Digging ditches in the garden to grow water lily crops to make vegetables, farmers live well

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The model of digging ditches and intercropping water lilies in the orchard of Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh’s household in Tan Thanh hamlet, Bung Tau town, Phung Hiep district, Hau Giang province has brought high income.

The model of digging ditches in the garden to grow water lilies to sell as clean vegetables for Mr. Chinh’s family (Bung Tau town, Phung Hiep district, Hau Giang province) contributes to economic development while waiting for the main fruit trees to be harvested.

Digging ditches in the garden to plant cotton crops to make vegetables, farmers live well - 1
Digging trenches in the fruit garden to grow water lily is a way of intercropping that is bringing high economic efficiency to Mr. Chinh’s family, Bung Tau town, Phung Hiep district, Hau Giang province.

Water lily often grows in ponds or low-lying areas in the flood season and is used by people as food, as a field vegetable, as a clean vegetable to enrich meals for the family. 

In order to take advantage of the water surface area in the orchard, many households in Bung Tau town, Phung Hiep district, Hau Giang province have chosen Da Lat water lily (red water lily) to intercrop to increase their income. family.

When asked about the reason for choosing water lily as an intercropping crop in his family’s plum garden, Mr. Chinh shared: “Growing water lily only needs to take advantage of the water surface area to grow, low investment cost, low cost. care. After planting 2 months to 2.5 months, water lily can be harvested. 

Growing water lily is also quite simple, water lily is transplanted into each bush, each bush is about 2m apart. If grown with water lily, it is possible to incubate on young mud for the tubers to germinate before transplanting to increase the survival rate.

Digging ditches in the garden to grow cotton crops to make vegetables, farmers live well - 2
Da Lat water lily planted in a ditch in an orchard in Bung Tau town, Phung Hiep district, Hau Giang province has been bundled and waiting for traders to come and buy it.

At first, the amount of cotton is small, but after a while, the water lily will spread all over the ditch. The deeper the water level, the more muddy the ditch bottom, the stronger the water lily will grow. 

After each year of harvest, in the dry season, the water lily will wither, but if you take good care of it, keep the water in the ponds and ditches, and apply more fertilizer, then the water lily will grow well.”

With an area of ​​1 ha of plum trees, Mr. Chinh took advantage of the ditch area to intercrop water lily. Currently, water lily is harvesting about 400kg – 500kg of water lily each time.

Each water lily harvest is about 5 days apart, with the selling price of water lily ranging from 4,500 VND/kg to 5,000 VND/kg, Mr. Chinh earns about 12 million VND and 144 million VND/year on average per month. 

After harvesting, the cotton is cut and bundled into bundles, traders come to the house to buy.

The model of intercropping is not new in Bung Tau town. But to choose the right crops for intercropping in orchards like Mr. Chinh’s garden is not easy. 

The model of digging trenches in the garden to grow water lilies contributes to an additional income for the family, but it is also one of the development directions for fruit growers who want to increase their income on the same cultivated area. This is also an effective agricultural economic model that can be replicated in Bung Tau town, Phung Hiep district, Hau Giang province

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