HCM CITY — More investment in the development of orchid breeding and application of advanced biotechnology could make orchids key to HCM City's farming growth, given the flower brings a profit 20 times higher than rice.

HCM City Biotechnology Centre director Duong Hoa Xo said although the city had suitable weather conditions for growing orchids similar to China, Thailand and Taiwan, its orchid farming was at least 20 years behind them in terms of breeding.

At present, HCM City had about 179ha of orchids in the suburban districts of Binh Tan, Nha Be, Cu Chi and District 12, nine times more than in 2004. But imports accounted for 80 per cent of the average 3-5 million stems in demand each year.

Xo said the city had some centres that developed orchid breeds such as the Tropical Biological Institute and the Breed Study Centre and HCM City Biotechnology Centre, but most of them worked on a small scale. As a result, domestic breeders failed to meet the demand.

HCM City Biotechnology Centre currently provides 200,000 saplings of Mokara, Dendrobium, Phalaenopisis and Catlleya per year, a figure that could have been higher if it didn't have to work on other farming products.

Vice Chairman of the Municipal Steering Committee for Agriculture Truong Hoang said last year, Thailand exported as many as 23 million stems of Dendrobium, 153,000 of Mokara and 2.5 million plants to HCM City, proving there was a potential market for orchids.

Local orchid growers prefer foreign breeds not only because of their abundant supply but also due to their high quality, despite the fact that they are more expensive.

A sapling imported from Thailand costs VND4,500-6,500 (US$0.23-0.34) while a domestically produced one costs just VND4,000 (US$0.19)

A farmer in Cu Chi District's Trung An Commune, To Van Vung, earns VND25-28 million (US$1,300-1,500) per month thanks to his 0.25-ha orchid garden. On average, each hectare of orchids brings yearly profits of VND500 million ($26,300) – VND 1 billion ($52,600), 20 times higher than rice, and that would be much higher with Vietnamese breeds.

Vice chairman Hoang said orchids were grown, packed and exported from the city but local producers could not claim that they were original Vietnamese breeds, due to their foreign origin. They also had to pay copyright fees. This is similar to La Xanh, a Lam Dong Province – based company, that pays royalties of $100,000 each year for a Dutch lily.

HCM City's Agriculture Promotion Centre director Tran Viet My said imported breeds from different sources made it difficult to ensure equal quality, which reduced competitiveness in foreign markets.

Director Xo said since 2005, his centre had collected hundreds of species of orchids, including 100 wild Vietnamese orchids, to preserve genetic strains and develop new varieties.

"The centre is experimenting with some hybrid orchids and expects to introduce new varieties in the next three years," said Xo.

In addition, the city succeeded in discovering virus that affected the orchids and designed a process to produce virus-free breeds. — VNS