The tree has just been shaped and has customers taking it
Having been attached to the profession of planting and shaping lucky bamboo trees for more than 20 years, Mr. Nguyen Dang Nghi and Mrs. Hoang Thi Hue (in Tien Hung commune) are too familiar with the busy atmosphere every year-end occasion. His family currently plants about 5 sao of lucky bamboo trees, considering this as the main source of income.
These days, in the family's yard, the trees are arranged in neat molds. Ms. Hue is in charge of arranging the trees and shaping them, while Mr. Nghi directly cuts and adjusts to complete the products according to customer requirements. The work takes place continuously from early morning to late at night.
Mr. Nghi said that at this time, customers have come to take almost all the trees in the garden. Most customers are wholesalers, coming from localities such as Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh. "As soon as the trees are produced, customers take almost all of them. There are regular customers who book in advance every year" - Mr. Nghi shared.
According to him, on average, each Tet crop, the family sells about 1,000 - 1,500 trees, depending on the design and size. To have beautiful and timely products, care has started very early. "From July of the lunar calendar, it is necessary to fertilize and prune evenly, until the end of the year to have beautiful and healthy trees" - Mr. Nghi added.
Right next to Mr. Nghi's house is the family of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Quyen - one of the households with many years of experience in distributing fortune in the locality. Her family has 4 sisters who all grow and trade products from fortune trees all year round, but the peak is still Tet.
These days, Ms. Quyen and her father are urgently completing the last plants to deliver to customers in time. According to her, every year the family sells all the prepared plants. "The customers are mainly long-term acquaintances, they order early, so I just focus on making it in time" - Ms. Quyen said.
Regarding designs, Ms. Quyen said that this year, some styles are favored by customers such as multi-story towers, smooth sailing, shapes with feng shui and fortune meanings. The product prices are quite diverse, from about 100,000 VND to several million VND, suitable for many customer segments. "Houses that play small have small trees, houses that want to display beautifully and luxuriously have large trees and elaborate designs" - she said.
Fortune-giving profession brings "huge" income at the end of the year
According to Mr. Nguyen Huu Trung - Board of Directors of Minh Tan Agricultural Cooperative, the profession of growing and processing products from lucky bamboo trees in the locality has been formed for about 20 years and is increasingly developing, becoming an important livelihood for many households.
Mr. Trung said that products from lucky bamboo trees are currently sold out as soon as they are produced, especially at the end of the year. "People are very excited because lucky bamboo trees bring in a decent income, even a'huge' income in the months leading up to Tet. This time they make a lot but sell very quickly" - Mr. Trung said.
Not only bringing high economic efficiency in the Tet season, the craft of making products from lucky bamboo also creates jobs for people in their spare time. According to Mr. Trung, at the time when rice is not cultivated, many workers in the commune participate in cutting, arranging, and shaping lucky bamboo for production households.
When not farming, people go to work to distribute lucky items, each day they also have an income of about 200,000 VND, which is both more money to cover living expenses and to take advantage of idle farming time" - Mr. Trung shared.
According to Mr. Trung, many consumers believe that displaying lucky bamboo trees in the house during Tet will bring good luck and help homeowners develop fortune and prosperity. Therefore, in recent years, products from lucky bamboo trees have become increasingly popular.
Local people constantly improve designs, diversify styles, and improve quality, from traditional trees to shapes with feng shui meaning such as layered towers, smooth sailing, meeting the increasing tastes of the market.
