Evaluation of the possibility of cultivating and trading some wild orchid species in Sa Pa - Lao Cai area

The pot has small holes to create ventilation and prevent the plant from getting waterlogged. The growing medium for Dendrobium can be coconut fiber that has been treated to prevent mold, the best is still a growing medium made of charcoal, which both creates ventilation and is less likely to rot, so it will not affect the growth of the orchid.

When the substrate in the pot is wet, it will rot and settle to the bottom of the pot, creating a layer of waterlogged humus that causes the roots of the plant to rot. Due to survival instinct, at this time the orchid will grow some seedlings on the top of the pseudobulbs (also known as keiki seedlings) to maintain the breed. When this phenomenon occurs, we must immediately change the pot and new substrate for the orchid [20].

The method of propagating young plants growing on the top of the stem (cutting) is very simple. We can separate the young plant from the mother plant by making a cut at the junction without cutting another section of the mother plant. However, the important thing is when is the best time to cut the young plant? Usually when we see the young plant growing strongly, having 5-7 leaves and many good roots 4-5cm long, we can separate it from the pseudobulb to plant a new one. If we leave the young plant on the mother plant for a long time, it will weaken the mother plant, affecting its ability to flower in the new season.

In addition, Dendrobium is a pseudobulb with a stem, so it can be propagated by cutting each section of the stem with eyes, thereby growing them into new seedlings.

- Use a sharp knife to cut the stem without leaves and roots into 3 - 4 segments.

- Spray the tree stumps with a fungicide to prevent fungal infection and then place them on a layer of coconut fiber. Then spread sand on a tray about 4-5 centimeters high and place the coconut fiber and the tree stumps on top of the sand. Place the tray in a shady place and water thoroughly, spraying water every few days.

- About 6 weeks later, for survival reasons, the young shoots begin to crack from the nodes, then grow roots and penetrate the coconut fiber layer to find water.

- After 8-10 weeks, these young shoots will have leaves and roots about 4-5cm long.

- Cut the stem into short pieces to easily plant in pots, use a sharp knife to cut, do not crush the stem. Spray with antifungal medicine and plant in pots.

Figure 4.13: Steps to propagate Dendrobium by cuttings

4.5. Evaluation of the production and business process of wild orchids in Sa Pa

Through the survey data of 20 households growing all 6 species of orchids, we have a summary table of the growth status of the cultivated orchid species (Table 4.6).

Table 4.6: Summary of growth status of cultivated orchid species

( The percentages in the table are calculated using formula 2.1)

Species

Total (ham, pot)	Growth status
Total (ham, pot)	Good		Medium		Bad
Tran Mong Xuan	2,580	2,382	92.32%	164	6.36%	34	1.32%
Red Phoenix Sword	2,227	2.123	95.33%	81	3.64%	23	1.03%
Earn income	2,072	1,947	93.97%	100	4.83%	25	1.21%
Jade Sword	1,983	1,861	93.85%	105	5.30%	17	0.86%
Chicken fat narcissus	2,057	1,935	94.07%	103	5.01%	19	0.92%
White Narcissus	1,862	1,729	92.86%	117	6.28%	16	0.86%

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Through Table 4.6, we can see that the percentage of plants with good growth in each species is over 90%, the highest being the Sword Hong Hoang at 95.33%. Plants with average growth at 7% have species that only reach approximately 4%. The percentage of plants with poor growth in each species is the highest at 1.32% ( Tran Mong Xuan ) and the lowest at 0.86% ( Sword Thanh Ngoc, Thuy Tien Trang ). Thus, it can be seen that the process of caring for wild orchids in households has initially had good results that need to be recognized.

To check whether the growth of species grown in households and in nature is the same, we can check according to Pearson's standard (Calculated according to formula 2.2). The calculation results are shown in Table 4.7:



Table 4.7: Test table for uniformity of growth according to Pearson standard

look up the table with k = (2-1)(3-1) = 2

Species

2 properties n	2 look up table 05	Conclude
Tran Mong Xuan	5.30	5.99	Grown in two pure places together
Red Phoenix Sword	11.13	5.99	Growing in two different places each other
Earn income	12.60	5.99	Growing in two different places
Jade Sword	5.15	5.99	Grown in two pure places together
Chicken fat narcissus	5.50	5.99	Grown in two pure places together
White Narcissus	16.89	5.99	Growing in two different places each other

According to the results in Table 4.7, the growth quality of Tran Mong Xuan, Kiem Thanh Ngoc, and Thuy Tien Mo Ga species in the wild and in farming households are similar; while the growth quality of Kiem Thu, Kiem Hong Hoang, and Thuy Tien Trang species has differences between farming conditions and in the wild.

