According to Lao Dong Newspaper reporters, currently in the peach blossom growing capital of Luu Vinh Son commune (Thach Ha district), peach growers are mobilizing human resources to focus on stripping peach leaves.
Mr. Duong Quang Hoc (43 years old, residing in Kim Son village, Luu Vinh Son commune) is one of the households growing peach trees with the largest area, nearly 1 hectare.
According to Mr. Hoc, his garden currently has about 1,000 peach trees of different ages. This Tet, his garden plans to sell 300 peach trees, and the remaining small trees will continue to be cared for to sell in the following years.
With the vacant land after selling many peach trees for Tet, his family planted additional peach trees. Cultivating in this way ensures that there will be peach trees to sell every Tet, bringing in a steady income every year. At this time, he mobilizes 5-6 workers to strip peach leaves every day.
“Peach blossom growing depends largely on the weather, so we always have to time the pruning so that the peach blossoms will bud more and bloom more on Tet. If the weather is cold, peach growers must pruning earlier, and if the weather is sunny, they will pruning later to avoid the peach blossoms blooming early,” Mr. Hoc shared.
In the peach garden nearby, Mr. Tran Van Hoa's family is also mobilizing relatives to strip leaves from 4 acres of peach land with about 300 peach trees.
According to Mr. Hoa, the price of peach trees sold on the market has many different levels, depending on the shape of the peach tree and the rate of peach blossoms. The expected selling price this year ranges from 300,000 to 500,000 VND/tree. In the days before Tet, traders often come to the peach blossom growing capital here to buy thousands of peach trees in bulk to sell in the city.
Mr. Tran Ba Hoanh - Chairman of the People's Committee of Luu Vinh Son Commune - said that the peach blossom growing profession in Luu Vinh Son Commune has been around for about 30 years. Before, when people did not plant peach trees, the land here was mainly planted with tea and acacia. After some people experimented with planting peach trees, which brought high economic value, the peach growing area has been increasingly expanded.
Up to now, the whole commune has 600 households growing peaches with an area of 112 hectares, of which about 300 households grow peaches in large quantities. This year, it is expected that about 70% of the peach area will be old enough to supply the market, bringing in an income of more than 10 billion VND for the people.
Previously, in 2023, peach growing brought about 10 billion VND in income to local people.
“Peach growing brings in a good income, helping many families in the commune escape poverty, and also creates jobs for some local workers in neighboring areas every Tet holiday,” Mr. Hoanh shared.
