Gloomy "capital" of yellow apricot flowers in Ho Chi Minh City

(NLDO) - Binh Loi apricot village with more than 500 hectares, every traditional Tet holiday brings apricot flowers to all parts of the country...

On the days leading up to the Lunar New Year 2025, along Vuon Thom Street (Binh Loi Commune, Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City), there are many places displaying and selling apricot blossoms.

Binh Loi Yellow Apricot Blossom Village (Binh Chanh District) decorates to welcome the New Year of the Snake 2025.

According to the records, compared to previous years, the buying and selling atmosphere is somewhat gloomy. Many apricot garden owners shake their heads because of the weather and apricot prices this year.

Mr. Hong Phat (Binh Loi commune) said that every year he goes to the Central and Central Highlands regions such as Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Phan Rang, Phan Thiet...

Visit the "capital" of yellow apricot flowers in Ho Chi Minh City during Tet

"This year's income will be lower than previous years, partly because the cold weather caused the flowers to bloom late and not bloom in time for traders to collect. Another reason is that traders often still forfeit their deposits because the apricot blossoms do not bloom enough, and they have to refund their deposits. With the economic difficulties, they take less than previous years. In addition, the amount of apricot blossoms consumed is less, so traders are also more hesitant," said Mr. Phat.

Apricot garden of Mr. Hong Phat's family.

This year, his family's exported flower apricot trees are less than 1/10 of the leaf apricot trees, while the leaf apricot trees number in the tens of thousands.

The flower apricot trees must be carefully selected, but the number of apricot trees that traders buy is less than the number of apricot trees prepared for Tet. The remaining large-leaf apricot trees must be cared for and pruned next year, waiting for the next flowering season.

For gardens far away, Mr. Hong Phat's family had to transport the apricot trees by boat and gather them on Vuon Thom Street.

Apricot garden owners said that since the pandemic, apricot growers have faced many difficulties, and sales have been slow. This year, many apricot garden owners have sold their own apricots because traders have bought less. Some people have brought them to Vuon Thom Street to wait for trucks to buy them, but the sales are still very low compared to previous years.

"The income of matchmakers has decreased sharply. If this time (December 23) of previous years, the income would be 3 times higher than now. This year is much quieter than previous years. There are very few trucks coming to pick up the matchmakers," said Mr. Phat. According to him, the cost of taking care of 1 hectare of small matchmakers is about 70-100 million VND, which is only the cost of hiring outside workers and buying materials. The family workers consider it "making a profit from their labor", if calculated, the cost would be even higher.

"In previous years, small cars, 5-7 ton cars, were densely packed on Vuon Thom Street and the canal. Now there are only 2-3 cars" - he shook his head.

Mr. Ut hired someone to lift the apricot tree from the garden onto the truck.

Mr. Ut's apricot garden only sold 180 trees at a lower price than last year.

Similarly, Mr. Ut's apricot garden (Binh Loi commune) is not doing much better. Last year, he sold 1,200 apricot trees for 300,000 to 400,000 VND. This year, he only sold 180 trees for 250,000 VND/tree. He even paid the traders to dig the apricot trees up to the shore.

"This year the weather is cold, the cotton crop is not as good as last year. This income is not enough for investment. This year we will definitely lose money" - Mr. Ut confided.

Mr. Bui Van Lai said that in previous years, trucks were parked densely on Vuon Thom Street and the canal road.

Mr. Bui Van Lai (also known as Ti Anh - Binh Loi commune) is transporting mai flowers from the garden to the canal for trucks to pick up the goods. In previous years, the 3,000-tree mai garden also sold 2,000-2,500 trees for Tet. However, this year the situation is more difficult. He estimates that there will be about 4-5 trips to transport goods to the provinces. Mai flowers from Mr. Lai's garden go from the southern provinces to the northern provinces.

Mr. Lai said that this year the Northern market needs a lot of mai flowers, and the goods are shipped early. However, this year the flowers are blooming slowly, so the amount of goods shipped is very small.

This year matchmakers face many difficulties.

"The average price of apricot blossoms is much lower than every year. In recent years, apricot blossom makers have been very tired. Every year, Vuon Thom Street is jammed with traffic, but this year it's very quiet.

This year, the number of customers is low. Nine out of 10 gardens bloom late, so the apricot blossoms can only be shipped to the South, only one garden can ship to the North. The cost has increased but the selling price is low..." - Mr. Lai lamented.

With increasing costs and a weak consumer market, Binh Loi apricot village is experiencing a gloomy Tet season.

According to Mr. Lai, the economy is difficult, many people do not make money so selling at high prices is not possible. The man commented that this year people can buy apricot trees to play Tet for the same price as a pot of chrysanthemums.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/am-dam-thu-phu-mai-vang-tp-hcm-196250128170558422.htm