Proactively develop raw material areas

Raw tea growing area in La Bang commune.

In fact, many agricultural processing enterprises have encountered difficulties in the past due to their dependence on small, fragmented sources of raw materials with unstable quality. The formation of concentrated raw material areas, closely linking enterprises with farmers and cooperatives (HTX), has contributed to solving the "input" problem. Thanks to that, not only is the quantity guaranteed, but the quality is also increasingly improved, meeting the requirements of the domestic and export markets.

Currently, Viet Thai Tea Joint Stock Company (Phuc Thuan Ward) has nearly 5 hectares of raw tea and has a production association of more than 20 hectares with about 30 households. Thanks to that, the enterprise maintains a monthly output of about 6 tons of tea, including 4 OCOP certified products meeting 3-4 star standards. This model helps the company develop stably, create jobs and increase income for many rural workers.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Son, Director of Viet Thai Tea Joint Stock Company, said: We focus on building a model raw material area in a safe direction, both bringing economic efficiency and allowing people to learn and replicate. At the same time, the Company closely cooperates with tea growing cooperatives to ensure a stable source of raw materials, meeting production and market requirements.

The model of linking enterprises - cooperatives - farmers is showing remarkable effectiveness. Enterprises play the role of "locomotive" in providing seeds, materials, technical support and product consumption; farmers feel secure in production, increasing income; cooperatives act as a bridge for large-scale coordination. Thanks to this linkage chain, sustainable raw material areas are formed, helping to reduce costs, limit risks and enhance the competitiveness of local agricultural products.

The province currently has nearly 1,300 cooperatives, of which over 70% operate effectively, creating regular jobs for more than 45,000 members and workers. The average income is 4-4.5 million VND/person/month for agricultural cooperatives and 5-5.5 million VND/person/month for non-agricultural cooperatives. Economic entities are actively linking with farmers, cooperatives, and cooperative groups to build sustainable raw material areas.

Kha Son commune's rice fields are cultivated intensively, bringing high economic efficiency.

From the small, fragmented areas in the past, Thai Nguyen has now formed nearly 20,000 hectares of concentrated raw material areas with key crops such as tea, turmeric, arrowroot, rice, vegetables and fruit trees. Particularly, tea has formed many concentrated production areas, with synchronous investment in infrastructure, associated with brand building and product promotion, notably the 4 large tea areas in Tan Cuong, Dong Hy, La Bang and Vo Tranh.

In addition to the specialty tea area, Thai Nguyen focuses on preserving and developing the Shan Tuyet tea area in highland communes such as Dong Phuc and Yen Binh. The whole province currently has over 5,000 hectares of fruit trees including longan, custard apple, grapefruit, seedless persimmon, and yellow apricot; nearly 4,000 hectares of specialty rice with stable productivity and quality; about 500 hectares of arrowroot and more than 2,000 hectares of various vegetables.

Many raw material areas have switched to organic production, VietGAP, gradually meeting the requirements of domestic and foreign markets. Notably, local people are increasingly actively participating in the process of building raw material areas. When they are planned for stable production, transferred technology and enjoy added value, they have more motivation to stick with the products and their homeland for a long time.

Along with expanding the area, economic entities pay special attention to applying science and technology in production: from organic farming, smart agriculture to digital transformation in raw material management. Thanks to that, the products not only meet the requirements of food safety and hygiene, traceability, and environmental friendliness, but also improve competitiveness. This is an important foundation for building brands and expanding markets.

Regarding the orientation for the coming period, Mr. Nguyen My Hai, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, said: The province has issued many resolutions on developing key agricultural products, supporting agricultural extension and developing the tea industry. In particular, Resolution No. 09/2022 stipulates supporting 50-70% of the costs for advanced technical demonstration models, creating conditions for farmers and cooperatives to access modern production methods.

Resolution No. 08/2025 focuses on supporting varieties, materials, VietGAP certification, organic certification, smart irrigation systems, granting planting area codes, registering intellectual property, developing OCOP products and eco-tourism associated with tea. These policies aim to build high-quality tea material areas, promote deep processing, apply science and technology and digital transformation throughout the value chain.

From now to 2030, Thai Nguyen aims to have at least 35% of OCOP entities build a value chain towards a circular economy, developing green OCOP associated with stable raw material areas.

Building raw material areas is not only an inevitable trend but also a fundamental solution to increase the value of agricultural products. When enterprises, cooperatives and farmers focus on investment, the agricultural sector will gradually transform from small-scale production to large-scale production, affirming the brand and bringing Vietnamese products to the international market.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202509/chu-dong-phat-trien-vung-nguyen-lieu-6e52d1a/