Unseasonable peach blossoming in Sa Pa threaten losses for growers

The Lunar New Year holidays, Vietnam’s most important, will last from Feb. 8 to 14 this year. The New Year falls on Feb. 10.

Vuong Xuan Phuong, who has been growing ornamental flowers for nearly 20 years in Sa Pa, the popular tourist town in the northern Lao Cai Province, said 90% of pinkish peach blossom trees in his garden have bloomed.

90% of pinkish peach blossom trees in Phuong’s garden in Sa Pa have bloomed unseasonably, well before Tet. Photo by Express/Xuan Phuong

"My garden only has 90 trees left that will bloom just in time for Tet. I estimate I will lose nearly VND2 billion (US$80,000) this time."

A few kilometers away, in Thuong’s garden, nearly 1,000 pinkish peach blossom trees have also bloomed since the beginning of January.

Thuong said: "Some people who are not fussy might buy trees that have bloomed, but they are too few. I will have to keep the trees for the next crop."

Unlike previous years, this year the weather in the north in general and Sa Pa in particular is very hot, causing peach trees to bloom early.

Growers said when the trees blossom naturally when they get enough warm sunlight, and this could not be prevented whatever techniques they use.

Phuong said: "This type of tree is very difficult to care for. Various planting, care and sheltering techniques have been used, but the flowers have still bloomed and we still face losses."

Nguyen Quang Vinh, deputy director of the Lao Cai Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the province supplies nearly one million peach trees of all kinds to the market annually, half of which are grown in Sa Pa, and 30% in Bac Ha District.

But growers said demand has been weaker this year, and prices remained unchanged from last Tet at VND1-10 million for a pinkish peach blossom tree.

In recent years farmers in Sa Pa have grown moss on their trunks to create beautiful and ancient-looking peach trees, which fetch tens of millions of dong.