Thousands of baskets of chrysanthemums in Ben Tre were uprooted, the supplier of seedlings apologized to the people.

From the initial 100 seedlings, Mr. Huynh Van Anh has multiplied hundreds of thousands of seedlings and distributed them to people. Currently, hundreds of thousands of baskets of raspberry chrysanthemums are slow to bud.

Baskets of chrysanthemums that did not bud were uprooted and withered by people in Long Thoi commune, Cho Lach district, Ben Tre province - Photo: MAU TRUONG

'I feel very guilty'

On November 18, a working group from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development visited the area where chrysanthemums were growing slowly in Long Thoi Commune (Cho Lach District, Ben Tre Province) to conduct a survey. Apart from some gardens that people had removed after losing hope, the remaining gardens were still kept by people to care for according to the instructions of the agricultural sector.

Thousands of baskets of raspberry chrysanthemums were uprooted: What did the seedling supplier say?

Presenting to the working delegation led by Mr. Huynh Quang Duc - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ben Tre province - Mr. Huynh Van Anh said that last year, after seeing an acquaintance with a beautiful flower variety, he took 100 seedlings to propagate.

"By June 2024, I had propagated more than 100,000 seedlings by cuttings and sold them to people for 1,000 VND per tree.

Of which, I sold about 70,000 seedlings to my fellow villagers and about 40,000 - 50,000 seedlings to other households. Now that I am in this situation, I feel very guilty and hope you will forgive me!", Mr. Anh said.

In addition to selling seeds, Mr. Anh himself has grown about 7,000 baskets of new raspberry chrysanthemum varieties. Up to now, thousands of his raspberry baskets have the same fate, being slow to bud.

"A few days ago, the Cho Lach district agricultural department came to the garden to instruct on the use of chemicals to induce flowering. So far, the results have been seen, the flowers have begun to branch and differentiate flower buds. However, there is a possibility that the flowers will not bloom in time to be sold to the Northern market, only to nearby markets," said Mr. Anh.

Mr. Huynh Van Anh (middle) said that last year, after seeing an acquaintance with a beautiful flower variety, he took 100 seedlings to propagate and then sell them to people - Photo: MAU TRUONG

Will support people with damaged seedlings and technical measures.

Mr. Huynh Quang Duc - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ben Tre province - said that after the phenomenon of chrysanthemums being slow to branch and flower bud differentiation occurred, the agricultural sector assigned specialized departments to the scene to examine, monitor and provide measures to support the people.

"Through assessing the actual situation, we have monitored it from time to time. Up to now, we can confirm that the reason why hundreds of thousands of pots of chrysanthemums are slow to bloom is because people are using substandard varieties. After a period of flowering treatment, some plants are now able to bloom, but there are still some plants that have not," said Mr. Duc.

In the long run, according to Mr. Duc, it is necessary to manage the quality of seed sources. Currently, Ben Tre province has a seed and ornamental flower project and is in the implementation phase of the project.

Specifically, Ben Tre province has used tissue culture planting methods. After 2 years of implementing tissue culture chrysanthemum varieties of the provincial agricultural sector, the results have been positive, with a bud rate of 100% and the elimination of diseases on this flower.

Previously, many gardeners in Cho Lach district, Ben Tre province had to remove thousands of baskets of raspberry chrysanthemums because they were slow to bud and switch to growing short-term flowers to sell in time for Tet 2025. These gardeners all got flower seeds from an acquaintance, initially the flowers grew very well but when it came time to bud, they were slower than traditional flowers.

According to locals, they have invested about 25,000 VND in each basket of chrysanthemums. If the flowers do not bloom, they will lose everything.

Mr. Huynh Quang Duc - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ben Tre province - said that for those who suffered losses in this year's flower season, the seed center and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ben Tre province will have support policies in the coming time. In addition to supporting seedlings, they will support people with technical measures, how to choose seeds, how to preserve seeds...

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hang-ngan-gio-cuc-mam-xoi-o-ben-tre-bi-nho-bo-nguoi-cung-cap-cay-giong-xin-loi-ba-con-20241118124109032.htm