Mr. Mai Viet Ai's family, in Go Phao hamlet, Tan Cuong commune ( Thai Nguyen city), is one of the farming households with the largest area of small-leaf midland tea in the province. Many people advised him to abandon the old tea and plant a new high-yield variety, but he refused, keeping the entire area intact and continuing to stick with this tea variety.
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| Mr. Mai Viet Ai is proud of his family's tea products being chosen by many customers. |
Mr. Ai shared: Compared to branch tea, small-leaf midland tea, although low-yielding, has a long life and good water quality, so tea connoisseurs also prefer it. In particular, this tea variety has been attached to and changed my family's life, which is why I am loyal to it.
Sitting and drinking tea and talking about business, we understood more about human life and tea life. In 1986, Mr. Ai got married, his business capital was his hands and diligence. At that time, the tea growing movement was booming in Tan Cuong, and he and his wife followed suit. They started by renovating the entire hilly land their parents gave them and gradually planted a little each year. It took nearly 10 years for the couple to cover the land in front and behind the house.
He said: Nearly 14 sao of tea in total, 100% are small-leaf midland tea trees... He stopped talking and looked at the tea garden behind his house, which was just ready for harvest, and said: At that time, I did not think that I planted this type of tea to preserve and protect it like now. Because at that time, small-leaf midland tea trees were widely grown, there was no other choice.
What makes many farmers in the region respect him is that in addition to taking care of his family's tea plantation, Mr. Ai also actively shares his experience in caring for and processing high-quality tea. For many years now, his family's tea plantation has become a model of beautiful, high-quality tea, bringing high economic value, so people from tea regions in the province come to visit and learn.
He said: Any plant needs good soil. Fertile, loose soil will help the plant to have a long life. I always improve the soil by using decomposed manure and green manure. Thanks to that, the tea plant not only gives high yield, but also ensures aroma and rich taste.
Many farmers who visited Mr. Ai's tea model, upon returning, changed their practices, such as not overusing chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The tea canals were dug, manure and green manure were added, and irrigation systems were invested in to ensure that the tea plants had enough moisture and fertilizer all year round to grow healthily, yielding 7 main-season harvests and 2 winter-season tea harvests.
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| Mr. Mai Viet Ai's family often hires additional workers to harvest tea on time. |
While taking us to visit the tea production and processing factory, Mr. Ai proudly introduced the family's rolling and drying machines, which are all made of stainless steel, durable, clean and have a long life. In the processing factory, there are also vacuum packaging machines, product display cabinets and a cold storage for preserving products.
He shared: To make quality tea products, when picking, do not compact it, when bringing it home, spread it thinly on the floor, on hot days, there must be a fan to ventilate the buds so that the leaves do not get damaged. Fresh tea must be well preserved and processed on the same day.
The tea fields in front and behind the house have been planted for many years, with closed canopy and rows so there are no weeds. Thanks to the investment in an automatic irrigation system; fertilizer is used in moderate quantities, the plants grow well, giving a stable yield of 90kg of fresh tea buds/sao.
Through our conversation, we also learned that: In addition to the 7 main harvests, his family has 2 more winter tea harvests, with the annual output of fresh tea buds reaching 11 tons, equivalent to 2.2 tons of dried tea buds. In addition to his family's processing, he also directly purchases fresh tea from local people, about 15 tons per year. His family's total output of dried tea buds sold to the market is more than 5 tons/year; mainly the product lines of shrimp tea, tea buds and specialty tea. After deducting expenses, his family's income from tea reaches nearly 1 billion VND/year.
Compared to the new hybrid tea varieties, the small-leaf midland tea variety has a lower yield of about 250kg/ha/harvesting batch. Why don't you switch your land to foreign hybrid tea? I asked. He immediately replied: - There are many households that chase productivity, but I am different. Because my family's tea is listed in the geographical indication of Tan Cuong tea. I keep the small-leaf midland tea variety because it has good water, rich flavor, a delicate tea aroma, and a sweet aftertaste. Moreover, it is the small-leaf midland tea variety that has made the Tan Cuong tea brand for hundreds of years. And currently, the small-leaf midland tea is still spreading its fragrance to many regions of the country.
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