Centella asiatica replaces the ineffective rice plant

About 10 years ago, some households in Cuu Loi Nam Quarter, Tam Quan Nam District (Hoai Nhon City, Binh Dinh) pioneered cultivating Centella Asiatica under coconut palms for extra income. The soil under the coconut canopy is huge, but barren, low in nutrients, closed coconut canopy, vegetable plants have no light to photosynthesize, so they are sluggish and unable to grow.

Given that gotu kola is a vegetable with economic benefits, local authorities have mobilized people to focus on cultivation towards specialized cultivation on rice soils contaminated with alum, resulting in low productivity. The open fields are like the “promised land”, the Centella asiatica living on this land is no longer yellow and weak like under a coconut canopy, but green with every leaf. Gotu kola production is extensive, so the alum-infested fields that were unsuitable for rice are now bringing money to the people.

Soon after, the previously inefficient rice-growing areas along the blocks of Cuu Loi Nam, Cuu Loi Dong, Tang Long 1, Trung Hoa… were transformed, with gotu kola stretched out as a green velvet carpet instead of rice. In the dry season, in the fields of Centella Asiatica, dotted with colorful umbrellas or shade nets for the farmers to take care of gotu kola.

Centella asiatica farmers in Tam Quan Nam district said: The alum-contaminated paddy fields here are mostly deserted because they only harvest straw, not much rice. Many traders see the small patches of pennywort growing in locals’ home gardens every day and buy every kilo of pennywort, but there is no pennywort for sale, so the farmers with alum-infested fields are converting said acreage from growing rice to growing gotu kola

“At that time I boldly invested in planting 3 sao Centella Asiatica (500m2/sao), on average I harvested about 1 ton per month, sold 8 million VND minus all expenses, I still have a profit of more than 5 million achieved VND. Gotu kola is easy to grow, with few pests and diseases, after harvesting the first batch, I keep watering and fertilizing, about 20-25 days later, Centella Asiatica is harvested again. Planting Centella Asiatica can be harvested all year round .

On average, each gotu kola pole brings in about VND 20 million income throughout the year. The economics of gotu kola are three to four times that of rice, so my husband and I can build a spacious house and have money to send our children to school,” said Mr. Nguyen Kim Dung (born in 1970). ) in the Golden Temple group in the Cuu Loi Nam district, who has more than 8 years of experience in growing Gotu Kola.

According to the Tam Quan Nam District People’s Committee, in Cuu Loi Nam District alone, nearly 50% of peasant households plant Centella Asiatica on an area of ​​7.5 hectares. Every day, farmers in this district harvest and deliver 2 tons to the pennywort market. Currently gotu kola has an average price of 8,000 – 10,000 VND/kg, it is estimated that people here collect about 16 – 20 million VND per day. Farmers in the streets of Cuu Loi Dong, Tang Long 1, Trung Hoa… were also involved in the cultivation of more than 10 hectares of Centella Asiatica, currently there are 213 households that cultivate Centella Asiatica with an area of ​​about 18 hectares.

Changing poverty thanks to gotu kola

“The sunny season is the money-raising season for gotu kola growers. The hotter the heat, the greater the consumer’s need for cooling, the gotu kola has heat-dissipating, yin-nourishing, detoxifying, etc. effects, so it should be consumed heavily. Consumers buy gotu kola to cook soup, eat raw or make smoothies…

Every afternoon, groups gather in the peasants’ pools of pennyworts to weed, water and fertilize the vegetable fields. The next morning around 2-3 am, people rushed to the fields to harvest gotu kola and bring it back to the agents,” Mr Nguyen Kim Dung said excitedly.

The family of Huynh Lap (b. 1966) at Nest Nam Chua in Cuu Loi Nam neighborhood (Tam Quan Nam district) also changed their lives thanks to Gotu Kola. In the past, Mr. Lap’s family life always lacked before and after working in paddy fields at the foot of alum fields to harvest rice without grain. Being paralyzed in one arm himself and unable to do heavy labor, his wife bought and sold, so Lap and his wife switched to growing gotu kola. The work of growing gotu kola is quite easy and suitable for disabled people like him. Thanks to gotu kola, Lap and his wife got their two children off to college.

The person with the highest income among the households growing gotu kola in Tam Quan Nam district is Mr. Huynh Van Den (born 1980) in Cuu Loi Nam district. With 8 sao Centella Asiatica, his family’s annual net profit is more than 100 million Dong. “Not only my family, in recent years, hundreds of farmer households in Tam Quan Nam District have had fuller lives thanks to gotu kola, even many households have become richer,” Mr. Den said.

At present, there are 14 agents in Tam Quan Nam area, who buy large and small gotu kola, supplying the market with 4-5 tons of gotu kola every day.

Ms. Dao Thi Huong (born 1974), the main agent for purchasing gotu kola in Cuu Loi Nam District, shared, “In the past, I traded fish products that cost a lot, but the business efficiency was not high. . After realizing that the demand for gotu kola from supermarkets and markets in southern provinces is very high, I decided 8 years ago to change as a representative of gotu kola.

On average, my agent buys 150 tons of gotu kola from people every year, worth almost VND 1 billion, to supply the Central Highlands and Ho Chi Minh City markets. In order to have a stable supply for customers, my family has also rented more than 1 hectare of land and allotted it to 5 neighborhood poor households to grow gotu kola to supply to my agents so that they have more income to her to cover life. ‘ Ms. Huong shared.

“In order to enhance the quality and value of gotu kola, in the coming period, we will coordinate with Hoai Nhon City Agricultural Service Center and Farmers Association to organize training for farmers on safe vegetable production techniques towards safe vegetable VietGAP; Planning inefficient areas of productive areas and rice cultivation areas for the cultivation of Centella Asiatica to increase farmers’ income. At the same time, we are looking for domestic and foreign companies to invest in processing technology for high-quality gotu kola products,” said Nguyen Van Chu, vice chairman of the Tam Quan Nam Municipality People’s Committee.