In Tay Tuu village, on the outskirts of the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, hectares of flowers are waiting to bloom just in time for Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, and many farmers are counting on them for a prosperous start to the new year. Situated 15km from the city center, Tay Tuu is one of Hanoi's famous flower-growing villages, along with Nhat Tan. The history of the flower business here dates back to the 1930s, but it was not until the 1990s that the villagers saw the profitability of the flowers.
According to the local authority, at the height of the business, flowers can generate revenue up to 600 million dong ($26,414) per hectare annually for the farmers. Flower-growing also created more than 500 jobs each year. But then came the pandemic. In August 2021, images of Tay Tuu farmers disposing of their withered crops broke the hearts of flower lovers nationwide. Due to the strict social distancing regulations amid the fourth wave in Hanoi, farmers could not sell their products and had to watch their flowers die in vain.
But by the beginning of 2022, as the Tet holiday approaches, the prospects look brighter for the hard-working people of Tay Tuu, a stark contrast to last year. “Earlier in the pandemic, we could not sell anything”, said Chu Viet Son, an army veteran turned farmer. “Ever since the policies changed, our business can resume and my wife and I have been busy harvesting flowers and sending them to other provinces like Hai Phong and Hai Duong.”
Despite his descendants having turned to modern careers like IT and pharmacy to make a living, the septuagenarian still clings on to his 2,160sqm growing various kinds of flowers with love and care, as a way to live a happy life.
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