However, Sa Pa is still the center of diversity of wild orchids in Vietnam. The natural conditions in Sa Pa still ensure the growth and development of most wild orchids, including the Cymbidium and Dendrobium genera.

In the process of growing orchids, households in Sa Pa have learned to follow nature to achieve certain results. They have applied basic knowledge about the habits and ecological requirements of these species in nature to have appropriate impacts on their growth process to achieve the highest efficiency. For example: Cymbidium needs a cold period at night of about 10 - 15.5 0 C to form flowers, otherwise it will not flower, Dendrobium

The plant needs a dormant period of about 1 month after the growth period before continuing to flower. If we water and fertilize during this period, the plant may not flower anymore. Knowing this characteristic, growers will be more proactive in the care process.

In addition to nurturing and caring for wild orchids to grow and develop well, the ability to propagate these orchids only stops at taking advantage of the ability to sprout and branch of these orchids to separate and create new orchids as a source of seeds for the business process. However, this method can only create a limited number of seedlings and can only be carried out on a small scale. To expand production, in addition to investing in orchid care and nurturing techniques, it is also necessary to increase the rate of propagation by other forms of propagation.

Currently, Sa Pa has about 300 establishments participating in the cultivation of wild orchids. These businesses, mainly individual households, rely on their experience and land conditions to collect wild orchid species for cultivation and nurturing. Therefore, the scale and quality of these establishments are also very different, some families only take advantage of small gardens around their houses, but there are also households that have invested hundreds of square meters of land to grow orchids for business. Depending on

Each family's conditions allow them to care for orchids in different quantities. According to the survey results of 20 orchid growing households in Sa Pa, the number of orchid species grown is 35, focusing on 9 genera ( shown in Table 4.8). However, there are households that only focus on growing 10 - 15 species of orchid genera with beautiful flowers that are popular: Dendrobium , Cymbidium , Aerides lour , Coelogyne Lindl . , Paphiopedilum Pfilzer , etc. And there are also families that grow up to 25 - 30 species of many different orchid genera, including species that are endemic to the region or even endemic to Vietnam: Biermannia , Cleisostoma filiforme , Eria , etc. However, species of the genera Dendrobium , Cymbidium , Cymbidium and Paphiopedilum are still grown in large quantities by households to meet the needs of orchid growers.

According to the summary results in Table 4.8: the genus Dendrobium is cultivated with the largest quantity of 10 species, followed by the genus Cymbidium with 9 species, and the genus Cymbidium with 5 species. In which, each species is cultivated by households in large quantities.

Table 4.8: Orchid species grown in Sa Pa

Scientific name	Common name	Number of species
1	Aerides Lour	Orchid Fragrance	2
2	Beermannia	Blue orchid	2
3	Cleisostoma Blume.	Closed Mouth Orchid	2
4	Coelogyne Lindl.	Thanh dam orchid	2
5	Cymbidium Sw.	Orchid Sword	9
6	Dendrobium Sw.	Dendrobium orchid	10
7	Hygrochilus Pfitzer.	Cymbidium Orchid	1
8	Paphiopedilum Pfitzer.	Cymbidium	5
9	Phaius Lour	Brown Crane Orchid	2

In addition to orchid growers, Hoang Lien National Park has also collected a garden of original orchid varieties including 172 species. The garden has also invested in building a tissue culture room and tested invitro propagation with several orchid species: Cymbidium, Paphiopedilum and Dendrobium; up to now, the first orchid seedlings of these species have been brought to the nursery and are in the process of being cared for and monitored.

According to the results of the investigation of orchid growers, there are also people who come to buy orchids and then sell them in other provinces, even transporting them to Hanoi. For these people, they often buy in relatively large quantities but the price is not high, only 20,000 - 30,000 VND for a beautiful orchid pot and they only buy some popular species: Dendrobium, Dendrobium, Paphiopedilum, and Cymbidium. With this method, orchid growers do not have to bear the cost of transportation and Sa Pa orchids reach many orchid lovers and are known to many new markets.

