"Tea Poetry Night" and Hung Son Tea Brand

(Baonghean)After more than 10 years, on the wild hillsides covered with wild plants in Hung Son commune (Anh Son district), tea has covered a vast green. That is also the green of prosperity cultivated from sweat, tears and above all, the boldness and daring to break through in the way of thinking and doing of Hung Son people.

On the eve of the New Year, a special event was held in Hung Son. It was the “Tea Poetry Night” with the participation of the leaders of Anh Son district, Hung Son commune and many people. But the highlight of the event was the presentation of poems about Hung Son land performed by “garden” poets from many poetry clubs inside and outside the district. This event also marked the birth of the Hung Son tea brand, carefully roasted, ground, packaged, and attractively designed, appearing on the market.

But to have the leisurely moments of "enjoying tea and reciting poetry" today, Hung Son had to overcome difficulties. According to Mr. Vo Van Hien - Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, during the last decade of the 20th century, when the whole country was busy doing economic work, Hung Son land seemed to be asleep. At that time, the whole commune only relied on 70 hectares of rice and 170 hectares of vegetables, so the inevitable consequence was a high poverty rate. "The production area was small, so there was not enough to eat. My family also ate rice mixed with cassava and sweet potatoes for a long time. People had no jobs, which led to many consequences such as drinking. The atmosphere of the village was extremely backward and deadlocked." In 1994, the whole Hung Son commune had no students graduating from junior high school.

That situation made the commune leaders at that time and the party members in the committee worried about finding a way to escape poverty, then boldly changed the structure of crop production. After models such as growing oranges, lychees, longans, and raising goats all failed. Undaunted, the commune continued to study and planted tea trees in the Hung Son hills despite the people's skepticism.

Mr. Tran Duc Chau - Secretary of the Commune Party Committee, at that time Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, was the first person to initiate bringing tea trees to Hung Son land. "After studying the tea areas in the district, I found that the soil conditions were similar to Hung Son. Yet they were able to grow tea, with high economic efficiency. Why can't we do it?", Mr. Chau confided. That question urged him to find a way to bring tea trees to his hometown hills. 170 households were taken to visit the model, but when they returned, many people were skeptical about the success and hesitated to do it. At this time, the only way was to implement the actual model, both to verify the success of tea trees on local land, and from there, for the people to see and follow. In this "new revolution", party members were encouraged to do it first.

In 2001, Hung Son had 3 pioneer households to try planting tea. After 1 year, the tea trees grew well. In 2002, the commune continued to mobilize 70 households to plant tea, 9 party members in the commune Party Committee Executive Committee continued to plant first for the people to follow. As a result, 30 more hectares of tea covered the bare hills in Hung Son. Since then, people began to have faith in tea trees and started planting them en masse. Up to now, the shape of the tea material area in Hung Son has been completed with a total tea area of ​​470 hectares.



Tea processing in Anh Son. Photo: SM

The land does not disappoint people, the poor village under Tay Hoa peak "blossoms and flowers" every day. After many ups and downs in life, farmers have been able to enjoy the sweetness of tea trees. Farmer Pham Van Tai - one of the first households to respond to tea planting since 2002, now owns 3 hectares of tea, and is one of many farmers who have changed their lives thanks to tea trees. Sipping green tea from the garden, he excitedly said: "Before, life was very difficult! The family had 7 children but only depended on farming so they could not take care of their children's education. Since having tea trees, life has been much more stable than before." In the last crop, Mr. Tai's family harvested 55 tons of tea buds, selling them to the factory at an average price of 3,000 VND/kg. The effectiveness of tea trees is increasingly evident in Hung Son, now without the need for the commune to mobilize, people are also enthusiastic about reclaiming land to plant tea, so there is almost no vacant land or bare hills.

In the process of developing the tea material area, what helps Hung Son farmers feel more secure is the presence of Hung Son Tea Processing and Service Enterprise under Nghe An Tea Development Investment Company Limited located in the area. On average, each year the enterprise buys all tea buds with a total output of 3,500 tons for farmers at the market price signed in the purchase contract. Mr. Tran Van Long - Director of the enterprise said: "Hung Son tea has stable quality, can be processed into high-quality tea for export. Currently, the enterprise is producing green tea but in the near future will produce black tea".

Over a decade, Hung Son has transformed from a poor countryside into a famous tea-producing region. Therefore, “Tea Poetry Night” is not only a cultural exchange but also marks a comprehensive development step from the new position and strength of Hung Son.

Thanh Duy