Que Phong mountain town (Nghe An) is deserted with peach blossoms for Tet.

DistrictQue Phonghas long been famous for the local peach variety grown by locals to serve the Tet market. The largest area is in the border commune of Tri Le, with about 20 hectares of peach trees grown by locals in their home gardens and fields.

Therefore, every year, around the 10th of December, traders from the city often flock to the "peach capital" Tri Le to buy peaches to sell for Tet. However, this year, the 15th of December has passed, but there is still no sign of a peach branch being brought out for sale.

On the 15th day of the 12th lunar month, the peach blossom selling area in Tri Le commune is deserted. Photo: Quang An

Locals said that because they cannot go to Laos to get wild peach trees this year, they have no peach trees to sell. Those who have peach trees are not in a hurry to sell, or many trees have already bloomed, because 2020 is a leap year.

Mr. Vi Van Cuong - Chairman of Tri Le Commune People's Committee, said: The reason people do not havepeach blossoms for TetThe reason for the sale is that this year, following the Government's directive not to exploit peach forests, and at the same time, people are not allowed to cross the border due to Covid-19 prevention, so there is no source of peaches from Laos.

Meanwhile, households in the commune that have peach trees, some of them have bloomed, some are not in a hurry to sell, or if they sell, they sell in small quantities to customers in the area. Therefore, even though the full moon of December has passed, there has not been any buying or selling of peach trees for Tet in the commune.

"It wasn't until the afternoon of December 16 that a few people started bringing peach trees out to sell, but the quantity wasn't significant. It's likely that from the 18th onwards, the buying and selling of peach trees in this border commune will become more bustling," said Mr. Vi Van Cuong.

The People's Committee of Kim Son town, Que Phong district, arranged an area in front of the stadium for people to sell peach blossoms for Tet, but on the 15th day of the 12th lunar month, it was still deserted. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Hoang Trung Cuong - Chairman of the Town People's CommitteeKim SonThis year, the town arranged an empty area in front of the district stadium for people to sell Tet peach blossoms.

However, the strange thing is that after the full moon of December, no one has brought peach blossoms to sell for Tet. Not only that, the whole Kim Son town area is deserted of Tet peach blossoms.

On the main roads of Kim Son town, there are no peach blossoms for Tet. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Le Hai Ly - Head of Que Phong District Forest Protection Department said that, implementing the Official Dispatch of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, on strengthening forest management and protection and implementing management and tracing the origin of peach trees for the Lunar New Year 2021, Que Phong Forest Protection Department regularly follows the area, coordinates with the commune authorities, especially Tri Le commune to control the origin of peach trees for Tet.

Mr. Le Hai Ly said that households that grow peach trees, if they sell them to traders to transport downstream, or to other provinces for consumption, need a certificate from the commune government to facilitate the transportation and sales process.

In previous years, by the 10th of December, peach blossoms were on sale on both sides of the road near the center of Tri Le commune. Photo courtesy: Quang An

However, according to Mr. Vi Van Cuong - Chairman of Tri Le Commune People's Committee, as of December 16, no household in the commune has come to the Commune People's Committee to request a certificate of peach sale./.