People in Tan Khanh Dong flower village in the southern province of Dong Thap are busy harvesting their blooms for the Tet Lunar New Year.
Cao Thi Oanh from Tan Khanh Dong Commune has suspended her business at a local market to concentrate on taking care of her family’s flower garden.
"This year, our daisy garden has seen a bumper crop. This kind of flower can be kept for around two weeks,” Oanh’s husband Hoang Van Hoang said.
According to Hoang, his family earns a profit of VND100 million (USD4,228) per year from growing around 4,000 square metres of daisies.
"Daisies are often stronger than other kinds of flowers. So they’re easier to be transported to other localities,” Hoang added.
It takes around seven months for daisies to grow fully.
Many farmers even have to sleep overnight at their flower gardens as Tet nears to take care of the flowers.
In Tan Khanh Dong, daisies are grown on lattices above water, so they can be dipped when watered.
Cong Duc’s family has hired seven workers to care for his 5,000 square metres daisy garden.
"My daisies are blossoming slower than last year. I hope that they blossom in time, so they can be sold at good prices,” Duc said.
The silt from the Mekong and Sa Dec rivers provides fertile soil for Sa Dec’s flowers.
The flower plantation is among five agriculture key sectors in Dong Thap. Sa Dec City is home to 600 hectares of flowers, mostly in Tan Quy Dong, Tan Khanh Dong, An Hoa and Tan Quy Tan communes. Flowers from Dong Thap are sold in HCM City and Da Lat.