Nghe An: Farmers produce clean tea using Japanese technology

(Baonghean.vn) - Hung Son has long been considered one of the major tea growing areas of Anh Son district with an area of ​​530 hectares. With many years of experience in tea production, in recent times, local people have increased the economic value of tea trees through investing in the production of high-quality tea such as Matcha tea and high-quality Moc Cau tea.

In mid-March, Hung Son is quite bustling, tea growers in the commune are starting to produce spring tea. Mr. Pham Van Quy in village 5, the first tea growing household to successfully apply the Matcha tea processing model using Japanese technology, shared: In 2016, he was fortunate to be invited by JICA to Japan to visit and study the high-quality matcha tea production model. During this time, he was trained on how to prepare the soil, plant, care for, harvest and process tea.

Mr. Nguyen Van Quy, village 5, Hung Son commune, with the machinery system invested by the Japanese organization JICA. Photo: Huyen Trang

After completing his studies, Mr. Quy returned and applied this process with the investment in technology and machinery from the Japanese organization JICA. Accordingly, the process of planting and caring for matcha tea materials always follows the correct process from the stage of clearing the ground using only manual labor without using herbicides. At the same time, fertilizers are mainly used from organic fertilizers, microorganisms composted from agricultural products. From there, creating "clean" tea materials to make high-quality tea products.

What is special is that the raw materials for making matcha tea are only harvested within 1 week when the tea buds reach the most standard level. Before harvesting, the tea is covered with 60 - 90% sunlight 25 days before harvesting; After being harvested, the tea will be preserved, steamed, and dried properly to bring delicious, quality tea products. Mr. Quy excitedly added: Last year, my family tested production on an area of ​​7 sao, all the tea produced was purchased by them. In the near future, my family will continue to receive investment from a Japanese company in a drying system so that the production of matcha tea is synchronized.

Mr. Nguyen Canh Tuan, village 4, Hung Son commune has a significant income from a high-quality handmade tea processing facility. Photo: Huyen Trang

Leaving Mr. Quy's family, we visited the Moc Cau tea production facility of Mr. Nguyen Canh Tuan, Hamlet 4, Hung Son Commune. It is the main tea harvest season, so his family's tea processing facility is busier than usual.

Mr. Tuan shared: To have delicious tea, first the tea ingredients must ensure the quality of "one bud, two leaves", the tea must be picked at the right time and must be roasted on the same day of picking.

In addition, the tea must be picked entirely by hand to avoid crushing or mixing substandard tea. To make 1 kg of dry tea, 6 kg of fresh tea is needed. The picked tea buds must be uniform. After the tea is picked, it is processed. During the tea roasting process, the fire must not be too high to avoid the tea turning red. The kneading stage must be done by hand to ensure the tea is even. Other stages from sifting to packaging the tea are all done by hand. Therefore, the tea leaves produced by Mr. Tuan's facility are always more fragrant, delicious and rich than those of industrial tea processing facilities. On average, his family produces and packages 3 tons of tea each year. With a cost of 150 - 200 thousand VND/kg, after deducting expenses, he also earns a profit of 80 million VND per year.

To create quality tea products, the fertilization and harvesting of tea by the people must meet standards. Photo: Huyen Trang

Mr. Hoang Dinh My, Chairman of Hung Son Commune People's Committee, said: Currently, the whole commune has over 530 hectares of industrial tea with more than 480 households growing, of which 70% of fresh tea output is supplied to the local tea processing factory, the rest is consumed by the people themselves. The construction of high-quality mini tea processing facilities is extremely necessary to solve the output of raw materials and increase income for the people. From the establishment of these processing facilities, the local government is encouraging families with large tea growing areas to learn from experience and expand into many family-based tea processing facilities to improve economic efficiency./.

Huyen Trang