In Vietnam, the approach of the Lunar New Year, known as Tet, typically sees streets bustling with vendors and families transporting potted kumquat trees for good fortune. This tradition symbolizes prosperity and happiness as the country welcomes the new year. However, this year, the festivities have been significantly impacted by a typhoon and extreme heat, creating chaos in the kumquat market just days before the Lunar New Year celebrations began.
Typhoon Yagi hit in September, causing significant flooding that ravaged farmland and led to a poor harvest of kumquats and other ornamental plants that are usually in high demand during Tet. Nguyen Thi Hoa, a kumquat farmer near Hanoi, lamented how storm water destroyed around half of her 500 kumquat trees. As prices for kumquats experienced volatile shifts—soaring at first due to limited supply before plummeting from lower demand—many consumers opted for smaller trees or even alternative decorations like orchids or branches of persimmon.
With large quantities of unsold stock remaining, farmers have found themselves facing an unexpectedly grim market. The price of kumquat trees dropped to about 600,000 Vietnamese dong, equivalent to $24, which is over 40 percent lower than in previous years. The declining aesthetics of this year’s kumquat harvest, characterized by smaller fruits and less pleasing appearances, has contributed further to consumer hesitancy.
The situation underlines the importance of kumquat trees in Vietnamese culture, where they are seen as almost as essential to the Lunar New Year as the celebrations themselves. As families prepare for Tet, many are forced to adjust their traditional customs, which illustrates the profound impact of environmental changes on cultural practices.
Typhoon Yagi hit in September, causing significant flooding that ravaged farmland and led to a poor harvest of kumquats and other ornamental plants that are usually in high demand during Tet. Nguyen Thi Hoa, a kumquat farmer near Hanoi, lamented how storm water destroyed around half of her 500 kumquat trees. As prices for kumquats experienced volatile shifts—soaring at first due to limited supply before plummeting from lower demand—many consumers opted for smaller trees or even alternative decorations like orchids or branches of persimmon.
With large quantities of unsold stock remaining, farmers have found themselves facing an unexpectedly grim market. The price of kumquat trees dropped to about 600,000 Vietnamese dong, equivalent to $24, which is over 40 percent lower than in previous years. The declining aesthetics of this year’s kumquat harvest, characterized by smaller fruits and less pleasing appearances, has contributed further to consumer hesitancy.
The situation underlines the importance of kumquat trees in Vietnamese culture, where they are seen as almost as essential to the Lunar New Year as the celebrations themselves. As families prepare for Tet, many are forced to adjust their traditional customs, which illustrates the profound impact of environmental changes on cultural practices.
