Covid-19 brings losses to flower growers

HÀ NỘI — Days before International Women’s Day (March 8) are often the best for flower sellers at Tây Tựu Flower Village in Hà Nội, but the continuing Covid-19 epidemic has cut sales of flowers in half this season.

Nguyễn Công Cường harvests his roses in Tây Tựu Village. The Covid-19 epidemic has cut his sales in half. — Photo cafef

Nguyễn Công Cường and his wife have prepared 1,000 roses to deliver to customers. Unlike in other years when they had to hire more people to cut the plants, this season they have done all the work themselves to reduce costs.

Cường said: "Prices of flowers this year have dropped by half. Normally, after Tết we can sell flowers for Valentines’ Day, temple rituals, Spring festivals, and for International Women’s Day. This year, Covid-19 stopped all those things, dumping the prices of the flowers. Most of us face losses."

His wife, Nguyễn Thị Nga, said: “Now we sell each bouquet of 100 roses at VNĐ100,000 (US$4.3). Last year, the price was VNĐ200,000 or more.”

Planting flowers in four sào (360sq.m) of land, Nga said: "The sales we make this season may not cover rent for land, fertiliser and others. We have two sào with ready-to-bloom flowers, but there are no orders for them.”

Growing more flowers and also more expensive ones, Lê Thị Kỉ is facing bigger losses.

Kỉ said: "My family has more than a dozen sào of lilies that are ready to harvest. At present, a bunch of lilies (with five flowers) are about VNĐ20,000 each. Compared to the prices from Tết holiday, the prices of each decreased by VNĐ35,000.”

Kỉ adds: “The prices are so low, but no one wants to buy them.”

After spending VNĐ100 million on each sào of lilies, Kỉ could only earn between VNĐ50 million and VNĐ70 million.

She thinks the Covid-19 epidemic and postponing of festivals greatly reduces the need to buy flowers for temples and pagodas.

The grower also says: "Ordinary people are worried about the epidemic’s influence on the economy and have started tightening their spending."

In addition to roses and lilies, owners of gerberas, white daisies, yellow daisies, pink daisies and dahlia gardens in the village also face 30 to 50 per cent losses.

Tây Tựu Flower Village is in Bắc Từ Liêm District, some 20km from the city centre. The 250ha-village supplies flowers to Hà Nội and other northern provinces for big festivals and events.