Buckwheat flower season: A livelihood blossoms on rocky highlands

Once a lifeline during periods of food shortages, buckwheat flowers have become a signature tourism product, creating livelihoods and expanding economic value chains for communities across the Dong Van Karst Plateau. After 12 festival seasons, the humble flower is helping drive tourism, promote local agricultural products, and improve the living standards of ethnic communities in Tuyen Quang Province's northern highlands.

Buckwheat flower fields have become popular check-in destinations for tourists.

For generations, buckwheat served as a vital food source for residents of Vietnam’s northernmost region when household supplies of maize and rice ran out before the next harvest. Today, thanks to its distinctive beauty and cultural significance, the flower has become a major tourist attraction. In 2015, the former Ha Giang Province held its first Buckwheat Flower Festival, marking a new chapter in local tourism development. Tuyen Quang welcomed approximately 250,000 visitors during the 2025 festival season alone.

Leaders of Lung Cu Commune inspect buckwheat fields planted in successive batches.

In 2026, more than 400 hectares of buckwheat flowers have been planted across 12 communes in the province, with staggered flowering seasons from October to December. The fields are located near renowned destinations such as Pao’s House, Lung Cam, Dong Van, Lung Cu, the Nho Que River and Tham Ma Pass. Growing buckwheat for sightseeing and photography has provided local residents with an additional source of income. According to Sung Thi Dinh, a resident of Dong Van Commune, visitors are charged VND 10,000 per visit to the flower gardens, while revenue can exceed VND 2 million on busy days.

The flower season also boosts accommodation, food services, trade and sales of local products. Specialties such as dried beef, bạc hà mint honey, corn wine, Mong flutes and linen fabrics are introduced to visitors, helping create jobs and increase local incomes.

Buckwheat cakes, a specialty of the Dong Van Karst Plateau.

Alongside tourism development, the province is working to increase the economic value of buckwheat seeds through advanced processing. In 2026, the Ministry of Science and Technology accepted a national-level scientific research project on developing products from buckwheat, establishing seven processing procedures for products ranging from nutritional flour, biscuits and energy bars to buckwheat liquor. Buckwheat seeds from Dong Van have also reached the demanding Japanese market, where they are used in soba noodle production and high-end cosmetics.

Notably, buckwheat beer produced by Cao Nguyen HG Joint Stock Company, managed by Tran Duy Hien, won third prize at the 2024 Vietnam Science and Technology Innovation Awards. According to Hien, investment in technology and product development has increased the value of buckwheat seeds, created jobs and secured stable outlets for products from hundreds of farming households.

From a crop associated with hardship, buckwheat has emerged as a driver of tourism and local economic growth, helping build sustainable livelihoods across the rocky highlands of Vietnam’s northernmost region.

Bien Luan