Rising costs make Western farmers worried about growing Tet flowers

More than a month to go until the Lunar New Year, many gardeners in Kien Giang and An Giang provinces are busy taking care of Tet flowers to prepare for a brilliant spring flower crop, but along with that are also worries.

Nông dân trồng hoa Tết lo lắng vì chi phí tăng - Ảnh 1. — People in Giong Rieng district, Kien Giang province urgently plant flowers to serve the Lunar New Year 2025 - Photo: HOA ANH

Tet flower growers worry about rising costs

On December 20, Tuoi Tre Online noted that on the roads in Giong Rieng district, Kien Giang province, the working atmosphere became more bustling and hurried than ever.

Coming here these days, you can clearly feel the bustling atmosphere preparing for the most important flower planting season of the year.

With nearly 10 years of experience growing flowers for Tet, Mr. Bui Van Sieng's family (residing in Ngoc Chuc commune, Giong Rieng district) grows 4,500 pots of marigolds. This flower takes about 70-80 days from sowing to blooming.

To grow marigolds effectively, growers must always take care of and fertilize the plants so that they grow well, then the flowers will bloom large, evenly, beautifully and have bright colors. Seedlings are grown for about 10 days and then planted in beds or pots.

After about 30 days, the plant must be pruned to produce more shoots, continue to water and fertilize so that the plant grows well. Each marigold plant usually has 10 - 13 flowers.

"In flower growing, choosing varieties and watering plants are very important. The care stage, allowing flower buds to develop, requires meticulousness. If the weather is sunny, watering is needed at noon. Every week, growers must fertilize and apply nutrients to ensure flowers bloom in time for Tet," said Mr. Sieng.

Nông dân trồng hoa Tết lo lắng vì chi phí tăng - Ảnh 2. — An Thanh flower village, Cho Moi district, An Giang province, the most famous in the province, has been supported with a preferential loan of more than 700 million VND - Photo: MINH KHANG

In some districts such as An Bien, Tan Hiep, Kien Giang province, many flower growers this year mainly focus on growing marigolds, while chrysanthemums have been reduced. Due to the erratic weather, chrysanthemums have become difficult to grow.

Only skilled flower growers dare to invest in growing this flower. Because just a small mistake can cause the flower to bloom at the wrong time for Tet, leading to total loss.

To welcome the Tet flower season this year, Mr. Le Van Binh, a resident of Tan Thanh Commune, Tan Hiep District, planted 1,000 pots of marigolds. However, this year the weather is colder than last year, so he is afraid that the chrysanthemums will not bloom in time for Tet, so he only planted marigolds.

"The price of flowers this year may not increase, it is still 20,000 VND for a small pot, 40,000 VND for a large pot. Meanwhile, the price of fertilizer, straw fertilizer and seeds has increased, causing production costs to increase. I expect this year to have a lower profit than last year," said Mr. Binh.

Nông dân trồng hoa Tết lo lắng vì chi phí tăng - Ảnh 3. — This year, farmers in An Thanh flower village, Cho Moi district, An Giang grow many types of chrysanthemums to supply the Tet flower market - Photo: MINH KHANG

Low interest rate support for farmers

Meanwhile, Ms. Dang Thi Kieu Tien - President of the Farmers' Association of Hoa An Commune, Cho Moi District, An Giang - said that farmers in An Thanh flower village (the largest flower village in An Giang island - PV) are focusing on growing flowers to serve the Lunar New Year 2025 with many different types of flowers.

An Thanh flower village currently has nearly 11 hectares of flower cultivation, a decrease of 2 hectares. The reason is that people have switched to growing various colors, mainly gerbera daisies, marigolds, etc.

"The Association has created conditions for flower growers to borrow capital from the project "Growing and caring for ornamental flowers". This capital source from the program "Farmer Support Fund" is over 700 million VND. Each household can borrow 40-50 million VND/household, depending on the flower growing area for a period of 18 months, with low interest rates to help farmers have conditions to grow flowers this Tet holiday", said Ms. Kieu Tien.

According to Mrs. Tien, this year, farmers in An Thanh flower village are growing a lot of chrysanthemums. They have just finished planting the flowers.

"However, the unfavorable weather has made it difficult for flower growers. In particular, people have reported that the cost of buying flower seeds has increased slightly compared to the same period last year. Therefore, the cost of growing flowers for Tet this year will be higher than last year," said Ms. Tien.