Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc - the owner of Yen Ky Green Tea Specialty product.
At 75 years old, Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, residing in Zone 6, remains agile and energetic, maintaining the same manual labor habits as in his youth. Born and raised in Yen Ky, like his peers, Mr. Phuc's childhood was intertwined with the rice paddies and rolling hills of tea plants. Accustomed to planting, caring for, harvesting, processing, and enjoying tea from a young age until today, with gray hair and wrinkled skin, the tea plants of his homeland have become an indispensable part of his life. He can sit all day talking, meticulously recounting the history of tea cultivation on the hills of Yen Ky, from the time of French colonial rule with the plantations of Mr. Han Cu, to the years of resistance and the difficult period of the subsidized economy... When rice and cassava were insufficient to feed people, everything else became secondary. Tea was mainly produced for family consumption; even if sold, few would buy it. Thus, decades-old tea plantations were cleared to plant cassava and other raw materials. With the country's reforms, socio-economic development, and improved quality of life, tea cultivation has gradually regained its position, becoming a key crop with high economic value and stability. The government encourages and promotes its expansion, leading to increased tea cultivation. The mindset and awareness of tea growers in Yen Ky have also rapidly changed to adapt to market demands. Traditional midland tea varieties have been replaced with new varieties that offer superior yields and guaranteed quality. Tea is harvested by machine and sold directly at the foot of the hills.
OCOP 3-star product: Yen Ky Green Tea Specialty.
To go far, we must go together. Sustainable development in the new environment cannot continue with small-scale, individual farming. Therefore, Mr. Phuc established the Yen Ky Green Tea Production and Processing Agricultural Cooperative. With a total area of 12.2 hectares, including 3 hectares of LDP1 tea variety, the rest being PH1 tea, and a small area of Trung Du tea variety preserved for conservation, the cooperative sells over 150 tons of fresh tea annually. With stable market prices, the lives of its members are steadily improving.
However, for someone deeply attached to tea like Mr. Phuc, the stable profit from harvesting fresh tea leaves by machine and selling them to traders right at the foot of the hill is only a temporary solution, addressing short-term goals, no different from selling unripe rice. To improve the quality and economic efficiency of tea cultivation, it is essential to build a reputable product with a strong brand and a solid market position. He personally took the initiative to purchase raw materials, organize processing, production, and supply the market with Yen Ky Green Tea Specialty products. Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc shared: “The raw material area for processing specialty green tea is carefully selected, cared for according to VietGAP standards, harvested manually (one bud, two leaves), and processed using traditional manual techniques to ensure food safety and hygiene standards, and the distinctive flavor of Yen Ky green tea.” In 2021, Yen Ky Green Tea Specialty was recognized as a 3-star OCOP product and was re-recognized in 2024. Despite having a brand and recognized product quality, Yen Ky Green Tea Specialty still seems to fall short of expectations for its owner, local authorities, and the people in the commune. While the selling price of 250,000 VND/kg is considered commensurate with the product's quality, Mr. Phuc can only produce and sell about one ton of finished tea per year. With very limited marketing, Yen Ky Green Tea Specialty is only available at a few small local retailers and to a select few acquaintances.
A corner of the Yên Kỳ tea growing area.
Following the merger, Yen Ky became a major tea-growing area in the province, covering nearly 1,200 hectares. With an average yield of 125 quintals/hectare, the commune harvests over 14,900 tons of fresh tea annually, providing residents with a stable income and contributing to family economic development. However, the potential and advantages of this vast tea-growing area have not yet been fully exploited. Enhancing the value and economic efficiency of tea cultivation is a key objective and task set by the Party Committee and the Yen Ky commune government for this term, and also a long-held aspiration of the people in the commune. Comrade Phung Tuan Hung - Chairman of the People's Committee of Yen Ky commune affirmed: “In the coming time, the commune will continue to focus on managing the existing tea raw material area well, minimizing the conversion of land use for concentrated tea areas to ensure the raw material area; resolutely directing and planting new and supplementary tea plantations to ensure intensive cultivation of tea areas. Along with that, we will focus on innovating and improving the efficiency of production organization forms, promoting production linkages associated with processing and stable consumption markets in high-value and sustainable value chains; encouraging the expansion of production scale of farms and family farms, improving the operational efficiency of cooperatives; strengthening linkages between processing enterprises and cooperatives, cooperative groups, and people, ensuring that processing facilities have stable raw material areas, overcoming the situation of competing to buy and sell raw materials; promoting attracting enterprises to invest in developing raw material areas associated with deep processing of tea products, building the brand and trademark of Yen Ky tea...”.
Working together towards a common goal, the determination of the Party Committee, government, and people of Yen Ky is being concretized through specific and practical actions. The bright prospects for tea cultivation also mean a new, prosperous, and peaceful life is emerging for the people here.
Trung Tin
Source: https://baophutho.vn/dat-que-vuong-van-tinh-che-244815.htm
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