Growing golden camellia tea organically results in healthy plants with green leaves.

QUANG NINH: The model of growing golden camellia tea without pesticides and herbicides, using only organic fertilizers, helps the plants be healthier and have greener leaves than before.

QUANG NINH: The model of growing golden camellia tea without pesticides and herbicides, using only organic fertilizers, helps the plants be healthier and have greener leaves than before.

Mr. Ninh Van Trang (Dap Thanh commune, Ba Che district) currently has 5 hectares of golden flower tea grown organically. Photo: Nguyen Thanh.

Ba Chẽ is a mountainous district in the northeastern part of Quang Ninh province. It boasts a cool climate, with temperatures ranging from 21-23 degrees Celsius and an average humidity of 83%, making it ideal for the growth of the golden camellia plant.

In many highland communes of Ba Chẽ district, such as Đồn Đạc, Thanh Sơn, and Đạp Thanh, the cultivation of golden flower tea combined with intercropping other plants has helped people increase their income, contributing to poverty reduction and achieving a better standard of living.

In the mountainous district of Ba Chẽ, the golden camellia plant grows naturally in the forest. Previously, locals would dig up entire plants and sell them to traders for around 1.5 - 2 million VND per plant. However, due to over-exploitation, the natural golden camellia plant population is dwindling.

Recognizing the value of golden camellia tea, people have gradually begun cultivating, restoring, and preserving this plant. In 2010, people in Ba Chẽ district started growing it in concentrated areas.

During the period 2015-2017, Ba Chẽ district provided over 1.1 billion VND in support to 174 households participating in a concentrated project to cultivate golden camellia tea plants. In addition, regular training courses were organized to guide people on the techniques of planting, caring for, and processing golden camellia tea.

With the desire to preserve and develop the genetic resources of this valuable medicinal plant, from 2018 to 2020, Dap Thanh Forestry Products Trading Joint Stock Company (Dap Thanh commune, Ba Che district) carried out the project "Research on developing propagation techniques and production processes for golden flower tea products".

The research team has successfully applied a model for propagating golden camellia plants using the cutting method, meeting the demand for seedlings for large-scale golden camellia cultivation, helping to develop local raw material growing areas and diversify products from golden camellia plants.

Dap Thanh Forestry Products Trading Joint Stock Company owns a 5-hectare organic golden flower tea plantation. Photo: Nguyen Thanh.

Mr. Ninh Van Trang, Director of Dap Thanh Forestry Products Trading Joint Stock Company, shared: "The company owns a 5-hectare organic golden camellia tea plantation model, using no pesticides or herbicides, only organic fertilizers and biological products. As a result, the golden camellia tea plants are healthier, have greener leaves, and produce higher quality flowers compared to previous cultivation methods."

According to Mr. Trang, golden flower tea is a medicinal plant; both its leaves and flowers are harvested for processing. Thanks to organic farming, products from the golden flower tea plant not only have high medicinal properties but also meet strict requirements for medicinal herbs, and the quality of the tea is also improved.

According to Mr. Khieu Anh Tu, Vice Chairman of the Ba Che District People's Committee, the locality is focusing on promoting the project of planting golden camellia trees, preparing documentation, expanding seed orchards, model gardens, investing in increasing propagation capacity, improving seedling quality, and developing facilities for deep processing of golden camellia products. At the same time, they are encouraging the expansion of golden camellia production models towards organic and sustainable practices to improve product quality and protect the ecological environment.

"By 2025, Ba Chẽ district aims to become the economic center for forestry and medicinal plants of the province. To achieve this, we have developed a planting area plan, paying special attention to medicinal plants with potential, strengths, and high value in the locality such as golden flower tea and ginseng. To date, the entire district has 300 hectares of medicinal plants, including about 170 hectares of golden flower tea," Mr. Tú shared.

In 2018, the Intellectual Property Office ( Ministry of Science and Technology ) granted a trademark certificate for Ba Chẽ golden flower tea. Ba Chẽ golden flower tea has become a 4-star OCOP certified product of Quang Ninh province.

Currently, Ba Chẽ district has approximately 170 hectares of golden camellia tea, mainly concentrated in the communes of Đồn Đạc, Đạp Thanh, Thanh Lâm, Thanh Sơn, Nam Sơn, and Lương Mông. The average annual harvest of fresh golden camellia flowers is 20 tons, and fresh golden camellia leaves is 65 tons. Revenue from golden camellia tea in the district reaches approximately 20 billion VND per year.

Source: https://nongsanviet.nongnghiep.vn/trong-tra-hoa-vang-huong-huu-co-giup-cay-khoe-la-xanh-d408556.html