Area reduction, low productivity

(Baonghean) -In the industrial tea material area of ​​Long Son commune (Anh Son district), many tea hills have sparse tree density. Ms. Nguyen Thi Luan and her husband - Hamlet 14, Long Son commune currently have over 6 sao of industrial tea planted 10 years ago. According to observations, the tea rows have left many gaps due to dead trees.

Ms. Luan said: “A lot of tea has died in recent years, my family cannot replant it because we don’t have the capital. Since the beginning of the year, the tea harvest has been low, my husband and I have harvested 3 times and got nearly 700 kg (up to this point in previous years, we have harvested 5 times with a yield of over 1 ton). The yield is low, I don’t know if planting tea this year will make up for the effort of fertilizing it.”

In raw material areas such as Phuc Son, Cam Son or in the raw material area of ​​Bai Phu Tea Processing Enterprise, tea is also in the same situation. Mr. Le Van Trang - Vice Chairman of Phuc Son Commune People's Committee, said: The raw material area in the commune currently has nearly 200 hectares of commercial tea, due to drought, a lot of tea has died, in recent years the factory has reduced investment, the district's support policy seems to be non-existent. This limits the expansion of investment of many households, especially those whose tea has died due to fungus and old age. Therefore, in the past 2 years, although the commune has actively directed and urged the completion of new planting, people are not interested. Some households in Ba Chac and Dap Mon areas have converted nearly 1 hectare of raw tea to growing grass for livestock, sugarcane, and forests.

Barren tea gardens due to lack of investment in Anh Son.

Mr. Cao Van Hiep - Director of Anh Son Tea Factory, said: During the tea pruning period this year, there was a lot of cold and rainy weather, so fungus and diseases developed quickly, combined with prolonged drought, so the tea grew poorly and productivity decreased. Moreover, the downside of using harvesting machines on old tea crops has revealed many difficulties, reducing the life of the tea. For many years, after harvesting, people still chased after profits from mini kilns and private processing points in the area and neighboring areas, so they did not sell tea to the factory as originally committed. The factory could not control the situation of harvesting and collecting raw materials in each household, each area, especially in areas where households cooperated to grow tea under contracts.

This year, the tea output did not reach the target, so the raw materials for production and processing at the unit were difficult. The factory has implemented a plan to strengthen the agricultural extension team, stay close to the people, buy tea at the hill, and coordinate with the mass mobilization work. However, up to now, the factory has only purchased nearly 1,000 tons of fresh tea buds, down 40% compared to the target of the same period and only reached 20% of the planned output. Currently, the unit is focusing on green tea production, CTC tea products are being held back. From now until the end of the year, completing the purchase of 2,500 tons of raw tea to complete the target of producing 800 tons of dry tea is a difficult problem for the factory.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Luan also said: “I still import 2/3 of the harvested tea output to the factory at a price of 28,000 VND/yen to 36,000 VND/yen. We sell to the factory for long-term use, and the factory invests in nitrogen fertilizer from the beginning of the season. However, traders have the means to come to our homes, and the tea price is stable at 35,000 VND/yen, so I import the remaining 1/3 of the output to traders. Being loyal to the factory, we are at a loss.”

According to the Department of Agriculture of Anh Son district, since 2004, the whole district has nearly 300 hectares of dead tea that has not been replanted by the people. In communes such as Duc Son, Phuc Son, Long Son, Lang Son, the area for planting new tea is almost impossible to implement. This is also the explanation for the current situation in the Anh Son raw tea area this year, which is difficult to achieve in terms of area.

Luong Mai