Mekong Delta farmers busy preparing Tet flowers

Farmers in two major flower villages in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region, Sa Dec in Dong Thap province and Cai Mon in Ben Tre province, are busy planting seeds for the Lunar New Year flower crop, which falls on February 10 this year.

In Sa Dec flower village in Sa Dec city, the largest flower village in Dong Thap province, about 1.5 million pots of various kinds of flowers are being grown for Tet, including more than 270,000 chrysanthemum pots.

Vo Thanh Tung, a farmer in Sa Dec city, planted 5,000 baskets of chrysanthemums this year, an increase of about 20% from last year. The average cost for each flower crop is over 100 million VND (4,300 USD). Traders are buying chrysanthemum pots in advance for prices ranging from 80,000 VND to 90,000 VND (3.5 – 3.9 USD) a pot, up 20,000 VND to 30,000 VND from the previous Tet depending on the quality.

Farmers are earning a profit of 30,000 VND – 50,000 VND for each chrysanthemum pot. Chrysanthemums, one of the preferred Tet flowers, can bloom for more than one month.

Tran Be Hai, who is growing 10,000 chrysanthemum pots in Sa Dec City’s Tan Quy Dong ward, said that he hoped the flowers would bloom on time for Tet and be more beautiful this year because of favourable weather.

The price of various types of flowers in the village had also increased by 20 – 30% compared to last Tet, he said.

With advanced farming techniques, farmers in the delta can now make most flowers bloom during Tet in order to fetch good prices.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc, Head of the Economic Department of Sa Dec city, said that according to statistics, farmers had sown more than 60 hectares of seeds, and were expected to increase to 100 hectares, an increase of nearly 40% compared to the previous year. This year's traditional flower types were still marigolds, chrysanthemums, and auspicious flowers, along with some new varieties such as red and purple raspberry chrysanthemums.

The quantity of flower and ornamental plants grown for Tet in many flower villages has increased this year. Farmers have also planted more new flower varieties such as foreign rose and daisy varieties.

Tran Huu Nghi, Deputy Head of the Division of Agriculture and Rural Development of Cho Lach district, said that in Ben Tre province’s Cho Lach district, which is the delta’s largest flower producer, farmers would supply about 15 million pots of flowers and ornamental plants to the market, an increase of 2 million products compared to last year. The main flowers are raspberry chrysanthemum, hyacinth, marigold, yellow apricot, and kumquat.

According to forecasts of the authorities, by the end of the year, saltwater intrusion will not be as severe as three years ago. Although rainy weather causes waterlogging, most people have experience in handling pesticides in a timely manner so the damage is insignificant.

However, because the output of Tet flowers this year is high, farmers needed to sign contracts with traders, Nghi said.

Cho Lach district produces many ornamental plants in various shapes, including the animals representing the 12-year zodiac cycle, in which each year is related to one animal.

The coming Tet is the Year of the Dragon, so the district is making many ornamental plants in the shape of the dragon.