Shan Tuyet tea variety on Ky Son land

(Baonghean) -Huoi Tu is an area with similar temperature conditions to Bao Loc (Da Lat), with a mild, cool climate all year round, very favorable for growing tea plants, especially Shan Tuyet tea.

In particular, the day-night temperature range here is large, very favorable for the accumulation of dry matter, including some aromatic compounds of tea. Huoi Tu is a remote and extremely difficult commune of the mountainous district of Ky Son (Nghe An), the people here are mostly Mong ethnic people, life is very difficult. Previously, after the eradication of opium poppy, people were instructed to switch to growing tea, however, there are almost only LD7 tea varieties, Suoi Giang tea (Yen Bai), Hoang Su Phi tea... which are low quality varieties, the raw materials do not meet the requirements for processing high quality tea as today.

Looking more broadly, as the 5th largest tea exporter in the world, over the years, Vietnam's tea export turnover has increased.Malealways achieved a good growth rate. However, Vietnamese tea productsMaleIn general, and Nghe An in particular, the quality is not high, the producers do not pay attention to the technical production process, especially the inspection and quality control. Therefore, the selling price of black tea in Vietnam only reaches an average of 1 to 1.1 USD/kg, while the average price of other countries is from 1.4 to 2.2 USD/kg, the export output to major markets such as the US, EU, Japan is still low.

Based on the actual conditions, Nghe An has decided to build and implement a project on the production and processing of high-quality tea in the high mountains of Huoi Tu. The selection of Shan tea varieties with good productivity and quality, suitable for the conditions of the project area, is Shan Chat Tien and Tham Ve tea. These two tea varieties have been selected by scientists, with the advantage of being able to propagate by cuttings, suitable for on-site seed production, creating favorable conditions for the development of raw material areas.

Project manager - engineer Nguyen Trong Canh said: Previously, the supply of Shan tea varieties for planting was mainly by local seeds and buying seeds from nurseries elsewhere, the uniformity of the seedlings was not high, the survival rate was low, and the cost was high. Meanwhile, asexual propagation by cuttings gives a high survival rate, shortens the time to get out of the garden, and both proactively sources seeds, ensures the quality of the seedlings and reduces transportation costs, especially in difficult areas like Huoi Tu.

After 2 years of implementation, Shan Tuyet tea has affirmed its superiority in both quality and productivity compared to other tea varieties in the same climate and soil conditions. In addition to the 1,000 m2 tea nursery, the project has applied scientific and technological advances to build a 40-hectare intensive Shan tea model, with productivity reaching 1.5 times higher than before the project was implemented. At the same time, a 5-hectare model of high-quality Shan Tham Ve and Shan Chat Tien tea was built, creating the premise for the development of a stable Shan tea material area with high quality productivity. During the implementation process, the project has also trained a team of workers and technical staff with qualifications that meet the requirements, mastering the techniques of propagation, intensive cultivation, harvesting and processing high-quality tea.

In addition, the installation of a high-quality green tea processing line with a capacity of 1 ton of fresh buds/day has contributed to improving product quality and consumption of fresh tea buds for farmers, increasing productivity, quality and value of tea trees per unit area.

Phu Huong