Tet ornamental flowers are forced to lower prices, growers are in a bind

In recent days, Mr. Bui Thanh Dam's family, a member of the Phuoc Dinh Yellow Apricot Cooperative (Binh Hoa Phuoc Commune, Long Ho District, Vinh Long Province), has been restless as Tet is approaching and very few traders come to buy, or if they do, they force the price down. This situation makes him feel like he is "sitting on hot coals" because the business will be worse than Tet 2023.

Mr. Bui Thanh Dam, member of Phuoc Dinh apricot village. Photo: Phong Linh

"Last year's Tet was difficult, this year's is even more difficult. Judging the situation, my family did not import much from the beginning of the year, we keep and sell whatever we have.

What makes us saddest is that traders know that the garden needs to sell so they force down the price very hard. For example, last year my apricot tree was priced at 100 million VND, but now traders are offering it for only 70 million VND. Even in the Cooperative, there are cases where the apricot tree was priced at more than 90 million VND, but traders are offering 45 - 50 million VND," Mr. Dam shared.

According to Mr. Dam, there are many reasons why yellow apricot will not be popular in Tet 2024, mostly due to the difficult economic situation, leading to limited demand for apricot.

On the other hand, for many families in the city, due to limited land area, they only buy apricot trees to display during Tet, then they will send them to the garden to take care of them in preparation for the following year, so the number of customers buying them has decreased significantly.

"Not only me but many other gardeners in this cooperative are currently worried about the possibility of flowers blooming early. There is no way to limit this because the weather changes according to the leap year. Anyway, since the full moon of the twelfth lunar month, we have stripped the leaves and tightened the water for the flowers, so we decided to keep the original price and continue to hope that the ornamental flower market will improve in the days before Tet so that people can grow flowers and enjoy Tet to the fullest. As for setting a target of how much to sell this year, no one dares to think about it," Mr. Dam confided.

Currently, Mr. Dam owns more than 40 apricot trees with prices ranging from 5 million to 100 million VND (depending on the size, root and shape of the apricot tree). In addition to growing apricot trees, his family also grows longan trees to maintain the economy.

Mr. Truyen introduces the colorful bougainvillea garden. Photo: Phong Linh.

In Can Tho City, Mr. Nguyen Van Truyen (Binh Thuy District) was also nervous when the purchasing power of bougainvillea was low near Tet. Mr. Truyen said that in previous years, people called or came directly to buy from November, but this year, by the beginning of December, only 1 or 2 people asked and then left. Meanwhile, the price of materials and fertilizers has increased day by day, causing many flower and ornamental gardeners in Can Tho to be in trouble.

"In addition to taking care of the flowers to prepare them for sale, we always have to listen to the market. We cannot set the price low because we still have to pay for the medicine and care, but we cannot set the price too high because everyone's economy is difficult. Seeing the business situation getting worse, I sometimes feel worried, but I have the fate of making ornamental plants for Tet so I have to stick with the job. I know that purchasing power will be low this year, but I still hope that people will buy a few plants to decorate for Tet to create the atmosphere," said Mr. Truyen.

Gardeners hope for a prosperous Tet. Photo: Phong Linh.

It is known that this year, Mr. Truyen's garden owns more than 200 large and small bougainvillea pots. The majority are five-color Thai bougainvillea, grafted from 3 to 7 colors on each tree. Prices range from 1 million to 28 million VND/tree depending on size.

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