Vietnam is starting the tea season
At the end of May is the time when the lush green tea hills of Van Chan are ready for the harvest season. To ensure productivity and quality of fresh tea buds, besides the local authorities mobilizing people to concentrate on harvesting, businesses and traders also focus on purchasing from local residents.
To avoid the harsh summer sun, from early morning, local people go up to the tea hills. Along with hand-picking tea in the traditional way, many have used tea-picking machines to save labor, reduce costs, and increase productivity. Mr. Mai Cong Quyet, from Thac Hoa village, Son Thinh town, Van Chan district, said, "Previously, we picked tea manually, but now most people use tea-picking machines. To achieve a yield of 4 tons of tea per day by hand, we needed over 30 laborers, but now only 3 people operating the machine can achieve the desired output. Using the machine also helps my family have more time to invest in improving productivity and expanding the tea area."
During the harvest season, farmers continuously bring fresh tea buds to sell, so Linh Thuan Limited Company, located in Ke village, Dai Lich commune, has almost no idle time. With 14 employees, Linh Thuan Limited Company specializes in producing black tea for export to the US and Russia markets. Normally, the company reaches a capacity of 25 to 30 tons of tea per day. However, from the beginning of the year until now, it has only achieved about 1/3 of the demand due to insufficient raw materials. Therefore, the company always strives to consume products for farmers and to meet the new development orientation of the enterprise.
Mr. Do Van Dung, Director of Linh Thuan Limited Company, Dai Lich commune, Van Chan district, stated, "Dai Lich is an area with very good raw material areas, and the quality of tea is highly appreciated by purchasing units. Currently, the company is purchasing from locals at prices ranging from 32,000 to 36,000 VND/kg, which is stable compared to last year. Along with black tea products, by mid-August, the company plans to invest in a production line for green tea and introduce new products that meet OCOP standards. Developing a certified brand will become an important direction to help the company improve competitiveness, contribute to organizing production, and develop the market."
Van Chan district is the largest tea-growing area in Yen Bai province with over 4,600 hectares. In the first 5 months of 2023, the district planted 46.8 hectares of Shan tea, domestic imported tea, and hybrid tea in Gia Hoi, Binh Thuan, Sung Do... The tea output in the first 5 months reached nearly 20,000 tons. With more than 50 purchasing and processing establishments, companies and enterprises in the area are linking together to consume products for farmers to process into exported black tea and high-value green tea, red tea, white tea, and yellow tea products. In 2023, the district strives to build an additional 5 OCOP tea products, raising the total number of products to 13 with specific policies.
Shan snow tea from Suoi Giang is purchased at a price of over 30,000 VND/kg, while Shan snow tea from Gia Hoi and Nam Bung is purchased at prices ranging from 7,000 to 10,000 VND/kg for processing into high-value green tea, red tea, white tea, and yellow tea products.
Mr. Pham Nguyen Binh, Head of Agriculture and Rural Development of Van Chan district, stated, “The agricultural sector has actively advised the district to instruct people to actively cultivate and renovate tea, increase the value of tea trees, invest in intensive cultivation and care, and instruct companies and enterprises to focus on increasing the value of products, changing from black tea production to green tea and high-value tea production. Along with that, focus on building a raw material area to ensure VietGAP, organic standards, and building OCOP products, promoting mechanization in production to meet market demand, increase the value of tea trees.”
To continue building the tea brand, Van Chan district continues to develop high-quality green tea production areas.
Tea production this year is favorable in terms of weather, but the prices of materials and fertilizers have increased significantly, while the purchase prices for locals have not met expectations. Recognizing their long-term attachment to tea trees, local people continue to actively invest, care for, and harvest them. To continue building the tea brand, Van Chan district encourages people to actively cultivate tea in an organic and sustainable manner. At the same time, it promotes the application of scientific and technical advances in intensive cultivation, builds production areas linked to processing and consumption of products, maintains VietGAP and organic certifications, issues cultivation area codes, develops OCOP products with 3 stars or more, and introduces products to e-commerce platforms, helping increase economic value, raise incomes for tea growers, and contribute to affirming the position of the main traditional crop in the local economy.
