Vegetable Production and Export Situation 2006

and over a long period of time, it has left a fairly thick layer of weathering. The soil in Da Lat is divided into 3 main groups, including:

+ Red-brown Feralit: This is the best type of soil with a porous, loose, well-drained structure, very suitable for industrial crops such as tea and coffee. This type of soil is found in areas such as Van Thanh, Cam Ly, Xuan Tho, Xuan Truong, Ta Nung.

+ Red-yellow feralit soil: accounts for 90% of the city's land area. In places where the soil is heavily eroded, the vein layer is thin and has a very high acidity. Red-yellow feralit soil, with low to medium fertility, appears in areas such as Thai Phien, Kim Thach, Tung Lam, Xuan Truong, Van Kiep, My Loc, Hong Lac, is a type of soil suitable for flowers, artichokes, vegetables of all kinds and fruit trees.

+ Red-yellow humus feralit soil: This soil group appears on high hills in the South of Suoi Vang, North of Cam Ly and Lang Bian mountain, the area is relatively small, only in areas still covered by forest, the slope is large so the possibility of exploitation is very rare.

With the formation and development of Da Lat city, the demand for vegetables and fruits increased, residents who came here to settle down exploited feralit soils, establishing specialized areas for growing vegetables, flowers, fruit trees, and industrial crops. Agricultural areas on this group of soils are increasingly expanding.

- Climate:

Because of its average altitude of 1,500m and being surrounded by high mountains, although located in the tropical monsoon zone, Dalat's climate has its own characteristics of the highlands. This place has a fairly moderate and low temperature regime, the average annual temperature is lower than the whole of Vietnam.

+ Temperature range: The average range between the hottest month and the coldest month is not more than 3 - 4 0 C, the difference between day and night temperatures is very large, the annual average is 9 0 C. The dry season months have a large temperature range, ranging from 11.2 - 13.2 0 C. In the rainy season months, the temperature range decreases to only 6 -7 0 C. The average annual temperature ranges from 17.5 0 C to 18.2 0 C. The total number of sunshine hours per year is up to 2,340 hours.

+ Rain regime: The rainy season in Da Lat usually starts in mid-April, the rain in April and May is usually showers and thunderstorms starting in the afternoon and evening. The rainy season usually ends in mid-October, sometimes in mid-November. Thus, the rainy season here lasts about

June, April and November are the transitional seasons. The average number of rainy days in Da Lat for many years is about 170mm/day/year. The months of December, January, February, and March have an average of about 5 rainy days. February, April, and November have 10-15 rainy days. During the rainy season, the number of rainy days ranges from 20-25 days/month.

+ Air humidity: closely correlated with rainfall in Da Lat. During the rainy season, the relative humidity of the months reaches over 85%. During the dry season, humidity drops below 80%.

+ Wind regime: The prevailing wind direction in Da Lat changes with the seasons. From October to April, the main wind direction is East - Northeast. The Northeast wind is strong in November, December and January. From May to September is the period of West - Southwest wind activity. The West wind is prevalent in July and August. The average annual wind speed is 2.1 m/s. During the months when the Southwest monsoon prevails, combined with storms and tropical depressions, there are often strong winds.

The seasonal differentiation of climate, which entails a deep division of seasons in the rainy and humid regime, determines the production seasons. It is thanks to the relatively mild temperature that Da Lat has developed into a famous resort and tourist city. These climatic conditions have allowed the production of vegetables, specialty plants and many subtropical crops.

- In addition, there are also notable weather phenomena such as fog, thunderstorms, hail and frost that cause great damage to farmers' agricultural production.

- Hydrology:

Lakes in Da Lat are mainly artificial lakes, scattered. Currently, there are about 16 large and small ponds. Some lakes have gradually been filled in over time or have become vegetable gardens such as Van Kiep, Me Linh, Doi Co lakes, etc. The large lakes here are used to create landscapes, create irrigation water sources: Da Thien lake, Than Tho lake, Tuyen Lam lake, Xuan Huong lake, etc. and provide domestic water for people.

In the North, waterfalls flow into Suoi Vang Lake in the Southeast - Northwest direction such as Phuoc Thanh waterfall, Da Phu waterfall. In the East, there are small waterfalls flowing into Da Nhim River, the upper part of Don Duong Lake.

The southern waterfalls flow in the Northeast - Southwest direction to Da Tam waterfall such as Datanla waterfall. Flowing through the city center is Cam Ly waterfall with a length of 20 km in Da Lat, with a basin area of approximately 50 km 2 . Suoi Vang Lake is used to generate electricity with an output of 15 million kWh/year. The network of small streams is quite dense, small streams in the dry season have very little water or dry up. Average density of rivers and streams: 1-2 km/km 2 .

