Sa Đéc City in Đồng Tháp Province is famous for its beautiful flowers. Photo courtesy of sggp.org.vn

HCM CITY —  Despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, growers in the two biggest flower villages in the Cửu Long River (Mekong) Delta -- Chợ Lách in Bến Tre Province and Sa Đéc in Đồng Tháp Province --  have been preparing new varieties of flowers for the upcoming Tết (Lunar New Year) holidays.

Different kinds of flowers have been planted on a total area of 100 hectares in Sa Đéc City. While Chợ Lách is famous for ornamental plants, Sa Đéc has over 1,500 varieties of flowers. 

Many kinds of ancient roses from Hải Phòng City, Sa Pa (in Lào Cai Province) and Thừa Thiên-Huế Province among other provinces, are being studied to introduce them during Tết, according to Sa Đéc flower farmers.

The Sa Đéc flower village is expected to produce 2.5 to 3 million flower pots of all kinds, including 600,000 rose pots.

In Chợ Lách flower village, about 6,000 households from Long Thới, Tân Thiềng, Hoà Nghĩa, Vĩnh Thành, Phú Sơn, and Hưng Khánh Trung B communes in Chợ Lách District, are producing ornamental plants.

This year, in addition to the main ornamental plants such as apricot and camellia, locals in the village have invested in imported varieties to meet the demands of customers.

About 17 million products of all kinds are expected from the Chợ Lách flower village for Tết.

According to the Economic Department of Sa Đéc City, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has decreased sales of ornamental plants in 2020. As the situation has slowly improved, the ornamental plant market is expected to recover, it said.

The head of the “I love purple” association in Sa Đéc flower village, Trần Văn Tiếp, said that despite the reduction in the number of fresh flowers sold, ornamental plants have thrived during this period.

“That being said, flower prices this year are expected to be higher than that of last year,” he added.

“As the coming Lunar New Year is the year of the buffalo, our family has created many ornamental plants in the shape of a buffalo,” said Nguyễn Thị Thếm, who specialises in producing decorative ornamental plants in Chợ Lách flower village.

“We usually take orders to make these types of plants due to the high cost. Luckily, we have received many orders from HCM City and neighboring provinces recently. Buffalo-shaped plants are priced at VNĐ2 million to VNĐ10 million per plant," she said. — VNS