flower growing is considered as one of the means of eliminating hunger and making high earnings in Vietnam. According to some statistics, farmers can gain up to VND400-5000 million from each hectare under flower cultivation, much higher as compared to that of only VND50 million from rice plantation.

Extremely fascinated by such a huge profit, authorities in many provinces and cities nationwide have strongly encouraged farmers to shift their rice cropland into growing flowers over recent years.

At present, flower growing localities in Vietnam are not only satisfying domestic demand but also selling their products abroad. Many Vietnamese flower varieties, including rose, daisy, and dahlia, are widely favored in such selective markets as the US, Japan, and the Netherlands. Vietnam’s flower export volume has, however, remained low in recent years due to low quality of the product.

Meanwhile, Vietnam still had to import a lot of rare flower varieties and flower-growing technology across the country is entirely reliant on foreign firms. Thus, only the foreign-invested businesses have obtained opportunities to export flowers. The remainders are small-scaled flower trading farms, which specialize on supplying flowers for the local market.

Also, lack of post-harvest flower maintenance techniques has recently hindered many flower orchards to boost their flower exports. To deal with the situation, several flower-growing localities including Sa Pa in northern Lao Cai province and Da Lat in central highlands Lam Dong province have already held national flower festivals, creating chances for flower orchards and enterprises to exchange their experiences and for travel agencies to arrange special tours to attract more tourists.

“Flower festivals are a way to honour the beauty of flowers,” said Nguyen Hai Giang, the director of Thang Loi Trade and Investment Company, adding that the scale of the festivals should be enlarged in order to attract more both domestic and foreign guests and to boost flower exports.

According to Mr. Giang, promotion activities for the Vietnamese flowers have been so weak that flower festivals have drawn little participation from foreign guests despite their large scale. Sharing the same points with Mr. Giang, the chairman of Lam Dong Association of Sinh Vat Canh, Che Dang, said, “At the moment, almost all flower enterprises are encountering much difficulty in flower exports, resulting in the fact that exports account for a small portion of only 10% while the remaining 90% are sold out in the domestic market. Da Lat city is a clear example.

The city now has a total 3,000 flower orchards, of which just 6-7 are able to sell their flowers abroad. These flower exporters are entirely reliant on foreign companies in financial investment, saplings and seedlings, flower-growing technology application, and new overseas market expansion.”

Insufficient investment, low-quality flower saplings and seedlings, inappropriate flower growing technology, and weak market expansion research have hindered their flower exports. All orchards have are fertile land and a few traditional growing techniques. The labour forces are available but incapable of applying advanced flower-growing know-how.

Thus, it is not exaggerating the situation to say that the Vietnamese are being hired on their own land. The flower growers need more financial and technical supports from both inside and outside. Almost all flower orchards at Quang An ward in Tay Ho district are operating under small-scaled models without having paid due attention to surveying market demand and seeking for suitable flower varieties. As a result, the number of the local flower orchards has been dropping over the recent years, according to the director of Anh Tri Ltd. Co, Nguyen Van Kinh. The district has also witnessed a sharp decrease in its flower cultivation acreage due to the process of urbanization. Consequently, none of the local flower enterprises can secure big orders.

In the near future, cities and provinces nationwide should find their own ways to wipe out such above-mentioned obstacles in order to establish a new flower-growing industry. To this end, more investments are being called for the establishment of flower-specialized growing areas and the renovation of flower-growing technology. Moreover, domestic flower enterprises are also urged to take notice of promotional activities with aims to setting up a firm foothold for the Vietnamese flowers in the world market.

• Kim Phuong