Start the spring tea season early.

Ms. Le Thi Hai Yen's family (from Huong Do commune) cultivates 6 sao (approximately 0.6 hectares) of tea. In previous years, tea harvesting didn't begin until near the end of January, but this year, right after Tet (Lunar New Year), her family has already had tea to harvest. Ms. Yen said: "It is estimated that in this first harvest, the yield will reach 2-2.5 quintals/sao/month, equivalent to 1.5-1.9 million VND. Since the tea is providing income right after Tet, we are very excited."

Like Ms. Yen's family, this year, nearly one acre of tea belonging to Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan's family (Huong Do commune) yielded a harvest 10 days earlier than in previous years. Therefore, he had a relatively good income in the early days of the new year to cover his family's expenses.

This year, favorable weather conditions combined with good care have allowed tea growers in Huong Do commune to start their spring tea crop early, hoping for a successful year of production. In the photo: Mr. Tran Khac Quan harvesting his spring tea early.

Huong Do commune has 148 hectares of tea plantations under contract with the 20/4 Tea Enterprise. From the end of 2025, the Enterprise began testing tea harvesting using mini-machines, and this has now been widely implemented. Mr. Tran Cong Quang - Director of the 20/4 Tea Enterprise ( Ha Tinh Tea Joint Stock Company) said: “In the future, we will strongly apply technology to tea cultivation, harvesting, and processing. At the same time, we will expand our export market. ” (In the photo: Mr. Tran Cong Quang (in white shirt) discusses tea harvesting techniques with a partner household.)

Harvesting tea with mini-machines reduces the rate of damage and increases the storage time before delivery to the factory from 6-7 hours to 10-12 hours. Importantly, using harvesting machines helps tea plants recover from damage faster and produce buds more quickly, resulting in higher yields. Calculations show that hand harvesting takes 7-12 days to produce buds, while with mini-machines it takes only about 6-9 days. Therefore, the average tea yield, which was previously 11.4 tons/ha/year, can now increase to 11.8 tons/ha/year.

The early start of the spring tea harvest not only brings joy to tea growers at the beginning of the year but also affirms the effectiveness of production linkages and mechanization. This will be the foundation for the sustainable development of Huong Do tea in particular and industrial tea in Ha Tinh province in general, increasing income for the people. In the photo: Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh and Mr. Dang Quoc Thi (20/4 Tea Enterprise) participate in the processing line of the first batch of spring tea of the new year.