Developing tea cultivation at the Temple of Literature.

In recent years, Van Mieu commune has focused on promoting and encouraging tea growers to produce tea in a way that improves economic efficiency, quality, and food safety; promoting the application of production models according to GAP standards, aiming towards organic production, and applying modern production and processing processes. Through this, the commune has gradually increased the value and built a local tea brand, attracting investment and promoting sustainable linkages between production, processing, and consumption, contributing to increased income for the people.

Ms. Hoang Thi Thom's family in Mat 1 area, Van Mieu commune, owns over 1 hectare of tea plantation, yielding an average of about 15 tons per year. Ms. Thom said: "For the past 6-7 years, with guidance from the Plant Cultivation and Protection Station, my family has been caring for and harvesting tea according to the 'four correct' principles: the right type of pesticide, the right time, the right concentration and dosage, and the right method, in parallel with applying IPM (Integrated Pest Management) measures. As a result, our tea has fully met food safety requirements, and Phu Da Tea Company has signed a stable and long-term contract for product consumption."

Members of the Van Mieu Safe Tea Cooperative harvest tea using traditional methods to produce high-quality green tea.

The total area of ​​tea plantations in the commune is currently 320.9 hectares. The tea plants are growing and developing well, with an estimated yield of 16 tons/hectare/year. The total annual production is estimated at 5,120 tons/year. During the 2021-2025 period, there will be no new planting; the focus will mainly be on replanting existing areas with traditional seed-grown tea varieties such as PH11, PH1, LDP1, LDP2, Bat Tien, etc., with PH11 remaining the main variety.

The Van Mieu Safe Tea Cooperative manages over 30 hectares of tea plantations and collaborates with households in the commune to produce safe tea. However, the challenge of producing safe tea lies not only in ensuring the quality of raw materials according to the "one bud, two leaves" standard, and that the tea leaves are hand-picked, but also in possessing professional processing techniques, including expertise in adjusting temperature, roasting time, and rotation speed to ensure the tea leaves curl and retain their beautiful color.

According to calculations, on average, 1 hectare of tea produced using safe farming practices yields an income of approximately 100 million VND, twice as high as traditional tea production. However, the transition from traditional to safe tea production requires farmers to strictly adhere to technical procedures, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Mr. Dang Dinh Thanh - Director of the Cooperative, shared: "The entire system of tea drying and roasting machines is arranged in a closed-loop production line, ensuring a scientific production process... In addition, the establishment of the cooperative also aims to link other cooperatives together, thereby creating superior strengths compared to developing individually, with each household working independently. Households will ensure a stable supply of raw materials and output; products sold on the market will have clear origins through traceability."

Tea growers at the Temple of Literature carefully tend to their tea plants during the winter season to ensure a good harvest in the spring.

Besides providing economic benefits to the local people, the lush green tea hills sloping gently along the midland region are also a popular tourist destination. According to locals, many couples choose this place as a wedding photoshoot location to capture important moments in their lives during wedding season. In addition, the beauty of the tea hills attracts hundreds of tourists every weekend.

Comrade Ha Tien Cong - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune, said: In the coming time, the locality hopes to receive support from specialized agencies to organize in-depth training courses on advanced farming techniques and the application of science and technology in production. Support will also be provided to people to apply appropriate equipment and advanced techniques such as water-saving irrigation, harvesting tools, and balanced fertilization... to improve productivity and production efficiency.

Many households in Van Mieu still practice traditional tea processing methods.

Recognizing tea as one of its key crops with high economic efficiency, Van Mieu commune will focus on developing and implementing mechanisms and policies to encourage people to adopt tea production processes according to safety standards such as VietGAP and GlobalGAP. The locality aims to promote the use of organic fertilizers and limit the use of chemical pesticides, thereby ensuring the development of tea production in conjunction with environmental protection and consumer health.

In addition, the Temple of Literature will encourage and support individuals, cooperatives, and businesses to invest in upgrading, expanding, or establishing new facilities for producing and processing high-quality green tea and specialty teas, meeting the increasingly high demands of the market and contributing to increasing the added value of local tea products.

Alongside developing production, the locality also focuses on mobilizing people to renovate and upgrade tea hills; investing in rural infrastructure development associated with community tourism . This creates additional diverse and stable income sources for tea growers, contributing to improving people's lives and further fulfilling the criteria for building new rural areas.

Quan Lam

Source: https://baophutho.vn/phat-trien-cay-che-o-van-mieu-246231.htm