Tet flower traders in Nghe An face many difficulties

full of worries

The Lunar New Year 2025 also marks 10 years since Mr. Pham Trung Kien in Kim Lien commune, Nam Dan district has been involved in the flower and ornamental plant growing business. His family is one of the pioneers in the flower growing movement to develop the local economy. This year, he invested in two main types of flowers to serve the market: lilies and chrysanthemums, with a total area of ​​over 3,000m2.²However, Mr. Kien cannot help but worry because this flower season is facing more difficulties.

Mr. Kien said that this year the weather is erratic, with early cold, so importing and taking care of flowers is much more difficult, especially the planting stage as well as preparing the lighting system to ensure good plant growth... There are drizzly, cold nights, but he and his wife still have to "eat and sleep" with the flowers, doing all the steps such as fertilizing, weeding, hilling, topping, pruning... just hoping the flowers bloom on the right day to bring to market.

This year's Tet crop, the entire Dien Chau district planted about 5 hectares of Tet flowers, concentrated in the communes of Dien Ky, Dien Dong, Dien Hong, Dien Lien... Ms. Phan Ngoc Tuyet - one of the households that have grown Tet flowers for many years in Dien Ky commune said: Compared to last year, this year's Tet crop, my family still keeps the same area of ​​6 sao, not expanding because we are both working and listening to the market.

This year the economy is more difficult, if we expand the area but cannot sell it, we will "lose Tet". Therefore, we have to calculate the "safe" plan, not daring to take risks. This year, we just hope for stable output, because every household and every person selling flowers during Tet, competing with each other is already hard...

When talking about Tet flowers, we cannot help but mention the suburban communes of Vinh such as Nghi An, Nghi Lien... This place is considered the largest flower and ornamental plant capital in the province with hundreds of households working in the profession. Small households have from 1,000 to 2,000 plants, large households have tens of thousands of plants, countless, planted from one garden to another.

Despite the potential and advantages of growing flowers and ornamental plants, product output is still a difficult problem, especially in localities without centralized sales points. People mainly sell at home, households with conditions rent premises to sell in Vinh city or along National Highway 46, however, finding premises near Tet is not easy.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Trung in Kim Chi hamlet, Nghi An commune (Vinh city) said: "My family has proactively contacted to rent business premises on Le Nin Avenue for a whole month now but all are full. There are a few places but the prices are too high, from 1 - 2 million VND/m², we can not survive because there are many other expenses. Therefore, I have to do business at home, certainly the number of customers will not be equal to those with good locations on major roads.

In fact, this year, the business space for flowers and ornamental plants in Vinh City has been significantly reduced, especially since major roads are being upgraded and renovated at the end of the year, such as Le Nin Avenue, Le Hong Phong, Truong Thi, An Duong Vuong, Phong Dinh Cang... Therefore, people do not have as much space to rent on these roads as in previous years. Even if they can rent, their business will be at a disadvantage due to the road construction process.

Since the beginning of December, trucks carrying a series of ornamental plants for Tet have been pouring into Vinh city such as peach, kumquat, Dien grapefruit, yellow apricot... to serve people celebrating Tet. Mr. Doan Trung Phong, a trader of ornamental plants for Tet in Vinh city, said: This year, his family imported about 500 tangerine, Dien grapefruit, four-season lemon trees and thousands of peach and apricot trees to serve people celebrating Tet. The cost of transporting these trees from Hung Yen, Son La, Hanoi... to Vinh alone costs tens of millions of VND, not to mention other costs such as premises, labor, electricity and water... we have to calculate carefully, balance the sources to avoid losses.

Mr. Hoang Quan - a Tet ornamental tree trader on Le Nin Avenue said: Since the beginning of the 11th lunar month, we have been going to large peach gardens across the country such as Nhat Tan, Moc Chau, Son La... to see the peach trees and agree on prices. This year, we imported 300 peach trees to Vinh. This is an expensive ornamental tree, the capital outlay is large, so everyone is nervous, just hoping that the peach trees will be loved and supported by the people so that everyone can have a "warm" Tet after a month of "eating and sleeping" with Tet peach trees.

Flower market to open soon

Nghe An is the largest province in the country, with potential and advantages to develop the flower and ornamental plant growing industry. In particular, in Vinh City, there are famous flower villages such as Kim Chi, Kim Phuc, Kim Binh of Nghi An commune, or Trung Lien hamlet, Nghi Lien commune... or famous peach villages such as Minh Thanh (Yen Thanh), Nam Xuan, Nam Anh (Nam Dan)...

Flowers and ornamental plants are increasingly popular, not only during Tet, but also in daily life, especially with the current demand for green space and a clean environment. However, the business of these products is still fragmented, without connection, without fixed display points, people mainly sell retail to the market...

Currently, Vinh city has planned to build the first flower market in the area with an area of ​​about 10 hectares in Kim Chi hamlet, Nghi An commune. This will be a place to gather flower and ornamental plant traders as well as ornamental plant lovers from all over the country.

Mr. Tran Quang Lam - Vice Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee said: Currently, the site clearance work to build a flower market in Nghi An commune has been basically completed. The city is completing documents and procedures to call for businesses to invest in building the market. When put into operation, this will be the largest flower and ornamental plant market in Nghe An, not only meeting the needs of people buying and selling ornamental plants, minimizing the situation of small businesses, encroaching on the roadside, but also being a tourist highlight when visitors come to the city.