Farmers in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta are getting high prices for flowers and ornamental plants since they reduced production for Tết (Lunar New Year) because of the COVID – 19 pandemic while demand is high. They have almost finished the harvest and are selling to traders with the festival just a few days away.
In Bến Tre Province’s Chợ Lách District, one of the delta’s largest producers of flowers and ornamental plants, many farmers have fully sold out. Trần Hữu Hiệp in the district’s Hưng Khánh Trung B Commune said he sold 10,000 yellow ochna trees, half to traders from the north.
The flower is the symbol of Tết in the south, with families decorating their houses with the tree during the festival. If farmers decide to sell their yellow ochna trees, they pick all the leaves around 15 days before Tết so that a tree only has buds and flowers for Tết.
The weather was favourable this year but yet most farmers reduced output because they feared the pandemic could impact demand. The district grew only six million pots of flowers and ornamental plants this year, down two million from last Tết, according to the district Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Farmers have grown chrysanthemum, marigold, cockcomb, rose, kumquat, and other flowers.
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