Flower growers look to online sales amid COVID-19 resurgence Workers at a flower farm in Da Lat City. Traditionally, city dwellers shop for flowers and botanicals at flower markets to fill their home with the most cheerful blooms to celebrate the new year. But many flower growers said that flower markets were not busy this year, leaving them with an oversupply. Nguyen Duy, a flower farm owner in Da Lat City, said that COVID-19 outbreaks in many localities would likely affect people's purchasing power for flowers ahead of Tet festival. Thuy Vu, director of the The Gioi Hoa Tuoi JSC, a wholesale supplier of flowers, said it would not focus on retail sales for the Tet festival this year due to market uncertainty. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan, a flower vendor at Ho Thi Ky flower market in HCM City, said flowers stockpiled for the Tet market this year were not as numerous as last year due to concerns over weak purchasing power. Purchasing orders with flower farms are expected to change in the next few days depending on the control of COVID-19, Lan said. Flower farms in Da Lat City have seen a 55 per cent drop in orders from wholesale markets in other cities and provinces, according to a survey of the Da Lat City People’s Committee. The committee, however, has reported a boom in online sales of agricultural produce, flowers and botanicals ahead of Tet. It advised farms to use bank transfer payments for retail orders and to sign contracts with merchants for wholesale orders to ensure the success of online deals. Livestreams Shoppers can find various types of flowers from flower farms and merchants on online shopping platforms. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy from Biofresh Company in Da Lat City has hosted livestreams via Facebook to guide viewers through different types of flowers and plants available on the farm. Amid the pandemic, live commerce has helped promote and sell products, and engaged potential shoppers, Thuy said. Tran Van Tam, a flower grower in Da Lat …
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In Vietnam, students’ vaping sounds alarm bell
T.K., a high school student in Ho Chi Minh City’s Phu Nhuan District, opens his vape and adds some drops of oil. “There are no tastes I’ve never tried. Among all, chocolate flavor is the best,” he told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper after taking a long drag then exhaling slowly. Vaping has been sneaking into schools with a kit affordably ranging from VND120,000 to VND150,000 (US$5.19 to $6.49) in form of a lipstick, pen or USB. E-liquid is diverse in flavors, from strawberry to orange, mango which contains nicotine and cannabis. “I tried this in my eighth grade” On a winter day in the southern metropolis, smoke billowed an air-conditioned coffee shop on Nguyen Thai Binh Street in Tan Binh District where a group of schoolboys in their uniforms gathered for vaping. “Your eyes must feel stinging. This place is exclusive for vapers like us,” one of those schoolboys told Tuoi Tre’s reporter. Exhaling chillingly while spinning an e-cigarette around his fingers, T.K. said he started using vapes at eighth grade. “I tried for fun and felt quite dope at the first time. Now I get addicted to it and become the best smoker of my group,” he said proudly. At school, they smoke in toilets yet as teachers start inspecting, these schoolboys have to gather at cafes for vaping. T.K. opened his vape and added some drops of oil. “There are no tastes I’ve never tried. Among all, chocolatey flavor is the best,” K. told Tuoi Tre after taking a long drag then exhaling slowly. He has tried almost all kinds of vapes available and traded them if no longer interested. “I cannot stick with a vape kit for so long. I am urged to upgrade. There was a time I pledged my motorbike for VND10 million ($433) to buy this vape,” K. added. H.T.H, an 11th grader, said he knew all about e-cigarettes’ harms. “We buy them online, from sites certified by vaping communities which sell quality products. Is there …
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Raising 9-spur cocks, farmer earns big money
Though 9-spur cocks are no longer in high demand, they are still very expensive. A farmer in Phu Tho can earn VND300 million in Tet sale season from these cocks. A 9-spur cock is the specialty of Tan Son in Phu Tho province and many people seek to purchase this cock for Tet parties. A 9-spur cock is called ‘legendary cock’ as it is associated with the Son Tinh Thuy Tinh Legend. Son Tinh and Thuy Tinh, the two men who wanted to marry My Nuong Princess, were told to bring wedding presents to the king which included a nine tusk elephant, a nine spur cock, a nine color hair horse, 100 pots of glutinous rice and 100 banh chung (square rice cakes). Nine-spur cocks are favored not only because they have delicious taste, but are also believed to bring luck and prosperity. However, the cocks with eight or nine spurs are extremely rare, so it is very difficult to buy these clocks, which are priced at tens of millions of dong. Pham Ngoc Khanh, the owner of a nine-spur cock farm in Tan Son, Phu Tho, said he receives many orders for cocks every Tet. “They are called nine-spur cocks, but they mostly have 4-8 spurs only. Real 9-spur cocks are extremely precious. There are 1-2 9-spur cocks for every thousand of cocks,” he explained. Khanh said in order to produce 9-spur cocks, he has to spend a lot of time and effort to select purebred chicken genetic resources from households in the village to propagate. At first, Khanh found it difficult to sell the cocks because people were still cautious. He had to bring his cocks to many places to advertise them. However, this cock species has become better known among people in the last five years. “The supply is not high enough to meet the demand,” he said. This Tet, Khanh has roosters with nine spurs, purple red, about two years old. The value of the roosters not only lies in their beautiful legs, with enough toes, but also in beautiful feathers and imposing appearance, weighing nearly 2.5 kg. According …
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