VietNamNet Bridge – Urbanites now compete with farmers to grow vegetables for sale. Vegetables have been grown on any possible space, from terrace, balcony to ground floor or the space underneath the table.

At first, housewives just tried to grow vegetables for their family use to protect themselves against the dirty food available on the market. Later, when realizing the increasingly high demand for clean vegetables, the housewives have decided to run their own business.

Tran Thi Kim Nhung in My Dinh residential quarter has been growing vegetables for the last six months. At first, Nhung tried with just some trays, a little of soil and some vegetable varieties. And she got excited when realizing that it is not so difficult to grow vegetables and it doesn’t take her so much time, Therefore, she can take care for vegetables when she is free.

At first, Nhung grew vegetables on the pavement in front of the house, then on balcony and drying ground. Later, she decided to develop a large vegetable garden on the 50 square meter terrace.

And Nhung got the first customers, the neighbors who really have the demand for clean vegetables, but cannot grow vegetables themselves because of no land area.

“I am now busy taking care for my vegetable garden, but I feel secure with the safe vegetables with no pesticide residues,” Nhung said. She has revealed that she can earn more than one million dong a month from selling vegetables to neighbors.

Nguyen Ngoc Quynh in Cau Giay district also said she now provides clean vegetables to her friends and relatives.

Quynh said growing clean vegetables does not require big capital. The production tools and the seeds cost several million dong only. Especially, it’s not so difficult to grow vegetables as previously thought.

“You can search information about the technique on Internet. And if you buy tools from shops, you can consult with them,” she said.

“You can harvest vegetables after 20 days or one month. It’ll take you not much time, while you can protect yourself from dirty vegetables and save money,” she added.

Clean vegetables have been available at many shops in Hanoi, but they are very expensive there. According to Nhung, the vegetables there are ten times higher than the production costs. Meanwhile, no agency comes forward and certifies that the vegetables are really “safe” and “clean”.

The money Quynh earns after three months of selling vegetables is big enough to cover the initial investment. Quynh’s business has been prospering. She grows vegetables everywhere she can, including the space under the stairs and the space underneath the table.

“Some varieties of vegetable do not require much light. Therefore, you can put them under the table or in the kitchen,” Quynh explained.

Tam, the owner of a shop that provides farming tools and materials in Ba Dinh district, said she has got many more customers recently.

“One million dong in initial investment is enough to develop a vegetable garden which can provide vegetables for family daily use,” Tam said.

“It seems that growing vegetables is an interesting job. Some customers came and bought 6-7 million dong worth of tools and seeds. They seem to compete with real farmers to grow vegetables for sale,” Tam said.

Bao Han