Vỹ is an experienced gardener in Van Thanh flower village. His 1.7 hectares of roses and lilies is worth more than 50 thousand USD. Vỹ hope to increase his income through flower sales. But prices for flowers have been dropping due to an unstable domestic market. Exports offer a stable market and higher prices, but such routes don’t come easy.
Nguyen Hung Vy, Ward 5, Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province said: We do export our flowers but not a lot since their standards are too high, we don’t meet the requirements.
A lack of standards is the main reason for low export results. Only about 10% of the 5 billion flower stem from Lam Dong are exported annually. These barriers have been identified by the Dalat Flower Association for years, but the difficulties lies in changing production technologies that have become familiar to Lam Dong farmers.
Nguyen Dinh Son, Chairman, Dalat Flower Association said: Our weak points are consistency in quality and the ability to supply large volumes. We can improve through government policy but growers and businesses need to update their technology, invest in facilities and most importantly, the quality of flowers must be consistent.
Consistency is often the first requirements from global customers. Lam Dong flower farms and green houses are low tech environments. Moreover, to invest in green houses, farmers need to spend at least 50 to 100 thousand USD.
Nguyen Hung Vy, Ward 5, Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province said: Lam Dong flower growers have the skills and experience, but the important thing is technology. We don’t have capital to invest in equipment and technologies such as greenhouses.
The key to promoting international integration for the flower industry is through technological change. Thanks to the Dalat Flower Festival, investors can see the potential in investing in flower farms and farmers can access new technologies.
According to Dalat Flower Association, Dalat has 4 thousand hectares of flowers, with an annual growth of nearly 15%. International experts believe that Dalat has the potential to become ONE OF Asia's leading flower growers. The remaining problem lies in removing barriers to technology investment./.