These surface and underground flows contribute significantly to helping people grow crops, cultivate, produce agriculture and live daily.

- Biology:

Lang Biang Plateau has created a vivid picture of natural composition with more than 3,000 plant species, about 40-50 animal species, more than 100 bird species and many species of insects, reptiles and amphibians.

Birds and animals are the two subjects of most interest. If only counting economic species, Da Lat used to be home to a significant number of gray deer, deer, golden deer, wild boar, chevrotain, hare, jungle fowl, gecko, monitor lizard, and flying squirrel. The number of rare species here is also very concentrated, such as rhinoceros, wild buffalo, gaur, deer, bison, sun bear, weasel, bat, black gibbon, etc.

The fauna here is distinctly tropical and subtropical, with Indo-Malaysian elements and Indonesian fauna characteristics predominating. Under different forest types, the fauna also has many clear changes.

The vegetation on the Lang Biang plateau consists mainly of pure temperate forests, typically vast stands of Pinus bipinnatus and Pinus tripinnatus (up to more than 180,000 ha). Both types of forests have a fairly high yield (at least over 10 m3/ha/year). In addition, there are forests of Dipterocarpaceae (especially Tea tree) which testify to areas with drier climates.

Here, there are also the Gramineae and Cyperaceae families occupying a large area. The Orchidaceae family is very special in color and shape with many species such as Bach Lan, Hong Lan, Thanh Lan... Regarding species belonging to the Fern family, Lang Biang plateau is one of the richest centers in terms of species composition. The family of Pinaceae alone has 10 species here while the whole country has only 11 species. The presence of these

The Pitcher Plant Family, Wild Banana, Water Cloud, and Wild Pineapple represent the ancient tropical nature of the flora in this highland. This is also the place where the most species of the Gymnosperm family are concentrated, which is the most important component in the structure of the forest types in Lang Biang Plateau, especially the pure open forest of conifers or mixed forests with broadleaf trees... On Lang Biang Mountain, there are very large tree species such as Chòột, Chò nước, Pơ mu, along with many precious trees: Thong nang, Thong tram, Thong 5 nuoc, Ngo tung.

The vegetation on high mountain peaks, strong winds, and lots of fog form dwarf tree ranges. The trees are only 3 - 5m high, including some species of Chestnut, Rhododendron, Com, and Sen.

Natural elements over the ages have contributed to the formation of a diverse flora with more than 3,000 plant species, which has helped Lang Biang plateau paint a vivid picture of natural plant composition. And this is also a point of attraction for tourists and economic development here.

These natural potentials have created Da Lat city with unique agricultural ecological landscapes that no other locality has. The landscapes mentioned here are farm models, flower fields, vegetable fields, etc. To have a special attraction for tourists, the landscape must be different and "fresher" than other localities.

* Agricultural production potential

- Vegetable growing area:

With a rainy and sunny regime divided into two distinct seasons, due to the influence of high terrain, Da Lat nature has favored the people here not only with natural products but also created conditions for this land to be able to grow other special products.

Dalat vegetable growing industry developed strongly in the late 1930s (1938) when the first wave of immigrants established the current Ha Dong hamlet. From there, it spread to the hamlets of Da Cat, Anh Sang, Nghe Tinh, Van Thanh, Trai Mat,... and these locations later became the city's major vegetable growing areas.

Some popular vegetables grown here are: potatoes (Solanum tuberosum), cabbage (Brassica oleacea var. Capitata), broccoli (Brassica oleacea var. Botrytis), celery (Apium graveolens), Chinese cabbage (Brassica Pe-Tsai), carrots (Dacus carota), tomatoes (Lycopersicum esculentum), strawberries (Fragaria chiloesis),... with varieties imported from Japan, Taiwan, Germany, the Netherlands, France,...

The vegetable production area in 2006 was 5,897 hectares, by 2016 it increased to 9,443 hectares, so within 10 years the vegetable production area increased to 3,546 hectares. The vegetable production area is mainly concentrated in Ward 7 with 1,912.5 hectares, Ward 8 with 1,104 hectares, Xuan Tho commune with 1,308.8 hectares and Ward 11 with 778 hectares (in 2016).

