Brand for Que Phong specialties

About the specialty area

Yellow flower tea is considered a product of Que Phong district, usually growing and developing in high mountainous areas, the flowering season lasts from November of the previous year to March (lunar calendar) of the following year. Yellow flower tea tree contains hundreds of nutritional components, is a precious medicinal herb. Concentrated in the communes of Tien Phong, Dong Van, Thong Thu, Chau Kim, Hanh Dich...

Mr. Ha Van Hai - Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Hanh Dich Commune said: The commune has organized a review and planning of areas for planting, preserving and developing medicinal plants. For yellow tea flowers, the commune focuses on propagating to people to preserve naturally growing plants concentrated in Quang Vinh, Vinh Tien, Hanh Tien villages with an area of ​​about 9-10 hectares.

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

In recent years, in addition to creating indigenous yellow flower tea varieties, Que Phong district has also experimented and imported non-indigenous tea varieties for trial planting (Tam Dao yellow flower tea, Ba Che...), for example, at Nhat Minh farm, they are testing planting 01 hectare of Ba Che yellow flower tea variety (Camellia chrysantha). Up to now, Que Phong yellow flower tea products have affirmed their brand nationwide. Currently, Que Phong District Party Committee is directing the District People's Committee to research, preserve, create varieties, and select the best indigenous tea varieties for replication among the people.

In addition to yellow flower tea, the Japonica rice brand has also been interested in building. Implementing the project: "Application of scientific and technological advances to build a value chain model for Japonica J02 rice production in the western districts of Nghe An province" funded and managed by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the project's host agency is Le Thang One Member Co., Ltd. has built seed production models, in which the area of ​​the original seed production model is 10 hectares, creating 40 tons of original seeds meeting Vietnamese standards (QCVN); the area of ​​the commercial rice model is 300 hectares, creating 1,800 tons of milled rice to produce 1,200 tons of quality commercial rice. The closed milling line from paddy to high-quality rice, polishing and packaging the product. According to the design capacity of the processing line is 2 - 3.5 tons of paddy/hour). Currently carrying out legal procedures to build the brand and promote the product to the consumer market.

High quality rice growing model in Muong Noc. Photo: Hoai Thu

In November 2020, the Institute of Genetics, in coordination with the Department of Science and Technology and the People's Committee of Que Phong district, jointly organized a scientific workshop to discuss solutions for developing Japonica J02 rice variety in the highland districts of Nghe An province with the participation of Quy Chau, Quy Hop, Con Cuong, Tuong Duong, Ky Son districts... opening up a new direction in building the brand of Que Phong Japonica rice in particular and the Western region of Nghe An in general; towards building geographical indications for this product.

In addition, in Que Phong district, there are many products from medicinal herbs, plants and special animals such as passion fruit, mu tun wine, codonopsis pilosula, cinnamon, mac khen, wild melon, Quang - Cam duck, native black pig (young pig) which have been attracting much attention from consumers in and outside the province. From 2016 to present, Que Phong district has also taken advantage of the water surface area of ​​lakes, irrigation dams, hydroelectricity (hydroelectric reservoirs: Hua Na, Chau Thang, Nhan Hac; Kem Ai dam) ... to develop cage fish farming.

The large water surface area is an ideal condition for many households in Dong Van and Thong Thu communes to raise fish in cages on the Hua Na hydroelectric reservoir. Photo: Cong Kien

The area and number of freshwater fish cages in the area have developed strongly, focusing on fish with high economic value (bass, catfish, goby...) and increasing product value (instead of selling raw products that have been sold to households, the cooperative is promoting a processing model to form a chain: Breeding, caring, processing, building a brand and bringing it to the market). In 2021, in order to diversify products in the lake area and find new directions for aquaculture farmers, the Department of Science and Technology approved the task of implementing the model "Pearl farming on Hua Na Lake", the host unit released 610 juveniles; after 1 month of release, the survival rate of 601/610 oysters was 98.5%, conducting a trial mussel dissection, the survival rate reached 100%, the pearl production rate was about 65%; the pearls had beautiful colors, with a core thickness of about 2mm.

