It is not an exaggeration to say that yellow flower tea is the “royal tea”, the “queen” of teas in Vietnam and fortunately the Western region of Nghe An, specifically Que Phong district, has this unique tea. Those precious yellow flowers with thick layers of petals, deep yellow pistils, give off a fragrant aroma and high value for health…
On the first day of autumn, going from Vinh city along Highway 48, more than 200 km to Que Phong district, the capital of yellow tea flowers, we passed through many villages, mountains and hills surrounded by cold and sudden rains. The weather in Que Phong began to get cold, which was also the time when yellow tea trees under the forest canopy began to accumulate nutrients to bloom in November. Following the forest owners into the great forest, crossing fast, slippery streams, occasionally we came across a yellow tea tree growing naturally under the humid, light-starved forests. The yellow tea trees that were several decades old were only about 2m tall, lying under the canopy of large trees, with few branches and leaves, and flowers growing in the leaf axils or at the tips of branches. With those rare yellow tea trees, which did not bloom much, the local people harvested only 1kg of fresh flowers in the peak flowering season each day.
Receiving a cup of hot tea with intact, golden camellia flowers, taking a small sip, I felt the fragrant tea aroma wafting, making all the cold and fatigue seem to disappear. Mr. Lo Hung Cuong - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Que Phong district said that the locality has about 2,000 hectares of yellow tea flowers distributed in all 13 communes and towns, all of which are tea trees growing naturally under the forest canopy, protected and exploited by the people every time the flowers bloom from October to November of the lunar calendar. There are more than 2,000 hectares of yellow tea flowers, but the distance between each tree is quite far, so each hectare only has about 300 trees. Many projects to restore yellow tea flowers have not been successful, but mainly natural tea trees, which shows the fastidiousness of this "royal tea" species.
As a person who is passionate about yellow tea flowers, Mr. Lo Hung Cuong confided that since childhood he has been fascinated by yellow tea flowers in the mountains and forests. Later, after studying and learning, he realized that yellow tea flowers are a rare product of his hometown. According to Oriental medicine, yellow tea flowers have the effect of preventing tumors, preventing cancer; reducing cholesterol, reducing cardiovascular diseases, stabilizing blood pressure and blood sugar, reducing the risk of stroke. Yellow tea flowers also help cool the body, detoxify the liver, support weight loss, prevent allergies, and fight inflammation.
According to advanced medical research (Western medicine) on medicinal herbs, the effects of golden flower tea have been confirmed by more than 120 scientists worldwide with different research projects. In particular, golden flower tea was discovered to contain up to 33.8% of active ingredients that inhibit and reduce the development of cancer cells and many other trace elements such as Se, Ge, Mo, Mn, V, Zn, amino acids, etc.
Unable to waste the resources of the mountains and forests, while creating more jobs and income for the people, with the support of the OCOP Program, the attention and support of Que Phong district and his family, Mr. Lo Hung Cuong and some households have stood up to collect flowers from people harvested each season to process yellow flower tea and sell to the market, gradually raising them to OCOP products. The flower buds still covered with dew are collected and gently opened by the people and then dried. These steps are really "handling like lifting eggs, catching like catching flowers" ... so that the golden flowers, blooming at the right time but still with the original fragrance, are boxed with the right weight and sold. One kilogram of fresh flowers is sold by local people for 200 thousand VND, processed to about more than 100 grams of dried flowers.
Seeing the value of yellow flower tea, people in the communes of Que Phong district, without anyone telling them, cherish and preserve it, so that each flower season still provides food and clothing. Thousands of households in Que Phong have income from yellow flower tea, some households earn tens of millions of dong each season. Currently, Que Phong has 6 establishments processing and trading yellow flower tea, mainly drying whole flower buds with a quantity of about 10 tons of fresh flower buds/year and selling them to the market at 300 thousand dong/gram, equivalent to 3 million dong/tael.
Nghe An identifies the yellow flower tea tree as a poverty alleviation tree for the people, a commodity tree. According to research, the quality of Nghe An yellow flower tea is “unique” among yellow flower teas as well as the way the petals of the flower are arranged. With its rare characteristics, the yellow flower tea branded by individuals and organizations in Que Phong district as Kim Son yellow flower tea or Nghe An yellow flower tea… is valuable.
