Difficulties of Tet flower season...

(Baonghean.vn) - For flower growers, Spring is the most favorable season of the year. But sadly, this year's Tet, the flowers did not grow as expected...

We returned to Nghi Lien flower village in the early days of December. During the day, the temperature dropped below 10oC but the flower village seemed to be "heated" by hundreds of light bulbs.

On the flower beds,People are trying to take care of each flower and bud to wait for the harvest day. Nearly a third of the households in Nghi Lien commune grow flowers and ornamental plants, but in recent years, flower growing has never been as difficult as this year. For nearly 4 consecutive months since the 9th lunar month, there has been heavy rain almost every month, and it is also the time when people start to plant flowers, so the soil is flooded wherever they plant.

Flower growers in Nghi Lien turn on extra light bulbs so that flowers bloom in time for Tet.

That is why, although it has been planted for nearly 3 months, many flowers have not grown. It is only about 1 month to harvest, but the flowers are only about one and a half feet tall, and many plants do not have buds yet. Ms. Nguyen Thi Bay (Hamlet 3, Nghi Lien Commune) lamented: Our whole village has a traditional profession of growing chrysanthemums. Every year, by this time, the flowers have begun to bud. By mid-December, we start harvesting to sell for the weekdays, the day of worshiping the Kitchen God, and to sell to households for planting.

This year, the plants are slow to flower and have many diseases. When I came to Ms. Le Thi Van's house, I saw her busy adjusting the brightness of the lily garden and carefully picking up the discolored leaves of the chrysanthemum garden. Ms. Van said: I don't know if the new variety from the North is not suitable for the soil or if it's because of the rain and cold, but the flowers have leaf blight. This disease does not affect the growth of the flowers too much, but it makes the flower branches not as beautiful as usual.

Not only the flower village in Nghi Lien but also other flower villages such as Trung My (Hung Dong), Kim Chi (Nghi An) are also in a similar difficult situation. Nghe An has nearly 20 hectares of flower fields. Currently, although there is no exact number, up to 1/3 of the total flower area (mostly chrysanthemums) has been damaged by flooding and leaf fungus. Mr. Nguyen Huu Thong - Kim Chi hamlet chief said: "Currently, the whole Kim Chi village has about 3 hectares of flower fields with about 140 households growing them. To prepare for the Tet season, the whole village planted about 1.03 million chrysanthemums, but more than 300 million plants died due to flooding. Many families lost everything. The remaining plants are being cared for and warmed, and if the weather warms up from now until Tet, there will still be enough flowers to supply the Tet market."

Faced with difficulties in flower growing this year, many long-time flower growers such as Mr. Nguyen Trong Tai's family and Mr. Nguyen Van Son's family (Trung My village, Hung Dong) all predicted that "flower prices this year will definitely be higher than last year". In addition to the above objective reasons, there are also increases in flower seed and fertilizer prices.

In contrast to popular flower lines such as chrysanthemums, daisies, dahlias, pansies, and carnations, this year high-end flower lines such as lilies and orchids in the Nghe An market have developed more vigorously. These are flower varieties that are suitable for cold climates and are cared for in greenhouses, so weather fluctuations do not affect the quality of the flowers. In addition to the "traditional" lily flower area that has been familiar to Nghe An customers for several years in the mountainous district of Ky Son, many households in Hung Dong and Nghi Lien have also invested in growing lilies. In Nghi Lien flower village, there are nearly ten households growing lilies, of which the few grow about 500 plants, the many grow up to thousands of plants. This year, Mr. Nguyen Duc Duc's family in Hamlet 4 (Nghi Lien) planted more than 1,000 lily trees. He excitedly said: "Since mid-November until now, my family has had customers come to buy goods. They offered 170,000 VND for each pot of 3 plants, but my family has not agreed yet. Maybe the price of lilies will be higher near Tet, so we are not in a hurry."

The "market exploration" mentality is being quietly responded to by many flower growing families today. However, the majority still affirm that although flower prices fluctuate and are higher than last year, prices will not increase dramatically because the flower market is currently very diverse and highly competitive. Flower growers are also cautious because if the price of flowers in the province increases too much, people in the province will turn their backs and switch to flowers from Da Lat and the northern provinces, because with the advantage of weather and many other conditions, flowers from neighboring provinces are likely to be more beautiful, of better quality and lower priced than flowers in the province during this year's Tet season.

My Ha - Khanh Ly