Mekong Delta farmers expect good harvest of Tet flowers

HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Farmers in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region are expected to have a good flower and ornamental plant harvest, as well as good prices, for the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival, which falls on January 25.

Many well-known flower and ornamental plant villages exist in the delta, including Sa Dec in Dong Thap province, Cho Lach in Ben Tre province, Pho Tho - Ba Bo in Can Tho city and My Tho in Tien Giang province.

In Sa Dec flower village in Sa Dec city, the largest flower village in Dong Thap province, about 2 million pots of various kinds of flowers are being grown for Tet, including more than 250,000 chrysanthemum pots.

Traders are buying chrysanthemum pots in advance for prices ranging 80,000 VND to 90,000 VND (3.5 – 3.9 USD) a pot, up 20,000 – 30,000 VND against the last Tet.

Farmers are earning a profit of 30,000 – 50,000 VND for each chrysanthemum pot. Chrysanthemums, one of the preferred Tet flowers, can bloom for more than one month.

Pham Van Hoa, who grows 6,000 chrysanthemum pots in Sa Dec city’s Tan Quy Dong ward, said that the flower was blooming on time for Tet and was more beautiful this year because of favourable weather.

The price of various types of flowers in the village has also increased by 20 – 30 percent compared to last Tet, he said.

With advanced farming techniques, farmers in the delta can now make most flowers bloom during Tet to fetch good prices.

The quantity of flower and ornamental plants grown for Tet in many flower villages has increased this year. Farmers have also planted more new flower varieties such as foreign rose and daisy varieties.  

In An Giang province, more farmers in Ong Ho Islet in Long Xuyen city’s My Hoa Hung commune, are growing ochna for Tet. Ochna is a traditional Tet flower in the southern region.

Tran Anh Chau, Chairman of the My Hoa Hung Commune Farmers Association, said the number of households in the commune growing ochna trees for the coming Tet increase four times against last Tet because of the high market demand.

Since farmers in the commune use natural methods, the ochna trees produce more flowers over the years. They also look more beautiful with each year.

Dinh Ngoc Tung, head of the My Tho city Economic Bureau in Tien Giang province, said farmers in the city are growing more than 1 million pots of various types of flowers for Tet, including 800,000 pots of daisy varieties.

The weather has been favourable, but the prices of materials and worker costs have increased by 10 -15 percent against last Tet. As a result, the prices of flowers will increase, according to farmers in My Tho.

In Ben Tre province’s Cho Lach district, which is the delta’s largest flower producer, farmers will supply about 11 million pots of flowers and ornamental plants to the market, according to the Cho Lach Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Cho Lach district produces many ornamental plants in various shapes, including the animals representing the 12-year zodiac cycle, in which each year is related to one animal.

The coming Tet is the Year of the Rat, so the district is making many ornamental plants in the shape of the rat.

Le Van Kiet, an artisan who grows ornamental plants in Cho Lach’s Vinh Thanh commune, said he was making many plants in the shape of the rat for Tet. “Many people like buying such ornamental plants.”

Bui Thanh Liem, head of the Cho Lach Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development, said artisans who make plants in the shape of animals and towers can sell them at a high price. Plants with a height of 1.5m can sell for 2 – 2.5 million VND a pot.

The cultivation of flowers and ornamental plants for Tet has provided farmers in the delta a good income.

Nguyen Thi Phuong, who grows Tet flowers in An Khuong flower village in Chau Thanh district’s Minh Hoa commune in Kien Giang province, said she earn a profit of 30 - 40 million VND (1,300 – 1,700 USD) for each Tet flower crop.

“Growing flowers for Tet has led to financial stability for our family. So we will have a good Tet celebration and have money for my children's education,” she said. 

Tran Ba Hiep, chairman of the Minh Hoa Commune Farmers Association, said the An Khuong flower village has weather and soil suited for growing flowers. Farmers make a profit four – five times higher from flowers than from rice, he said.

The village, the largest flower growing area in Kien Giang province, is expected to supply about 500,000 flower pots for the coming Tet, with an estimated average price of 30,000 – 45,000 VND (1.3 – 2 USD) a pot. The village farmers grow mostly daisies, cockscomb, marigold and sunflowers.

Flowers and ornamental plants in the delta’s villages are sold elsewhere in the delta and other provinces and cities, including HCM City.

|Besides growing flowers and ornamental plants for sale, many flower villages in the delta offer tourism services./.