Ninh Binh (VNS/VNA) - Local farmersin the northern province of Ninh Binh’s Ninh Binh city have earned a betterliving by applying hi-tech farming practices.

Vu Van Bang, of Ninh Phuc commune’s Doai Thuongvillage, has changed his life by applying technology in growing flowers overthe last couple of years.

Bang said he used to plant a lot of vegetablesto earn a living, but the income was not enough to cover his family’s expenses.

He decided to try another method, plantingflowers instead of vegetables. However, everything is hard before it is easy. Hisincome was largely unchanged after planting daisies, roses and gladiolusflowers in his garden.

Bang spent many nights to thinking about theproblem. He even came to localities that were very successful in growingflowers to learn from the farmers’ experiences.

Then he discovered that the method he used toplant his flowers was outdated. “It needed to be changed to catch up withcurrent trends,” he said.

When he returned to his hometown in 2016, Bangdecided to apply a hi-tech farming model.

He built solid grid, bought weed control fabricand starting running an automatic irrigation system on his 1.800sq.m garden.

Bang earned 480 million VND (20,700 USD) in 2016and 570 million VND (24,600 USD) in 2017.

He plans to triple the area of his garden in thetime to come. Bang is not the only success story.

Pham Van Hung of the commune’s Ninh Son wardtripled his income within one year after building an automatic irrigationsystem in his turmeric field.

He brought in 270 million VND (11,600 USD) lastyear from cultivating herbs and old and antique roses.

Hung also used the automatic irrigation systemin his garden. The system helped him save water and cut down on labourers, whohad been tasked with watering the flowers every day.

The commune’s Ninh Phuc Garden Cooperative hasalso built an automatic irrigation system.

Data from the cooperative showed that using theirrigation system had led to a 60 percent reduction in its total water usage.

The improvement of residents’ income is alsothanks to the local authorities’ encouragement.

The city administration issued a policy toencourage individuals and organisations to apply science and technology inproduction.

First, local growers would receive a water feediscount and exemption. In Vietnam, irrigation systems in fields were built bylocal authorities with funds from the State budget. Farmers had to pay a fee touse the irrigation system each year.

Second, local growers were given free trainingcourses to update their skills and knowledge of hi-tech farming models.

Furthermore, last year the city built fourhi-tech farming models for vegetables and flowers, covering a total area ofover 2,500sq.m, so that local growers could learn how to apply the models intheir own gardens.

This support has made the city a bright spot inthe province’s cultivation sector.-VNS/VNA