HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Farmersin the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region are expected to have a goodflower and ornamental plant harvest, as well as good prices, forthe Tet (Lunar New Year)festival, which falls on January 25.

Many well-known flower and ornamental plant villages exist in the delta,including Sa Dec in Dong Thap province, Cho Lach in Ben Tre province, PhoTho - Ba Bo in Can Tho city and My Tho in Tien Giang province.

In Sa Dec flower village in Sa Dec city, the largest flower village in Dong Thapprovince, about 2 million pots of various kinds of flowers are being grown for Tet, including more than 250,000chrysanthemum pots.

Traders are buying chrysanthemum pots in advance for prices ranging 80,000VND to 90,000 VND (3.5 – 3.9 USD) a pot, up 20,000 – 30,000 VND againstthe last Tet.

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

Pham Van Hoa, who grows 6,000 chrysanthemum pots in Sa Dec city’s TanQuy Dong ward, said that the flower was blooming on time for Tet and was more beautiful thisyear because of favourable weather.

The price of various types of flowers in the village has alsoincreased by 20 – 30 percent compared to last Tet,he said.

With advanced farming techniques, farmers in the delta can now make mostflowers bloom during Tet tofetch good prices.

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

In An Giang province, more farmers in Ong Ho Islet in Long Xuyen city’s My HoaHung commune, are growing ochna for Tet. Ochnais a traditional Tet flowerin the southern region.

Tran Anh Chau, Chairman of the My Hoa Hung Commune Farmers Association, saidthe number of households in the commune growing ochna trees for the coming Tet increase four times against last Tet because of the high market demand.

Since farmers in the commune use natural methods, the ochnatrees produce more flowers over the years. They also lookmore beautiful with each year.

Dinh Ngoc Tung, head of the My Tho city Economic Bureau in Tien Giang province,said farmers in the city are growing more than 1 million pots of various typesof flowers for Tet, including800,000 pots of daisy varieties.

The weather has been favourable, but the prices of materials andworker costs have increased by 10 -15 percent against last Tet. As a result, the prices offlowers will increase, according to farmers in My Tho.

In Ben Tre province’s Cho Lach district, which is the delta’s largest flowerproducer, farmers will supply about 11 million pots of flowers and ornamentalplants to the market, according to the Cho Lach Bureau of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment.

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

The coming Tet is the Year ofthe Rat, so the district is making many ornamental plants in the shape ofthe rat.

Le Van Kiet, an artisan who grows ornamental plants in Cho Lach’s Vinh Thanh commune,said he was making many plants in the shape of the rat for Tet. “Many people like buying suchornamental plants.”

Bui Thanh Liem, head of the Cho Lach Bureau of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, said artisans who make plants in the shape of animals andtowers can sell them at a high price. Plants with a height of1.5m can sell for 2 – 2.5 million VND a pot.

The cultivation of flowers and ornamental plants for Tet hasprovided farmers in the delta a good income.

Nguyen Thi Phuong, who grows Tet flowersin An Khuong flower village in Chau Thanh district’s Minh Hoa commune in KienGiang province, said she earn a profit of 30 - 40 million VND (1,300 – 1,700USD) for each Tet flower crop.

“Growing flowers for Tet hasled to financial stability for our family. So we will have a good Tet celebration and have money for mychildren's education,” she said. 

Tran Ba Hiep, chairman of the Minh Hoa Commune Farmers Association, said the AnKhuong flower village has weather and soil suited for growingflowers. Farmers make a profit four – five times higher fromflowers than from rice, he said.

The village, the largest flower growing area in Kien Giang province, isexpected to supply about 500,000 flower pots for the coming Tet, with an estimated average price of 30,000– 45,000 VND (1.3 – 2 USD) a pot. The village farmers grow mostly daisies,cockscomb, marigold and sunflowers.

Flowers and ornamental plants in the delta’s villages are sold elsewhere in thedelta and other provinces and cities, including HCM City.

|Besides growing flowers and ornamental plants for sale, many flower villagesin the delta offer tourism services./.