Vietnam: premature flowering of apricots worries growers

It is feared that apricot farmers in Kien Giang province in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta will make hefty losses after their trees began to blossom well ahead of the Lunar New Year in February. Faced with an unprecedented problem they have been making desperate attempts to salvage their crop but in vain.

Major farms in the province have each reported losses of VND1-3 billion (US$62,500-195,000). The cause of the early flowering is not known yet but their expected scarcity means prices are likely to go through the roof during the Lunar New Year. Peach and the apricot blossoms are symbols of the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday with the former planted in the north and the latter in the south.

Source: thanhniennews.com