Currently, Nghe An yellow flower tea is being consumed in the province, domestically and at large-scale fairs, however, the quantity is not much, the reason is that it is a specialty plant, living completely naturally, and there are still difficulties in protecting and harvesting. If cared for and developed, this product will be very valuable to Nghe An. Currently, the yellow flower tea tree is creating jobs for thousands of households in the communes of Dong Van, Thong Thu, Hanh Dich, Cam Muon, Quang Phong, Nam Nhoong, Que Son, Muong Noc, Kim Son (Que Phong) ... and some communes in Quy Chau and Quy Hop districts. This is truly a valuable and mysterious crop of Nghe An that scientists are continuing to research.
Medicinal herbs under the forest canopy is a major policy of our Party and State to preserve rare medicinal herbs, actively contribute to taking care of people's health and linking economic development with forest protection, creating sustainable livelihoods for people living in forests.
On the high mountain peaks of Nghe An in Ky Son, Que Phong, Tuong Duong, Quy Hop, Pu Mat primeval forest... are great treasures of medicinal herbs that have been gradually disappearing or being exploited indiscriminately over the years. Receiving the great policies of the Party and State, the direction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the attention of the province, in Nghe An there have been projects full of concern and enthusiasm such as that of TH Group in Ky Son with Puxailaileng ginseng, 7-leaf-one-flower tree, herbal orchids, angelica... and are being harvested and processed.
Another example of Nghe An’s successful OCOP in medicinal herbs that is very proud is the Pu Mat medicinal herbs brand – a high mountain of precious medicinal herbs. “Think rich, get rich”, think big and persevere are the secrets of many young entrepreneurs in their first steps of starting a business. From many initial difficulties, now Pu Mat medicinal herbs are a “treasure” of Con Cuong district in particular and OCOP Nghe An in general.
The head of Pu Mat Medicinal Materials Joint Stock Company - Mr. Phan Xuan Dien, since 2017 has started to nurture seedlings, plant medicinal plant seedlings such as Solanum procumbens, Gymnema sylvestre, Lonicera japonica... in Con Cuong land. After nearly 7 years of perseverance, working, learning, researching, accepting unprofitable investments, up to now, Pu Mat Medicinal Materials Joint Stock Company has increased the scale of nearly 25 hectares of medicinal materials, stably producing according to VietGAP standards and owning 10 products certified by Nghe An OCOP with the brands of Solanum procumbens tea, Gymnema sylvestre tea...; including many 4-star products and the most proud is that the products are well received by the market, consumed strongly, becoming gifts of Con Cuong district and Nghe An in many events.
Engineer and Director Phan Xuan Dien shared that in addition to the prestige of the product and the recognition of consumers and the locality, creating a livelihood for local people from medicinal herbs is what he strives for. In addition to creating jobs and stable income for dozens of employees at the company, Pu Mat Medicinal Herbs Joint Stock Company also directly creates a stable source of income for about 150 other households in Lang Khe, Chau Khe, Chi Khe and Thach Ngan communes (Con Cuong) through the medicinal herb growing linkage model. For example, the company is currently purchasing Solanum procumbens at a price of 7,300 VND/kg fresh right at the field, with an average of 35-40 tons of products per hectare, with a total revenue of no less than 200 million VND/ha, after deducting costs, farmers earn 120-130 million VND/ha. Such economic efficiency in the highlands is outstanding and the medicinal herbs are also supported by Japanese experts in the cultivation process.
The mountainous commune of Yen Hop (Quy Hop) has a rich potential for medicinal herbs under the forest canopy. In particular, since 2022, benefiting from sub-projects under the National Target Program, Yen Hop commune has developed a medicinal plant model to create livelihoods for the Thai people. Currently, more than 8 hectares of medicinal herbs have been newly planted under the forest canopy, in the home gardens of households. In addition, people also exploit natural medicinal herbs under the forest canopy with an annual output of tens of tons. All medicinal herbs are purchased by Tinh Sang Duong Agricultural Cooperative, which is located in the area, at a price higher than the market price. Currently, the Cooperative has launched about 30 product lines, of which 3 products meet OCOP standards. “The strongest consumption is for products that have been awarded OCOP stars such as freeze-dried pennywort, honey and tea bags. Currently, the cooperative’s OCOP-certified products have been consumed nationwide with about 15-20 tons of medicinal herbs for people,” said Mr. La Van Duy, Director of Tinh Sang Duong Agricultural Cooperative.
