Mùa A Thu, a Mông ethnic resident in his peach garden in Co Chàm Village, Lóng Luông Commune in the northern mountainous province of Sơn La Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Quang Quyết

SƠN LA — Vân Hồ District in the northern mountainous province of Sơn La Province has around 1,000 hectares dedicated to peach cultivation, with the sale of peach branches and trees providing a stable and lucrative income for local growers during Tết.

Lóng Luông is one of the communes with the largest growing area set aside for peach orchards in the district.

In recent years, the local authorities have encouraged and supported people to plant, invest in and care for peach trees and as a result, peach cultivation has become a key agricultural product and a primary source of income for the ethnic minorities in the area.

Mùa A Thu, a Mông ethnic resident of Co Chàm Village, Lóng Luông commune, has been growing and selling peach branches for the past 15 years.

He recalled that from a young age, he accompanied his grandfather and father to the fields to plant peaches.

In the past, peach trees were primarily cultivated for their fruit, which did not yield high returns.

In recent years, however, many traders from other provinces and cities had come to buy peach branches and trees for resale in lowland markets ready for the Lunar New Year, Tết.

As a result, the value of peach trees had risen, providing more stable and higher earnings for the farmers, he said.

Currently, Thu's family owns nearly four hectares of land which is planted with 500 peach trees.

Trees that were around six years old and older could be sold for their branches at a high price.

Notably, his family has several trees that are 30 years old.

Along with consistent investment in care, the trees produce thick branches with numerous buds and their flowers bloom beautifully and last longer.

Each year, around a month before Tết, traders from Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An and Hà Nội come to place deposits for purchasing peach branches and grafted peach trees.

This year, Thu’s family has sold around 1,000 peach branches, 100 grafted peach tree stumps, worth approximately VNĐ350 million (US$13,950) and earned VNĐ150 million ($5,980) from selling peach fruit.

Mùa A Đùa, a peach grower in Co Chàm Village, Lóng Luông District, has plans to sell nearly 500 peach tree stumps during Tết.— VNA/VNS Photo Quang Quyết

Meanwhile, Mùa A Đùa, also from Co Chàm Village, Lóng Luông District, said that his family once made a living primarily through motorcycle repairs and did not have much land for growing peaches.

However, having noticed the popularity of the region's old peach trees, which were covered in moss and beloved by consumers in the lowlands, he began purchasing old trees from local villagers and grafting them to create new saplings.

This year, Mùa A Đùa plans to sell nearly 500 peach tree stumps, priced between VNĐ1.5 - 15 million ($59-598) each, expecting to bring in a total income of VNĐ1.5 billion ($59,800).

According to several traders, this year’s peach flowers were particularly beautiful and in full bloom just in time for Tết, leading to higher prices compared to previous years.

Depending on the shape, number of buds and the variety of peach, many farmers are also selling grafted trees, with prices ranging from a few million of đồng to tens of millions of đồng for older trees with mossy, rough trunks and aesthetically pleasing shapes.

Nguyễn Ngọc Long, a trader from Thanh Hóa Province, said that for many years, he and his friends had visited Vân Hồ just before Tết to purchase peach branches.

Customers from the lowlands highly favour peaches from Sơn La Province, particularly from Vân Hồ District, as the trees were naturally grown and adapted to the local climate and soil, resulting in large, beautiful flowers and many buds.

Furthermore, the branches were priced at various levels, making them accessible to a wide range of buyers, ensuring they sell quickly without the risk of unsold stock.

Peach trees are now planted around local residents’ homes, in fields and on hillsides, especially in Pa Kha, Lóng Luông and Co Chàm villages within Lóng Luông Commune, as well as in several other highland communes in the district.

During peach blossom season, many local families have also invested in ways to develop a tourism model, inviting visitors to admire the flowers, take photos and experience the local culture.

This has further helped boost the income of local residents.

Giàng A Dê, Chairman of the People's Committee of Lóng Luông Commune, said that peach cultivation was one of the commune's key agricultural activities, with the Tết period being the main harvest season.

In recent years, the commune has organised a Peach Blossom Festival to preserve and promote the cultural traditions of the local ethnic communities, while also showcasing the beauty of the peach blossoms and the natural scenery in the area.

The festival had attracted large numbers of visitors, contributing to the growth of local tourism and helping local farmers sell their peaches more effectively, thus improving their livelihoods and lifting many families out of poverty.

Thanks to favourable natural conditions and climate, local growers who dedicate themselves to peach tree horticulture have been able to enjoy stable incomes in recent years.

As a result, the material and spiritual lives of the district’s ethnic communities continued to improve, he said.— VNS