(Baonghean.vn) - These days, throughout the hills and tea gardens in Thanh Chuong district, farmers are harvesting spring tea - the first tea crop of the year.
 |
| With an area of over 4,200 hectares, Thanh Chuong is the province's tea granary. After two "great droughts" in mid-2015 and cold snaps at the beginning of this year, spring tea yield was low, about 3 - 3.5 tons/ha. Currently, throughout the tea growing areas along Ho Chi Minh Road, farmers in tea-growing communes such as Hanh Lam, Thanh An, Thanh Thuy, Thanh Mai... are harvesting tea buds. |
 |
| Most households use cutting machines for harvesting, which can be rented or exchanged. Each machine, along with a team of 3 people (2 people carrying the machine, 1 person carrying the bag), can cut nearly 1 hectare of tea per day, with a yield of about 2.5 - 3 tons/day. Harvesting tea by machine is beneficial in terms of productivity and output, but tea growers must ensure proper cutting and care techniques for harvesting by machine to be successful. |
 |
| Scattered in communes, some households with small tea areas still continue to harvest by hand. |
 |
| Ms. Hoang Thi Loan (Hamlet 1, Thanh An Commune) said: This year's spring tea crop has a lower yield than previous years. Her family grows 1.5 hectares and will harvest about 4.5 - 5 tons of fresh tea. From the second harvest onwards, the tea yield will be high. In the photo: After being cut, the tea is packed into sacks weighing about 40 - 60 kg to be imported to processing facilities. |
 |
| Tea is grown on high hills. When harvested, people often take advantage of the terrain to roll the bags of tea down to the foot of the hill. |
 |
| From the harvest site, tea is transported to processing facilities by car or trailer. In the photo: A tea grower in Thanh Ha commune is transporting tea to the processing factory in Thanh Mai commune. |
 |
| In Thanh Chuong area, there are currently 3 tea factories: Thanh Mai, Ngoc Lam, Hanh Lam. In addition, there are many mini tea factories, well meeting the demand for selling tea buds of local people. In Thanh Thuy commune, there are 6 tea factories, purchasing and processing 18 - 25 tons of fresh tea every day. Tea factory owner Nguyen Van Hop (Thanh Thuy town) said: Every day, the factory purchases and processes about 3 tons of fresh tea, the current purchase price is from 3,200 - 3,400 VND/kg. |
Huy Thu
