Nghe An has a good spring tea season, farmers 'pocket' tens of millions of dong
(Baonghean) - After January, tea growers in mountainous districts such as Anh Son, Con Cuong, Thanh Chuong enter the spring tea harvest season. This is a very special time for tea growers, because this batch of tea has many buds and can be sold at high prices.
These days, the tea hills of Anh Son district are all green. On the hills, families are busy harvesting and transporting tea to purchasing points. Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien's family in Nhan Tien village, Cam Son commune has been growing raw tea for more than 10 years. Although the tea area is only over 2 hectares, thanks to investment in renovation, replacement and planting of new tea varieties with high-quality yield, combined with investment in fertilizer, this year's tea output has increased significantly.
Ms. Lien shared: According to the seasonal calendar, at the end of the 11th lunar month of the previous year, her family started pruning branches to create a canopy to focus on taking care of the tea trees. Therefore, the spring tea harvest is of special interest to Ms. Lien's family and most tea growers, because care at this stage helps the tea trees absorb nutrients best to develop the trees, giving high productivity all year round. Her family harvested 9 tons of fresh tea buds in the first spring tea crop. At this time, the average price of fresh tea buds is 3,500 VND/kg, bringing her family over 25 million VND.
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| Anh Son farmers harvest tea. Photo: Huyen Trang |
Mr. Hoang Van Tuyen's family in Nhan Tai village, Cam Son commune is also focusing on harvesting the first batch of tea. Mr. Tuyen excitedly shared: Last year, the prolonged drought caused many tea areas to die, and those that survived could not be harvested. This time in Anh Son, the weather is relatively favorable for tea plants to grow, so people are very excited about harvesting the first batch of spring tea.
The buds are numerous and even, so the machine can pick them for high productivity. Each working shift of a picking machine requires at least 5-6 people, of which, 2 people hold the machine and walk along both sides of the tea rows, 1 person follows behind holding the tea bag attached to the machine, 2 people collect, deliver the tea and packaging and transport. The tea is picked and imported immediately, so the people are very excited. Mr. Tuyen calculated that his family harvested more than 5 tons of fresh tea buds. The current spring tea price is 3,500 VND/kg, which brings his family 17 million VND before deducting expenses.
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| The tea was purchased immediately after being picked, so the people were very excited. Photo: Thai Hien |
With favorable weather conditions, tea growers in Con Cuong and Thanh Chuong are also excited to harvest tea these days. Ms. Phan Thi Hanh's family in Hamlet 2/9, Bong Khe Commune, Con Cuong District currently has 4 sao of tea in the harvest period. Ms. Hanh said: In early December of the lunar calendar, the family took care of the tea plants so that they could revive and sprout when spring comes. After about 1 month, the tea will sprout. This is an important tea crop, and we must urgently harvest and care for them to welcome the warm spring sunshine, so that the tea can grow faster and stronger.
These days, traveling along Ho Chi Minh Road through Thanh Chuong District, it is easy to see people picking tea everywhere. In addition to the main labor force in tea-growing households, the busy season has also attracted a large number of workers from non-tea-growing communes to work for hire. The average price at this time is 4.2 million VND/quintal (4,200 VND/kg), higher than last year, so people are very excited.
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| Tea harvesting in Thanh Chuong district. Photo: Tran To |
Mr. Nguyen Manh Thang - Chairman of Bong Khe Commune People's Committee, Con Cuong District said: The locality has more than 100 hectares of tea. Thanks to the development of tea trees, not only has the poverty rate been reduced but the lives of the people here have also been improved, many households have become rich in a legitimate way. Meanwhile, the whole Anh Son district has 2,255 hectares, more than 1,700 hectares have been harvested, concentrated in communes such as Hung Son, Long Son, Dinh Son and Cam Son... On average, tea trees are harvested 7 times a year, each time 30 - 45 days apart, giving people a net income of 70 - 80 million VND/ha/year.
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| Thanks to tea development, many households in Con Cuong have become rich in a legitimate way. Photo: Ba Hau |
Not only harvesting for import, in some communes of Thanh Chuong, the working atmosphere is very urgent in tea factories along Ho Chi Minh road. Currently, these factories are purchasing and running at full capacity, making tea prices quite stable, helping farmers make a profit.
According to statistics, the whole province currently has 8,000 hectares of industrial tea. Tea is a tree that helps eliminate hunger and reduce poverty, and is the main crop of tens of thousands of households in mountainous districts. Along with harvesting and providing nutrition for tea hills in early spring, many farmers in Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, and Con Cuong are also boldly investing, expanding the area, focusing on tea quality according to clean and safe standards...
Nghe An tea products are gradually affirming their brand and have a solid position in the tea industry nationwide as well as conquering a number of markets in the world such as the Middle East, EU, ASEAN, USA, Russia, Taiwan,...
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