Mekong Delta farmers prepare fruits, flowers for Tet holidays

Mr. Vo Trung Thanh, Chairman of the Shaped Fruits Club in Phu Tri A Hamlet in Phu Tan Commune in Hau Giang Provine’s Chau Thanh District, said that more than 10,000 wine-gourd-shaped pomelos and word-imprinted mangoes have been ordered by dealers across the country.
Word-imprinted mangoes, a special product of Hau Giang Province's farmers. (Photo: SGGP)
Word-imprinted mangoes, a special product of Hau Giang Province's farmers. (Photo: SGGP)
Mr. Vo Trung Thanh was the first farmer in the Mekong Delta Province to find out the method to imprint the word ‘Tai (Wealth) and Loc (Fortune)’ on pomelos and shape pomelos into wine gourds. For more than a decade, his shaped pomelos have been sought to buy by people across the nation on the occasion of lunar New Year.

Currently, he also connects farmers in Hau Giang and Vinh Long provinces living alongside the Hau River to produce and supply shaped fruits for the market during Tet holidays.

The price of wine-gourd-shaped pomelos fluctuates from VND300,000 to VND1.2 million per item, an increase of 10-20 percent over the same period last year. Of which, the prices of word-imprinted and Chinese-gold-boat-shaped pomelos strongly increased. According to some farmers, the prices of shaped fruits climbed as the success ratio of fruit shaping was low.

Meanwhile, at flower growing areas in Can Tho City, farmers have been rushing to prepare for flowers to be sent to markets. The Pho Tho Flowers Cooperative in Long Tuyen Ward in Binh Thuy District is the largest flower supplier in Can Tho City. This year, the cooperative grows and provides the market with 55,000 flower pots of many kinds, an increase of 5,000 pots over the same period last year, of which, the key products mainly are marigold, florist’s daisy, and cock’s comb.

Although the prices of fertilizers and plant protection drugs remained stable, as the cost for straw and labor increased, it is forecast that the prices of flowers this Tet holidays will surge by 10-15 percent compared to last year.

Cai Mon’s flowers account for around 70 percent of the total amount of flowers in Cho Lach District. It is estimated that Cai Mon flower village will supply around 600,000 pots of Ochna integerrima trees, nearly 1 million pots of kumquat trees, nearly 2 million pots of chrysanthemum and marigold plants and nearly 400,000 hanging flower pots.

Farmers here have had boats ready to carry their flowers to other places in the Southwest region.

Other news