Table 2.1. Vegetable production and export situation in the period 2006 - 2016

Year

Production area (ha)	Output (fresh tons)	Export output (fresh tons)	Revenue ($1,000)
2006	5,897	82,213
2010	7,069	219,886
2014	7,977	290,000	1,056	4,137
2015	9,800	372,200	359.4	3,939
2016	9,443	349,391	499.1	3,469.8

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Source: Da Lat City Economic Department in 2017 In addition to expanding the cultivated area, people are constantly improving the quality and output of vegetables to meet market demand. This can be seen through the continuous increase in vegetable output over the years, in the period 2006 - 2016, vegetable output increased by 267,178 tons. Thus, on average, each year vegetable output increases by about 26,000 tons.

ton.

In 2017, the area of high-tech agricultural production in the city is estimated to be 5,493 hectares (an increase of 533 hectares compared to the end of 2016), accounting for 52.3% of the total agricultural land area. Vegetable production also helps to earn foreign currency.

Not small, in 2016 revenue from vegetable export reached more than 3 million USD (Da Lat City Economic Department).

There are 3 wards with the highest vegetable output in the city: Ward 7 with output of

58,408 tons, Ward 8 produced 44,442 tons, and Ward 11 produced 27,857 tons of vegetables. These are the three main locations for vegetable growing, not only supplying vegetables for the entire city but also supplying the whole country and exporting. Some wards in the center such as Ward 1 and Ward 2, due to their small land area, some households grow vegetables in their yards or in foam boxes on the rooftops for their own "self-sufficiency", also to avoid vegetables with too many chemicals. The remaining locations only produce vegetables in medium quantities and on a small, fragmented scale.

Dalat vegetables have the unique flavor of temperate vegetables. Especially Dalat mustard greens - one of the popular dishes not only in local families but also in other regions such as Ho Chi Minh, the Central and Southwest provinces... Rich, diverse varieties, abundant output are currently popular in the domestic market such as: spinach, caron, lettuce, pink potatoes, short-term cabbage, cauliflower,... These vegetables are also used as gifts for relatives after tourists visit Dalat.

When living in a modern life, vegetables, tubers, and fruits are sprayed with too many pesticides, fertilized with too many chemical fertilizers and many other toxic substances. This makes people want to buy vegetables with clear origins, "clean", from which Da Lat has opened up places to visit high-tech vegetable gardens such as: Xuan Huong Lake area (Ward 9) and high-tech tourism in Trai Mat (Ward 11). One is to attract tourists to visit and learn about agricultural production as a new form of tourism. Two is to promote the consumption of "clean" vegetable products to a new level.

The development of vegetable production in Da Lat must be based on an organic relationship with the city's tourism development, so it is necessary to make sure that vegetable growing not only does not damage the landscape and environment, but also increases the value of this economic sector.

- Flower growing area:

When mentioning Da Lat, people immediately think of the city of thousands of flowers, because this place has hundreds of types of flowers of the tropical highlands originating from many places in the world: China, India, America, France, Netherlands,...

Currently, Da Lat city has 44 units producing and trading flower products. Including: 1 Joint Stock Company, 23 Limited Liability Companies, 3 Cooperatives, 7 Cooperative Groups, 04 flower villages (Van Thanh, Xuan Thanh, Ha Dong, Thai Phien), 6 production facilities

- business. However, most of the units operate in the field of providing flower bulbs and seedlings.

In recent years, due to the increasing tastes of the people, the expansion of flower growing scale is inevitable. In 2006, the production area was 2,750 hectares, but by 2016 this area had increased to about 5,080 hectares. In addition, flower output has also increased steadily, from 2006 to 2016, it increased by more than 195 million branches/year. In addition to supplying flowers for domestic demand, Da Lat also exports flowers to the world market with more than 102 million branches (2016) with an annual revenue of over 30 thousand USD. Some locations with the largest flower output in the city are: Ward 8 with an output of 345.12 million branches, Ward 12 with an output of 444.12 million branches, Xuan Tho commune with 232.27 million branches, Ward 11 with 237.28 million branches, Ward 5 with an output of 218.11 million branches.

The average harvest value of 1 hectare of flower cultivation land reaches 800 million VND/ha. Some types of flowers bring in high income of about 1-1.2 billion VND/year such as lily, anthurium, carnation, cymbidium...

Table 2.2. Flower production and export situation in the period 2006 - 2016

Year

Production area (ha)	Output (million branches)	Output Export (million branches)	Revenue ($1,000)
2006	2,750	360.8
2010	3,026	526.9
2014	3,982	1,512	80.2	30.9
2015	4,100	2.005	86.6	30.1
2016	5,080	2.311	102

Source: Da Lat City Economic Department 2017

Vegetable Production and Export Situation 2006 - 2016

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