(Baonghean.vn) - These days, across the hills and tea gardens of Thanh Chuong district, farmers are harvesting spring tea - the first tea crop of the year.
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| With an area of over 4,200 hectares, Thanh Chuong is the tea granary of the province. After two major droughts in mid-2015 and a severe cold spell at the beginning of this year, the spring tea yield was low, at about 3-3.5 tons/ha. Currently, throughout the tea-growing areas along the Ho Chi Minh Highway, farmers in tea-growing communes such as Hanh Lam, Thanh An, Thanh Thuy, Thanh Mai, etc., are harvesting tea buds. |
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| Most households use harvesting machines, either by renting or exchanging labor with each other. Each machine, along with a team of three people (two carrying the machine, one carrying the sacks), can harvest nearly 1 hectare of tea per day, with a yield of about 2.5 - 3 tons/day. Machine harvesting is advantageous in terms of yield and production, but tea growers must ensure that the harvesting and care are done correctly for machine harvesting to be successful. |
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| Scattered across the communes, some households with small, scattered tea plantations continue to harvest tea by hand. |
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| Ms. Hoang Thi Loan (Hamlet 1, Thanh An Commune) said: "This year's spring tea crop has a lower yield than in previous years. My family cultivates 1.5 hectares, and after harvesting, we expect to get about 4.5 - 5 tons of fresh tea. The yield only increases from the second harvest onwards." (In the photo: Tea leaves, after being cut, are packed into sacks weighing about 40-60 kg each for delivery to processing facilities.) |
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| Tea is grown on high hills, and after harvesting, people often take advantage of the terrain to roll the bags of tea down to the foot of the hill for collection. |
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| From the harvesting sites, tea is transported to processing facilities by truck or trailer. In the photo: A tea farmer in Thanh Ha commune is transporting tea to a processing plant in Thanh Mai commune. |
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| In Thanh Chuong district, there are currently 3 tea factories: Thanh Mai, Ngoc Lam, and Hanh Lam. In addition, there are many mini tea production workshops, effectively meeting the demand for fresh tea leaves from local people. In Thanh Thuy commune, there are 6 tea workshops, each purchasing and processing 18-25 tons of fresh tea leaves daily. Nguyen Van Hop, the owner of a tea workshop in Thanh Thuy town, stated: "Each day, the workshop purchases and processes about 3 tons of fresh tea leaves, with the current purchase price ranging from 3,200 to 3,400 VND/kg." |
Huy Thu
