Crop failure, Nghe An green tea price doubled

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha's family in Hamlet 4, Cao Son Commune grows 1 hectare of green tea. Every year, from the second lunar month, the tea is harvested for the first time in the year, which is also the tea with the highest yield. On average, each day, she cuts and sells about 100 bundles of green tea to traders. However, this year, at this time, the green tea harvested before Tet has not yet sprouted.

Ms. Ha said: “The tea crop harvested 2-3 months ago has not sprouted yet despite careful weeding and fertilization. This year, the cold weather lasted until after Tet so the tea plants could not sprout or grow branches. Now, all the tea has been harvested, and traders are asking to buy but there is no tea to sell.”

Not only Ms. Ha’s family but also most of the tea fields in Cao Son commune have been cut and sold out before Tet, so the tea has not had time to sprout and grow. The tea hills are left with only bare roots, and people have lost a major source of income.

Mr. Ha Huy Thach - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Cao Son Commune said: "The whole commune has over 560 hectares of green tea for food and cuttings for sale. This is the main crop of the locality, bringing in tens of billions of VND in revenue each year. There are households that grow a lot, earning 1-1.5 million VND per day.

However, this year, due to the prolonged cold weather and frost, the previously cut tea plants still do not sprout, grow, or develop. Currently, people are focusing on taking care of them. The most worrying thing is that in the near future, when the tea has just sprouted and is hit by drought, there will be a severe crop failure and great loss of income.

The poor tea harvest has pushed the price of tea nearly double, from 10-12 thousand to 15-18 thousand VND/bundle, but supply is scarce. Ms. Nguyen Thi Giang, a tea trader, said that despite the high price, it is still difficult to find goods.

Not only tea growers lost their harvest, but also traders, workers who cut and transport tea were affected. Many traders from Vinh, Do Luong, Dien Chau went to the place to collect tea but there was no tea to cut, many had to return empty-handed.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tri, a tea grower in Linh Son commune (Anh Son) said: “Tea trees are the main income of the family, daily expenses depend on it. It is almost the third lunar month, the end of spring, and the tea has not yet sprouted, so people have lost a large source of income. This year, there are two leap months of the sixth lunar month, according to experience, there will be severe drought, the tea trees will sprout and branch late, and if exposed to the sun, it will be considered a serious crop failure…”.

Due to the poor harvest of Cao Son tea, green tea in other localities has increased in price. Although it is not the original gay tea, green tea in Thanh Chuong is sought after by traders at a price twice as high as previous years. Ms. Yen Dat's family (Hanh Lam, Thanh Chuong) grows 3 sao of cut tea. Previously, she sold each bundle of 1.5-2kg for 10,000 VND/bundle. Now, the price of tea has doubled, up to 20,000 VND/bundle.

“Previously, tea was cut and imported for retail at traditional markets. Since Tet, traders have been coming to the garden to order, including traders from Vinh. Tea is expensive and easy to sell, so green tea growers like us are very excited,” said Ms. Yen.

Currently, in the province, in addition to the famous Cao Son tea granary, green tea is grown in Thong Nhat hamlet, Dong Son commune (Do Luong), some localities in Thanh Chuong district such as Thanh Duc, Thanh Huong, Hanh Lam and some semi-mountainous communes in Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen.

The demand for green tea as a daily beverage has increased sharply in recent years, while the tea growing area has decreased as many growing areas and people have switched to industrial tea growing; the garden area of ​​many households has shrunk... therefore, green tea as a food is becoming more and more "valuable".