Autumn harvest season of 'precious as gold' flowers in Western Nghe An

People of Dong Van commune (Que Phong) harvest yellow tea flowers. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Currently, it is the peak season for harvesting yellow tea flowers, so people in Tien Phong, Dong Van, Thong Thu, Chau Kim, Hanh Dich communes... (Que Phong) are flocking to the forest to harvest this rare medicinal herb. For nearly a month now, 5 people in the family of Ms. Luong Thi Lan, Na Chang village, Tien Phong commune, have packed rice and gone into the forest to pick tea. Every day, 5 people pick about 1.5-2kg of yellow tea flowers, bringing fresh tea to traders at a price of 500,000 VND - 1.5 million VND/kg, earning from 800,000 - 1 million VND/day.

Ms. Lan said: “Yellow flower tea is becoming increasingly rare. Previously, tea trees grew on hills near my house, but now we have to go deeper into the mountains to find them. This year, the weather has been dry and hot for a long time, especially in June, when the tea buds are in bloom, the sun is at its peak, so the number of buds that develop into flowers is small, the tea crop is bad, so income is also lower. But thanks to yellow flower tea, people have more income to buy for Tet.”

In Thai, yellow flower tea is called Co Tap Quai, a small woody plant 2-5m high, similar to a tea tree. Yellow flower tea trees often grow and develop in high mountainous areas, the flowering season lasts from November of the previous year to March (lunar calendar) of the following year. The tea flowers are yellow, red and white (mostly yellow), with a diameter of 5-6 cm, so it is called yellow flower tea. Yellow flower tea trees contain hundreds of nutritional components, and are a precious medicinal herb.

Golden flower tea - a type of flower that people consider as precious as gold. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Not only Mrs. Lan’s family, but also hundreds of households in communes with this rare plant go up the mountain to hunt and harvest it to sell to traders. Although the price is quite high, finding and harvesting yellow tea is not simple. It takes effort to cross forests and wade through streams, go deep into the forest and stand precariously on cliffs to pick tea. For tall plants, you have to use a ladder to pick them.

Ms. Luong Thi Phanh, Muong village, Chau Kim commune, said: “The harvest season only lasts 4 months, so we have to mobilize human resources to search and harvest. On average, each tea season also brings in tens of millions of dong in income, which is a significant source to cover expenses. In recent years, yellow flower tea trees have been put under protection, so exploitation must follow regulations, not as rampant as before.”

In Que Phong district, there are many traders, small processing facilities and 1 facility that processes fresh tea into high-quality yellow flower tea. Therefore, fresh yellow flower tea is purchased by traders at the place, and people harvest as much as they can and consume it all.

Currently, the purchase price of yellow flower tea ranges from 500,000 VND - 1,500,000 VND/kg of fresh flowers (depending on the type); the processed type costs from 1.5 million - 5 million VND/kg (depending on the type). Because it is expensive and increasingly rare, people still consider this type of flower as precious as gold.

Preserving the yellow flower tea variety needs to be associated with solutions for deep processing, increasing value and finding stable output. Photo: Thanh Phuc

With high economic value, since 2016, Que Phong District People's Committee has promoted solutions to preserve the existing area of ​​yellow flower tea trees and at the same time plant new yellow flower tea trees.

Thanks to that, the yellow tea flower trees are protected, harvested properly, not cut down and exploited as before. Up to now, the whole district has put the yellow tea flower trees into conservation with an area of ​​12 hectares.

The yellow tea tree has high economic value, therefore, its conservation and replanting will create sustainable livelihoods for people in border communes. In the immediate future, the district encourages households to conserve areas where tea is already grown, and supports policies to protect areas with high density, while encouraging households to dig tea and replant it in concentrated areas according to planning, ensuring a stable source of raw materials.

Mr. Phan Trong Dung, Head of Agriculture Department of Que Phong district