There are still about 10 days until Tet Nguyen Dan, but coming to the peach growing area in Vi Khe ward, Ninh Binh province, you can see many peach gardens that have bloomed brilliantly, dyeing the whole garden pink, instead of just sparse buds as every year. The early blooming of flowers makes many gardeners restless, worried about peach prices falling or difficult consumption.
It is known that Vi Khe ward has about 80ha of peach growing area, but up to now, there are over 20ha of peach trees blooming early, affecting people's income.
Recorded by Lao Dong Newspaper reporters at some peach gardens, many trees have bloomed brilliantly, even some trees have begun to wither their petals. According to peach growers, the main reason is that the weather this year is erratic, prolonged high temperatures cause peach buds to bloom early, although growers have applied many measures to inhibit peach blossoms.
Mr. Tran Van Khu, a peach garden owner in Vi Khe ward with decades of peach growing experience, said that this year is one of the peach crops that worries him the most.
My family planted more than 500 peach trees to serve Tet, but by this time about 90% of the trees have bloomed. From the beginning of December of the lunar calendar, many trees have started to bloom, I also tried to stop it but it didn't work.
If the flowers bloom right on Tet, peach branches in my garden can be sold at prices from 150,000 - 200,000 VND/branch. Currently, to salvage some costs, I am selling 1/3 of the price, and any trees that cannot be sold must be cut down to keep the roots, serving reproduction. If peach blossoms bloom early and wither before Tet, customers will not choose to buy, considering it a loss of the whole crop. Taking care of them for a whole year is considered wasteful," Mr. Khu shared.
Not only large-scale growers, small-scale peach growers also share the same feeling of worry. Ms. Thu (in Vi Khe ward) said that her family has tried many ways such as covering with nets, limiting watering, and even removing leaves later than every year to keep flowers blooming on time, but still cannot control it due to prolonged hot weather.
Also a household heavily affected by early peach blossoms, Mr. Tran Tan Dac (in Vi Khe ward) said that his garden plants about 1,100 peach trees with branches from 2-3 years old. Up to now, over 70% of the trees have bloomed, he has to let them re-produce next year.
At this time, peach growers in Vi Khe ward are looking forward to the appearance of severe cold spells to curb blooming, helping the remaining peach blossoms keep their buds until close to Tet. However, with unpredictable weather developments, people are still worried about a Tet peach crop failure.
