Turn the wilderness into a lotus pond

Quang Nam: The flooded barren fields with dense reeds were converted by the people of Binh An commune, Thang Binh district, to grow lotus, which brings in four times more income than growing rice.

Go Dai field, Binh An commune is a low-lying, acid sulfate area, so rice cannot be grown. Looking at the abandoned field, overgrown with reeds, Mr. Nguyen Van Thuat regretted and thought of ways to improve it.

Seeing some wild lotus plants growing well, in 2016, Mr. Thuat planted them on a trial basis, with good results. From then on, he rented a machine to dig the soil, build banks to retain water, and form four lotus ponds with an area of 10 sao (one sao is 500 m2).

Mr. Nguyen Van Thuat harvests lotus. Photo: Son Thuy — Mr. Nguyen Van Thuat harvests lotus. Photo: *Son Thuy*

Every crop from the first lunar month, Mr. Thuat buys seeds and releases them into the pond. After more than three months, the lotus begins to flower, and the crop ends at the end of July. The field has a lot of mud and always has water, so the lotus grows well, the calyx is large, and the seeds are big. With 10 sao, every other day he picks about 30 kg of seeds, selling them for 30,000 VND/kg.

Mr. Thuat spent about 10 million VND on seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. Growing lotus is not as hard as growing rice. At the beginning of the season, he just clears the grass, and sprays pesticides after the lotus grows and gets infected. "After deducting expenses, I earn about 60 million VND each season, four times more than growing rice," said the 71-year-old farmer.

At the end of the season, Mr. Thuat drains the pond to catch fish. Under the lotus roots, snakehead fish and carp live and grow in abundance.

Turn reed fields into lotus fields — People harvest lotus. Video : *Son Thuy*

Next to Mr. Thuat's pond, Mr. Chau Thanh Hai planted a hectare of lotus in bloom. Every morning, he and his wife brought tools to the pond to harvest the lotus pods. The area was large, so the couple lined up to harvest. "We harvested the lotus seeds as soon as they were ripe, not too young. When dried, the seeds were very small, and traders did not buy them," Mr. Hai explained.

According to this farmer, this year's hot weather has caused many lotus plants to die, and the yield is not as good as last year. Traders come to buy the output of the products at home, so there is no fear of unsold products. On average, each crop, just from harvesting lotus buds, his family earns nearly 100 million VND.

Mr. Le Hong Thiet, Chairman of Binh An Commune, said that up to now, the whole commune has more than 30 households growing about 15 hectares. In addition to providing a good income, lotus also creates jobs for many elderly people. The owner of the lotus pond brings the lotus flower back to hire the elderly to separate the seeds, the salary is 3,000 VND/kg of seeds. Each session, the person who peels more seeds earns more than 100,000 VND.

Son Thuy

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