There are only about 2 months left until the Lunar New Year 2024, but many flower gardens in Dong Thap... are still quite gloomy, very different from every year.
Last year, Ms. Le Thi Thuy (57 years old, living in Sa Dec district) planted more than 20,000 pots of Tet flowers, but this year she only planted 10,000 pots.
"I have been making Tet flowers for more than ten years, but the atmosphere has never been as gloomy as this year. At first, I planned not to make Tet flowers this year, but there is only one season each year, so I have to try," Ms. Thuy explained.
According to Ms. Thuy, although the number of flower pots had to be reduced by 50%, production costs such as fertilizer, pesticides, and seeds for this year's flower crop still increased by 5% compared to last year. Due to the small quantity, she will focus on investing in the quality of the flowers to increase consumption.
People begin to separate chrysanthemums into small pots to prepare for the Tet market (Photo: Bao Tran).
Mr. Tran Van Phuoc (also living in Sa Dec City) said that this year his family planted about 5,000 flower pots. Mr. Phuoc commented that although the weather was favorable this year, due to economic impacts, people changed their shopping habits to save money, causing the purchasing power of goods to decrease, including Tet flowers.
"Every year, farmers proactively increase or decrease the amount of flowers according to market demand. Normally, wholesalers only place orders on December 15, and only then will they know if the flowers are in demand," Mr. Phuoc shared.
According to many farmers, growing flowers for Tet is quite difficult and takes a lot of effort because it has to be done on time (Photo: Bao Tran).
According to many farmers in the West, some households have switched to growing high-quality, long-term flowers and ornamental foliage for sale year-round so as not to depend on the Tet flower market.
This year, the flower varieties chosen by farmers in the West to grow are mainly chrysanthemums, large chrysanthemums, marigolds, roses, periwinkles, cockscombs, petunias, aster, lisianthus, etc.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc, Head of the Economic Department of Sa Dec City, said that the area of ornamental flowers in the city up to now is 950 hectares, with more than 2,500 households growing them. They trade in over 2,000 different types of ornamental flowers.
People grow and care for chrysanthemums to sell on weekdays to generate extra income before Tet (Photo: Bao Tran).
The 2024 Tet flower crop is divided into 3 large groups: Ornamental plants for construction and interior decoration (accounting for 65%); ancient bonsai (accounting for 15%); flowers of all kinds (accounting for about 20%). The total area of ornamental flowers for Tet is expected to be about 100 hectares of all kinds.
Unlike previous years, this year Sa Dec City will host the Flower Festival for the first time. It is expected to be the largest Tet flower festival in the Mekong Delta and will create momentum to increase the attraction of the Tet flower market in the region.
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