Growers "cry" because Tet peach blossoms early

Mr. Dau Duc Tuan's peach garden next to Highway 48, in Hamlet 20, Nghia Thuan Commune, Thai Hoa Town, is filled with flowers these days. Mr. Tuan shared: His family has more than 100 peach trees, expected to earn tens of millions of dong this year, but before Tet, the flowers are in full bloom, afraid there will be no more income.

There are peach trees with beautiful shapes, Mr. Tuan expected to sell them for 2 - 3 million VND this Tet, but now the flowers have all bloomed, so he has to wait until next Tet to sell them.

The peach garden of Mr. Dau Duc Tuan's family, hamlet 20, Nghia Thuan commune - Thai Hoa town has been blooming since mid-December. Photo: Quang An

Next to it is the peach garden of Mr. Vo Cong Thang's family with more than 200 trees also blooming, making passersby regret seeing the peach garden blooming before Tet.

It is known that in hamlet 20, Nghia Thuan commune, 40/130 households grow peach trees commercially. Up to now, 90% of peach gardens have bloomed brilliantly.

Peach trees that bloomed before Tet mean farmers lose their crops. Photo: Quang An

Tri Le Commune, Que Phong District is a locality that grows a lot of peaches. However, at this time, many peach gardens are in full bloom. Therefore, people here have to go to Laos to buy peaches to sell.

According to Tri Le residents, this year's peach prices are higher than last year's because many trees have bloomed, making it difficult to find beautiful branches. Since the 10th of December, traders from Vinh City have come to buy peaches, but the quantity is not much.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Cat's family in Hamlet 3A, Nghia Mai Commune, has more than 100 peach trees planted in their 5th year. In previous years, the peach trees bloomed right on Tet, and after selling them, her family earned over 50 million VND; this year, with 2 weeks left until Tet, the peach trees have already bloomed. Ms. Cat said: "Looking at the garden with hundreds of peach trees blooming together, I feel so sad. All the effort I put in to take care of them all year long is now gone!"

Peach growers in Nghia Mai are pruning branches to salvage some of the crop. Photo: Minh Thai

Currently, Nghia Mai commune has dozens of households growing peach trees to sell for Tet. At this time, most peach gardens are in full bloom, with many families having 80% - 90% of their peach trees blooming, and few families having 60% - 70%. Mr. Cao Van Bang - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Nghia Mai commune added: In recent years, many households in Nghia Mai have grown peach trees for Tet and have had very high incomes, but this year, due to the leap month and early spring, the peach blossoms have bloomed early, causing growers to almost lose their crops.

Minh Thanh (Yen Thanh) has 13 hectares of peach trees, and each year, people earn tens of billions of dong from selling peach trees for Tet. However, this year, about 70% of peach trees have bloomed 2 weeks before Tet, causing many households to lose their income. It is likely that the price of peach trees for Tet this year will be higher than last year.

There are some beautiful peach trees in Tri Le commune, Que Phong district, but most of the flowers bloomed before Tet so they cannot be sold for a good price. Photo: Xuan Hoang

In Kim Thanh commune, peach growers are in a similar situation. Kim Thanh currently has nearly 20 hectares of peach trees, which are a significant source of income for the people at the end of the year. However, up to 50% of the peach trees in the commune are now in full bloom.

At this time, peach growers in Nghi An commune, Vinh city are not as happy as in previous years, because this year the peach gardens bloom early. Ms. Bach Thi Thu in hamlet 7, Nghi An sighed: "This year Tet comes later, peach blossoms bloom from the beginning of December, so the harvest is poor."

Ms. Bach Thi Thu, Nghi An commune - Vinh city is not happy because the peach garden has bloomed early. Photo: Quang An

Nghi An commune currently has nearly 100 households growing peach trees for Tet, of which about 30 households grow peach trees on a large scale, concentrated in hamlet 7 and 3 flower villages. This year, peach trees bloomed early due to floods and the effects of the Leap Year. Currently, people are overcoming this situation with their long-term peach growing experience.

There are still 2 weeks left until Tet but most of the peach blossoms have already bloomed like this. Photo: Minh Thai