Gay Tea: Brand Affirmation
Tet is back, we went up the Anh Son route together, visiting Cao Linh land. The land of Gay tea with green tea products is being sought after and enjoyed by the city's people every day. In the cold weather and busy with the spring crop, people still spend time taking care of the tea to prepare for Tet.
(Baonghean)Tet is back, we went up the Anh Son route together, visiting Cao Linh land. The land of Gay tea with green tea products is being sought after and enjoyed by the city's people every day. In the cold weather and busy with the spring crop, people still spend time taking care of the tea to prepare for Tet.
In the last days of the year, we traveled back along Highway 7 to Cao Son... Looking up at the two sides of the hill, the green tea hills are close together. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa, Hamlet 8, Cao Son currently has nearly 1 hectare of food tea. Her tea hill was planted 10 years ago. Looking at the bundles of tea that have just been tied, she excitedly said: "Closer to Tet, tea is more expensive than usual, every day the two of us go up the hill to earn a few dozen more bundles of tea, which is already hundreds of dollars. Traders drive their vehicles to the house to buy goods, instead of having to bring them to the market to sell like before". From Ms. Hoa's tea hill, looking out to the foot of the hill, every house grows tea, there are areas of good tea hills that reach above the head of a person. The leaves and branches of the tea are fresh and green, full of vitality. Many households in Hamlet 6 such as Dang Thi Thi and Nguyen Van Chau each have 3 - 4 hectares of tea.
Mother and daughter Nguyen Thi Hoa in hamlet 8, Cao Son commune, bundles of tea ready to be brought to market.
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa - Hamlet 2, Linh Son, near Tet, tea will have a price that doubles. This is an opportunity to "pick" money. Growing tea is difficult at the time of new planting. The cost of land reclamation, land excavation, and trench digging costs nearly 10 million VND/ha. Tea seeds must also be purchased from Cao Son and Linh Son tea hills. Tea that is planted and harvested for 4 years or more will produce fruit and seeds. The seeds will be selected for seeds. The price of tea seeds is therefore also expensive, about 500,000 VND/quintal. Learning from experience from previous years, this year she did not apply much nitrogen fertilizer because she was afraid that the tea leaves would be dark green and large, and customers would not like it. Tea that meets the standards and has a good price is the type of tea that is light green, has thick leaves, and is fragrant.
Following the female cadres of the commune, we visited the 2-hectare tea hill of Ms. Tran Thi Huong's family - this is considered a model of green tea growing with a good income for the commune. The entire area of her tea hill is covered with cogon grass and shrubs. Ms. Huong said: "We only know how to compost organic microbial fertilizer to fertilize the tea, do not use any other chemicals or fertilizers, so we can ensure clean tea. In particular, after the first harvest, the grass will be cleaned, the light soil layer will be dug up and covered with mulch, cogon leaves, and grass. According to Ms. Huong and many other green tea growers here, covering the tea with mulch is the best solution to increase the humidity of the tea, while ensuring nutrients in the soil and limiting the growth of weeds.
Compared to industrial tea growing, food tea growing always has a stable income. Partly because the Gay tea market is increasingly popular with consumers, and partly because this product is less dependent on market price fluctuations like other agricultural products. The average price of tea is usually around 4-5 thousand VND/bunch. Currently, tea tends to increase to 7 thousand VND, 10 thousand VND/bunch, and with this price, her family can earn nearly 20 million VND during the Tet tea sale.
Cao Son and Linh Son green tea trees have existed since the 30s and 40s. At that time, Linh Son people did not hesitate to walk dozens of kilometers to Khe Ram, Khe Bui, and Bo Lu to clear and plant tea. In 1970, along with the development of the economy, markets, and transportation systems, the Gay tea area gathered nearly 500 households involved in tea growing, most of whom were Linh Son and Cao Son people living along National Highway 7. Since 1988, after realizing that the profit and ease of growing, Gay tea products were not enough to meet the market demand, the commune mobilized Cao Son people to expand the area from 100 hectares to over 400 hectares.
Mr. Mai Vuong Minh - Secretary of Cao Son Commune Party Committee, said: From the socio-economic efficiency and adaptability on the Cao Son hilly land, the commune has identified the food tea tree as a tree to eliminate poverty and enrich farmers. To develop tea trees, the commune focuses on mobilizing and developing the area, building a mechanism to encourage tea-growing households. For households growing and trading from 1 hectare or more, they are supported with loans with a low interest rate of 0.9%, for new planting households, the commune supports fertilizer loans, bearing bank interest for the first 6 months. In particular, currently over 280 hectares/430 hectares of tea are being deployed, accounting for over 60%. According to Mr. Minh's assessment, every year, people growing Gay tea earn nearly 18 billion VND and tea trees have truly become a tree to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty for the people here.
Luong Mai