Orchid farms in Sa Pa also supply orchids to the ornamental flower market in Lao Cai city. The amount of orchids sold here is usually more stable, but the prices are only average. Usually, each beautiful orchid pot that is about to bloom costs only 30,000-40,000 VND, and each cut orchid branch is only sold for about

5,000 - 7,000 VND. However, with this sales method, orchid growers have to pay for transportation fees, sales locations, etc. However, if calculated on 1m2 of land, the income of orchid growers is still much higher than that of rice growers or other crops. The reason is because:

- Orchids can be grown in any soil condition, but growing other plants requires suitable soil to be effective.

- On 1m2 of land, you can place many orchid pots: can be used as a hanging rack or can be combined

The combination of raising terrestrial orchids below and hanging orchids above. This is a feature that can create high efficiency that no other industry has. Table 4.9 is the result of the control

Investigate the income of some orchid growing households in Sa Pa

Table 4.9: Table of results of income structure of households

Business household

Area volume (m 2 )	Total revenue import (VND/year)	Orchid		Other sources
Area volume (m 2 )	Total revenue import (VND/year)	VND	%	VND	%
Tran Huu Duong	200	70,000,000	70,000,000	100	0	0.00
Tran Van Cuong	420	90,000,000	90,000,000	100	0	0.00
Le Duc Huu	380	86,000,000	86,000,000	100	0	0.00
Average		82,000,000	82,000,000	100	0	0.00
Nguyen Van Dang	200	45,000,000	37,000,000	82.22	8,000,000	17.78
Le Van Khoi	120	27,000,000	21,000,000	77.78	6,000,000	22.22
Nguyen Ngoc Tien	160	43,000,000	36,000,000	83.72	7,000,000	16.28
Tran Van Khi	140	30,000,000	26,500,000	88.33	3,500,000	11.67
Do Duc Hieu	180	45,000,000	42,500,000	94.44	2,500,000	5.56
Do Van Bach	150	30,000,000	23,300,000	77.67	6,700,000	22.33
Nguyen Xuan Lam	230	64,000,000	56,000,000	87.50	8,000,000	12.50
Nguyen Thi Lanh	100	38,000,000	32,600,000	85.79	5,400,000	14.21
Bui Van Manh	90	26,000,000	22,400,000	86.15	3,600,000	13.85
Tran Dinh Sam	200	46,000,000	36,000,000	78.26	10,000,000	21.74
Nguyen Van Dung	170	35,000,000	27,500,000	78.57	7,500,000	21.43
Do Thi Chau	200	53,000,000	41,000,000	77.36	12,000,000	22.64
Nguyen Huu Khai	250	68,000,000	55,000,000	80.88	13,000,000	19.12
Nguyen Van Nghia	180	40,000,000	36,000,000	90.00	4,000,000	10.00
Average		42,142,857	35,200,000	83.48	6,942,857	16.52
Duong Van Thai	130	32,000,000	22,000,000	68.75	10,000,000	31.25
Dinh Van Thu	80	23,000,000	13,400,000	58.26	9,600,000	41.74
Do Xuan Ba	200	50,000,000	34,000,000	68.00	16,000,000	32.00
Average		35,000,000	23,133,333	65.00	11,866,667	35.00

Through Table 4.9, we can divide the surveyed households into 3 groups according to the income ratio of the households as follows:

- Group 1 : income source is entirely based on orchid business. This group of households consists of 3 families, they focus all of their family's economy and labor on orchid business without participating in other production activities. All three households have invested in area and technology to be able to maintain such a large quantity of orchids with good quality. With the average income of each household

82,000,000 VND/year is also a very large source of income, especially with the general economic difficulties of the area.

- Second group : Income from orchids accounts for more than 75% of the total family income in the year. This group consists of 14 households, besides income from orchids, they also participate in other activities: farming, providing additional tourism services, etc. Like group 1, these households also have a lot of investment in area and techniques to grow orchids. However, the production scale of these households is smaller than that of group 1, but it still brings them a fairly large income.

- The third group : income from orchids accounts for less than 75% of the total income of the family in the year. Group 3, in addition to orchid business, also participates in other production activities and these activities are also a significant source of income for them. Although there is also investment in orchid business, the scale of cultivation is still small compared to the two groups of households above. Therefore, their income from orchids only accounts for about 65% of the total income of the family.

In the process of production and business, understanding the needs of the market is decisive to the success of the business process. Business people must bring to customers the products they like with the best quality. Therefore, orchid growers focus on some beautiful orchid species that are popular with many people: Tran mong xuan, Kiem thu, Kiem hong hoang, Hoang thao hoa vang, Hoang thao kim diep, Hoang thao kieu,

Evaluation of the possibility of cultivating and trading some wild orchid species in Sa Pa - Lao Cai area - 8

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