Vietnam farmers lose their blooms as floods claim crops

Vietnamese farmer Do Hong Yen estimates she lost tens of thousands of dollars when her valuable peach blossom crop was swamped by muddy waters in Hanoi's worst flooding in two decades.More than 250,000 hectares of crops, including rice, vegetables and fruit trees, have been destroyed across typhoon-hit northern Vietnam.Some of the steepest losses in the north of Hanoi are among farmers growing peach blossom—which can fetch up to $400 per tree ahead of Tet, Vietnam's lunar new year celebrations."I lost the entire season's crop," 53-year-old Yen told AFP from a patch of high ground overlooking Phu Thuong, an area home to many nurseries, gardens and farms."The loss may be more than $45,000," she said.Three other peach blossom farmers said their losses would be similarly devastating after the floodwaters reached two meters (6.5 feet) earlier this week."This terrible typhoon and floods have cost human lives and more," Yen said.The trees, whose flowers are a bright, beautiful pink when ...