Farmers in Sa Dec Flower Village in Dong Thap province are taking care of their flowers for the upcoming Tet holiday (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Flower growers are busy preparing for the upcoming Tet (Lunar NewYear), which will begin on February 5.
In the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, about 1,500ha ofdifferent types of flowers for Tet markets are being grown in Da Latcity.
Of the figure, more than 540 hectares of daisies are planted mostly in flowervillages such as Thai Phien in Ward 12, Ha Dong in Ward 8, and Xuan Thanh andXuan Tho communes in the city.
The farmers have also begun to plant about 321 hectares of roses, 154 hectaresof gladiolus flowers, 120 hectares of lisianthus, 75 hectares of lilies, 35hectares of boat orchids and 260 hectares of other flowers
Hundreds of hectares of various flowers have been planted in the city’s DucTrong and Lac Duong districts, including about 300ha of gladiolus in Hiep AnFlower Village in Duc Trong district.
Many local farmers said the weather in recent months had been favourablefor the development of flowers.
Earlier, many flower businesses imported tens of millions of high-qualityseedlings to serve local farmers’ growing demand.
In the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Ben Tre, farmer growers in Cho Lach districthave produced more than 10 million products of flowers and ornamental trees tomeet demand of Tet markets, making a year-on-year increase of 15 percent.
Bui Thanh Liem, head of the district’s Agricultural and RuralDevelopment Sub-department, said this year local farmers hadmainly produced flowers according to the orders of traders.
About 6,000 households are growing more than 650 hectares of flowers andornamental trees, mostly in Long Thoi, Tan Thieng, Hoa Nghia, Vinh Thanh,Phu Son and Hung Khanh Trung B communes.
There are many kinds of potted flowers, hanging flowersand ornamental plant pots such as yellow ochnaflower, bougainvillea flower and bonsai citrus trees.
Nguyen Thi Nga in Vinh Thanh commune said her family had produced more than100,000 flowers and ornamental trees for Tet which were mostly ordered fromtraders before. “Only 30 percent will sell at local markets.”
“We actively sell our products and do not depend on market demandlike in previous years,” she said.
Establishments making pots used for flowers and ornamental trees arealso busy meeting demand of flower growers as Tet draws near.
According to Vo Van Hung, owner of a production establishment in Vinh Long province’sTam Binh district, the peak production time usually falls betweenthe ninth and 12th lunar months.
Each year, his family produces about 1,000 pots including different typesof various sizes. Most of the products are sold to flower growers in theMekong Delta region.
His establishment now has five workers with an average monthlysalary of 4.5-5 million VND (193-215 USD) per person, increasing of about20 percent on days near Tet.
Le Ba Thanh, owner of an establishment in Cho Lach district’s Phu Phung communein Ben Tre province, said this year the demand of market for pots is increasingsignificantly, especially for pots of bonsai trees.
Ha Van Kha, an owner of a flower shop in HCM City, said he preferred cement andclay pots made in Cho Lach because they had good quality at reasonable prices.
He often orders pots around three months before Tet.
Depending on the size, the price of a cement pot is from 110,000 VND (4.7 USD),130,000 VND (5.6 USD), or 440,000 VND (18.9 USD).
The demand is expected to rise 10 percent this year, while the price will riseby 7-10 percent of price compared to last year.
In Dong Thap province, farmers in Sa Dec city’s Sa Dec Flower Village haveplanted more than three million flowers and ornamental trees.
The province’s centre for high-tech application in agricultural production hasproduced over 500,000 disease-free seedlings of various kinds of flowers.
More than 100ha of flowers and ornamental trees for Tet are being grown mostlyin Tan Quy Dong ward and Tan Khanh Dong commune.
Flowers like chrysanthemums, daisies, marigolds and roses have been growingwell.
Farmers in the village earn high incomes from selling flower seedlings to otherlocal farmers and to neighbouring provinces.
Tran Van Ut Hung, a flower farmer in Tan Khanh Dong commune, said he had grownover 6,000 seedlings per orders from farmers from Dong Thap, An Giang, TienGiang, Vinh Long and Ben Tre provinces and Can Tho city.
After deducting costs, he earns a profit of 200 million VND (8,578 USD) fromsold seedlings.
Tran Thanh Toan in Tan My Village in the city’s Tan Quy Dong ward said he hadplanted about 12,000 flowers.
In previous years, his flowers sold both to local markets and to central andnorthern provinces.
Plumeria (also known as frangipani) planted in Sa Dec are exported abroad.
Hung Thy flower enterprise, a local company, now annually exports about 30,000to 50,000 plumeria trees to Taiwan (China) and Middle Eastern countries.
Ten farmers grew and sold plumeria trees to the company.
The flower company has created jobs for nearly 100 local people, who earn about150,000-200,000 VND (6.5-8.5 USD) daily.
It also plans to export flower trees to other foreign markets such as Japan and the Republic of Korea.-VNS/VNA
VNA
