Hoàng Minh Thắm (left) at his peach tree garden in Trúc Sơn Village, Toàn Sơn Commune, the northern province of Hoà Bình.— VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Hải

HOÀ BÌNH — Local growers in the northern province of Hoà Bình have taken advantage of the cool climate to grow peach trees in order to improve their incomes.

Hoàng Minh Thắm, a peach grower with more than ten years' experience from Trúc Sơn Village, Toàn Sơn Commune, said he developed three new varieties of peach blossoms from the native variety, consisting of dark-pink, light-pink and white peach blossoms.

Currently, Thắm has 400 peach trees in his garden, covering an area of over 3,000 sq.m.

“I could earn about VNĐ200-300 million (US$8,800-13,200) each year thanks to growing peach trees,” he said.

He said in recent years, traders in the province and nearby delta provinces often order peach trees through social networking sites such as Zalo and Facebook, therefore, trading is very easy and convenient.

Some agencies and companies have become regular customers over the years, and often rent peach trees for over VNĐ10 million ($440) to decorate their homes during Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, before it is sent back to the garden.

Trần Hồng Hà, from Đà Bắc Town, said his family now owns 300 peach trees, bringing in profit of over VNĐ100 million ($4,400) per year.

Hà said growing peach trees not only requires passion but also demands sophisticated techniques.

He has to seek and buy many perennial peach trees from households in the province to grow in his garden in an attempt to keep the native peach variety.

He also transplanted branches to create different types of peach blossoms to attract more customers, he said.

Bùi Tiến Dũng, an agricultural officer of Toàn Sơn Commune, said the income from growing peach trees is higher than that of crops such as maize, potato and cassava.

The commune has encouraged local farmers to plant peach trees to improve income in recent years, he added.

The whole commune now has 4 ha of peach trees with ten large-scale gardens and dozens of smaller ones, he said.

The commune has also told peach growers to strictly comply with regulations on forest and environmental protection as well as regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control when buying and selling peach trees, he said.

Bùi Khắc Dũng, head of the Agricultural Office of Đà Bắc District, said local growers have made their own commitments to not use chemicals to take care of peach trees to protect the environment and develop the area following the plans of the agricultural sector.

Many local growers now enjoy stable incomes and have escaped poverty thanks to the cultivation of peach trees in the district, he added. — VNS