Visiting Da Lat is no longer only about sightseeing or admiring flowers, but witnessing first-hand its farms that are now producing safe greens using cutting-edge technology.
Quality fruits and vegetables are a trademark of Da Lat, a beloved resort town nestled in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.
Home to a large number of flower and vegetable farms, Da Lat has recently had many of them allowing curious visitors to engage first-hand in their green production process at no cost.
Aside from touring lush fields of vegetables, visitors are also assigned simple tasks including harvesting the produce.
Over recent years, environmentally conscious farmers throughout Da Lat and neighboring localities have turned to organic methods of farming and to hydroponics; the cultivation of plants in a nutrient liquid, eliminating the need for traditional soil, in a bid to produce safe, quality greens.
In the hydroponic model, mostly leafy vegetables are grown in nutrient-filled water pipes.
Plant seeds are placed in a mixture consisting of coconut fiber and rice husks, instead of soil.
The mixture has no nutritional value, but helps the plants take root and enables them to absorb nearly all of the nutrients filtered through the pipes.
One distinct advantage of this approach is that the coconut waste and rice husk mixture can be recycled for up to three crops in a row.
On one recent weekday, farms run by Da Lat Hydroponic Produce Co., located in Van Thanh Flower Village in Ward 5, teemed with visitors who had traveled on their own or in tour groups.
Upon entering the farms, Le Thi Bich Ngoc, from Hanoi, marveled at the hydroponic system perched over a meter above ground and brimming with healthy vegetables thriving without soil.
Le Van Binh had driven his family all the way from Ho Chi Minh City to Duc Tin Hydroponic Vegetable Farm, nestled opposite the entrance to the ‘Valley of Love’ Tourist Center.
His two children continuously asked him how vegetables could be cultivated without soil.
Holding freshly harvested lettuce by their impeccable white roots, Binh’s wife was delighted at how easy the harvest was before packing them to take home.
According to a representative of Da Lat Hydroponic Produce Co., the farms welcome an average of 500-1,000 visitors daily, and expect 3,000-4,000 during the upcoming Reunification Day (April 30) and International Labor Day (May 1) holiday.
Staff also guide visitors around the farms and brief them on the production process of ‘super clean’ hydroponically grown strawberries, for example.
Le Quoc Duc, who runs the Duc Tin Hydroponic Vegetable Farm, revealed that all hi-tech farms offer free admission and draw large numbers of visitors who tour their facilities, take photos, and buy quality vegetables and fruits for themselves and as gifts for their family and friends.
His farm receives up to 300-400 guests daily on peak days and weekends.
“Opening our farms to tourists has benefited the owners greatly. We can sell our flowers and vegetables directly from our farms at retail prices, with no need to pay for any other distribution channel,” Duc said.
“If each tourist buys a few kilograms of produce, farm owners can easily sell up to 100 kilograms per day,” he added.
Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, deputy director of the Lam Dong Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, confirmed that Da Lat has launched the agro-tourist services at several hi-tech farms on a pilot basis, and in a bid to promote the city’s quality produce to domestic and foreign visitors.
The model will be adopted in neighboring districts including Duc Trong, Lac Duong and Don Duong in the near future, diversifying tourist products and highlighting the specialties of each area.
