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Daisy growers take care of their trees. Photo N.H |
While Nhat Tan peach blossom has been ragged from the floods and Thu Duc apricot blossom as well as other flower villages in Binh Dinh were in similar conditions, chrysanthemum villages in Vinh Liem and Hao Duc, An Nhon District were less affected. Flower growers are now preparing for Tet holiday.
Despite two recent severe floods causing damage for many flower villages in Binh Dinh, Vinh Liem chrysanthemum village in An Nhon District has still remained intact because it has a high terrain, let alone good cultivation.
There are over 30 households growing chrysanthemum trees in Vinh Liem village this year. In previous years, daisy growers mainly planted Shanghai’s chrysanthemum trees, but this year saw most Da Lat’s Dai Doa chrysanthemum trees which are believed to have high economic effect.
Coming to Vinh Liem village on these days, we could see the busy atmosphere on fields. All growers have taken care of their flowers gardens after continuous rains. “I’ve cultivated more than 1,400 pots of chrysanthemum trees this year,” Bui Minh Hoang, a daisy grower said. “In late November, my flower garden was less affected by floods because I had well prepared for this. At present, I’ve taken care of chrysanthemum pots to sell on the Tet holiday.”
Comparing with Shanghai’s chrysanthemum, it’s more difficult to cultivate Dai Doa chrysanthemum trees because they are often affected by some diseases. However, Hoang could deal with the problem easily thanks to his 20 year-experience in growing flowers.
Currently, the chrysanthemum trees in Vinh Liem are ready to be sold in the Tet holiday which falls on January 25. Flowers growers in Binh Dinh predict that prices for flowers sold for Tet holiday are bound to increase because most flower villages nationwide were severely damaged.
Hao Duc Hamlet in Nhon An Commune is the largest apricot blossom growing area in Binh Dinh. The cultivation of apricot blossom trees has become busy on these days. Several small trucks from Central Highlands provinces and Thua Thien Hue came here to buy apricot blossom trees for the Tet holiday, making the flower market more bustling.
Statistics showed that 95% of households in Hao Duc Hamlet are now growing apricot blossom trees. Le Dinh An, a resident of Nhon An commune, said in the previous Tet holiday, the whole hamlet had earned over VND8 billion (US$472,000). Everyone has, therefore, eagerly grown apricot blossom trees, waiting for Tet. They have also earned over VND1 billion ($59,000) so far.
Prolonged floods in late November also damaged some flower growing areas, but most are still intact.
We visited one of apricot blossom gardens in Hao Duc hamlet when its owner, Phan Xuan Canh, was taking care of his 1,000 trees. He said he had sold 100 trees with the price of VND400,000 per tree. Apricot blossom gardens could be badly affected by the floods to some extent, but the prices will be higher than previous years, he added. Perhaps, flower growers will be happier in the coming year.
We also saw many dealers coming here to buy apricot blossom trees. At present, the prices are higher than previous years, but most still want to wait for the Tet holiday, expecting a much higher price.
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