People harvest fish on the lake. Photo: Ho Phuong

According to the leaders of Que Phong district, in the coming time, on hydroelectric reservoirs and irrigation dams, the focus will be on raising fish species with high economic value associated with the process: Raising - caring - harvesting - processing - market. However, investment is needed to research and build brands for some fish species.specialtyHua Na lake area such as: Chu river spotted catfish, river loach, sea bass...

Prioritize mechanisms and policies

The District Party Committee and People's Committee of Que Phong district have proposed a number of solutions on mechanisms and policies to develop science and technology in the district. In particular, determining the target of the local key products in each period to mobilize resources (budget support, brand promotion, land...) to promote product development, the period 2016-2020 focuses resources on developing yellow flower tea and passion fruit products; the period 2016-2025 focuses on the following products: Japonica rice, Mac Khen, Quang - Cam duck.

Harvest day in Que Phong. Photo: Le Quang Dung

The projects issued by the District People's Committee continue to be implemented smoothly, such as the Project on the production of some agricultural products in the area, the Project on the development of medicinal plants... focusing on developing the district's typical products with strengths into commodities. Currently, there has been an impact of science and technology on some key plant and animal products, for example, the Codonopsis pilosula has been funded by the province to implement 02 models; the Quỳ cinnamon tree is being researched and tested by the Project: "Research on selecting cinnamon varieties with high bark yield, content and quality of essential oils for consumption and export for the Northern, North Central and South Central regions" chaired by Pu Hoat Nature Reserve, which is in the stage of caring for and monitoring the growth of cinnamon trees (cinnamon trees have been planted for 02 years); the province is allocating funds for the Mac Khen tree to implement the Project: Applying scientific and technological advances to build a model for breeding and planting Mac Khen trees in Que Phong district...

Key products of Que Phong district. Photo: Document

In localities, some products have been invested in by some enterprises, building research and production facilities applying advances in science and technology such as: Khanh Tam Forestry Products Company Limited processes bamboo shoots (products produced and brought to market: skewers, smokeless charcoal...), with a capacity of 14,300 tons of products/year; modern equipment and machinery are invested (mainly imported from Japan); total investment capital is 300 billion VND. Kim Son Green Technology Joint Stock Company processes yellow flower tea products using freeze-drying technology, with a capacity of 50 kg/hour.

Japonica rice products of Le Thang Company Limited with advanced processing technology, capacity of 200 tons of products/year have solved the output for Japonica rice growing areas of the people. The High-tech Plant Breeding Institute in Tri Le commune was invested and built by Nafoods Joint Stock Company with a scale of 06 hectares. With modern equipment and technology, a team of engineers and workers who are well-trained and highly skilled, many quality plant varieties have been created. Currently, the passion fruit varieties: Dai Nong 1, Huong Thom, Que Phong 1 produced by the Institute have been recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; annually providing about 2 million seedlings for passion fruit growing areas across the country...

Passion fruit trees contribute to changing the lives of people in Tri Le commune, Que Phong district. Photo: Dao Tuan

In general, the results achieved through the implementation of Resolution 06-NQ/TU in the district are specified in Action Program No. 10-CTHĐ/HU, which has contributed to successfully building the brand of a number of specialty products, promoting the economy and promoting the image of Que Phong. In the area, there are products that have been granted product protection certificates by the Department of Intellectual Property - Ministry of Science and Technology such as yellow flower tea, passion fruit, and mu tun wine. Passion fruit varieties including Dai Nong 1, Que Phong 1, Nafoods1 produced by the Tri Le High-tech Plant Breeding Research Institute are recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as qualified seedlings for planting and export.

Que Phong town in the new day. Photo: Le Quang Dung

From the achieved results, Que Phong district sets a target of striving to have 3-4 products that are specialties and endemics of the district granted protection certificates by 2025 (Quỳ cinnamon, mac khen, black pig, Quang - Cam duck).