“I want to create new plant breeds which are distinctively Da Lat so that local horticulturists won't have to import foreign breeds,” said Tuan, who owns a flower breeding business at An Binh Hamlet, Ward 3, Da Lat City.

Tuan said this was why he chose to breed plants using the sexual reproduction method as opposed to the standard, asexual technique.

He is also the first in Da Lat to use such an innovative breeding style.

Contrary to asexual reproduction methods, Tuan says sexual reproduction involves genetic recombination that may produce plants with different characteristics from their parents.

“If we can produce new plant breeds, we can even think about patenting them,” Tuan said with enthusiasm.

Yet, few flower experts in Da Lat, nicknamed “the Vietnamese kingdom of flowers,” are bold enough to venture into sexual reproduction breeding.

“It is more challenging technically, time-consuming and riskier,” said Tuan.

So when he first embarked on his journey to create new plant breeds for Da Lat seven years ago, friends and colleagues were skeptical andtried to persuade him to follow the conventional road – multiplying foreign plants using asexual reproduction methods.

Indeed, the journey hasn't been an easy one for Tuan.

He has been experimenting with different breeds of flowers including the common anthurium and Indian azaleas for the past few years.

“But the results have not particularly satisfied me,” he said.

The ultimate challenge, Tuan said, is to create a breed with distinctive characteristics such as original colors, to satisfy Vietnamese consumers' taste.

There is also the challenge of working within a short harvest sea-son and producing a product with high commercial value.

Yet, Tuan's seven years of hard work have not been fruitless.

A few days ago, Tuan officially announced the successful production of an improved variant of petunia which he imported from France a year ago.

“Compared to the French breed, the new one is cheaper and has more colors,” Tuan said.

“The most interesting feature, however, is that the new petunia breed can yield flowers for nine months yearly, which is three months longer than the imported breed and the flowers can last for an entire week.” At present, Tuan is preparing thousands of petunia pots to showcase at the Da Lat Flower Festival 2007 to be held next month.

“Hopefully, the new petunia will become one of Da Lat’s symbolic flowers,” said Tuan.

Not only French petunias, but African daisies have given the Da Lat flower breeder reason to persist.

After seven years, Tuan has created 20 variants of African daisies with diverse colors at cheap prices.

Yet, there is still a long way to go before his new daisy breeds prove their worth to local growers.

“At present, they are still being test-planted in several local green-houses,” says Tuan.

“The next step is to study market response. And only after Vietnamese consumers react positively can I apply for intellectual property rights.”

If the market isn't enthusiastic, Tuan says, there will be no other option but to keep on trying until better breeds are produced.

Tuan's experimentation with Paphiopedilum orchids is also yielding encouraging signs.

Tuan said if the experiment is successful, he will register his new Paphiopedilum breeds under the name “Da Lat Stars.” “The tiny dots on the petals look like clusters of stars to me,” he explains.

Reported by Ngan Thong