The joy of working in the golden medicinal herb fields in Hai Phong

In early January, Mr. Dang Dinh Kem's nearly 2,000 m2 medicinal chrysanthemum garden in Chanh Chu 2 village, Thang Thuy commune, Vinh Bao district was covered in yellow chrysanthemum flowers.

In the middle of the golden fields, the scent of chrysanthemums wafts in the air, the atmosphere is filled with enthusiasm. Ms. Nguyen Thi Ly, a flower picker, said that this job starts from dawn to dusk. Every morning, Ms. Ly wakes up at 4-5 am to prepare to go to the fields, comes back at noon to have a quick bowl of rice and then goes to pick flowers again.

The flower picking fee is 12,000 VND/kg, people pick an average of 8-10 kg/day. Despite the sun and dew on the vast flower fields, people are excited because this year's flower harvest is good, people have jobs and income. "The flower season lasts for more than a month, working regularly is enough money for people to have extra spending for Tet" - Ms. Ly said.

The entire Thang Thuy commune currently has 25 hectares of chrysanthemums. In 2024 alone, due to the impact of storm No. 1, the entire chrysanthemum field next to the Luoc River was flooded and damaged. The fields in the village only have about 7 hectares left for harvest. If the farmers who pick flowers for hire earn 100,000 - 150,000 VND/day, the garden owners earn 10 times more than growing rice. "One sao yields about 2-3 quintals of flowers, some areas are planted late so the yield is lower, only about 1.5 quintals/sao. Each kilogram of flowers is sold for about 50,000 - 55,000 VND/kg, people earn 9-10 million VND/sao, 10 times higher than growing rice" - Ms. Cao Thi Hang, Director of Thang Thuy Cooperative said.

It is known that the medicinal chrysanthemum has been grown experimentally by Thang Thuy people since 2017. At first, there were difficulties in output, but since Thang Thuy Cooperative found a new direction of freeze-drying chrysanthemum into medicinal tea products, up to now, chrysanthemum has become one of the main agricultural products of this locality.

To serve the tea production, the cooperative purchases and selects from gardens grown according to VietGAP standards. Immediately after purchasing, the flowers will be picked clean and freeze-dried to preserve their color and flavor.

Thang Thuy Cooperative's chrysanthemum tea products have achieved 3-star OCOP certification since 2023 and are preparing to "welcome" 4-star OCOP in 2025. Up to now, Thang Thuy chrysanthemum products have covered many stores and supermarkets nationwide, becoming a typical agricultural product of Hai Phong City.