Building Ta Xua tea brand

Located at an altitude of about 1,800m above sea level, Ta Xua commune, Bac Yen district, is blessed with a cool climate and majestic, beautiful landscape. Here, there are hundreds of years old Shan Tuyet tea trees that give a delicious and unique flavor that cannot be found anywhere else. Promoting these rare values, the people in the commune are making efforts to build the Ta Xua tea brand.

Farmers in Be village, Ta Xua commune, Bac Yen district harvest tea.

These days, on all the hillsides, farmers in Ta Xua commune are busy harvesting tea. Mr. Mua A Sang, Party cell secretary and head of Chung Chinh village, shared: Tea trees have been associated with the daily life and culture of the Mong ethnic people in the Ta Xua highlands for hundreds of years. Currently, the village has nearly 60 hectares of tea. Realizing the value of tea trees, people have applied techniques in planting, caring for, protecting, harvesting, and processing to improve product quality.

Quickly picking young tea buds, Ms. Lau Thi Song, Chung Chinh village, said: My family has more than 3 hectares of tea, including 1 hectare of ancient tea. The tea trees have been planted for many years, growing completely naturally, so they have high quality and safe products. This year's tea crop is expected to yield more than 4 tons of fresh tea buds.

In Be village, there are about 40 hectares of ancient tea trees from 70 to 100 years old, some trees are nearly 300 years old. To maintain the quality of the product, the ancient tea trees are assigned to each household to take care of, thanks to which, the trees are restored, green, give high productivity and quality, bringing stable income to the people.

Mr. Mua A De, Be village, shared: Harvesting old tea trees is more difficult, because we have to carry a basket and use a ladder to climb the tree to pick. To produce quality tea products, we follow the technique of picking two-leaf, one-bud tea. With 2 hectares of tea, each year the family harvests more than 3 tons of fresh tea buds, earning more than 100 million VND.

Currently, Ta Xua commune has more than 200 hectares of Shan Tuyet tea; of which, about 40 hectares are ancient tea trees, with an output of more than 300 tons of fresh tea buds/year. Ta Xua Shan Tuyet tea is usually harvested 3 to 4 times a year; the first tea crop is in late March and early April, usually giving the best quality; the next crop is harvested in May and June, this is the crop with the highest yield of the year; the third crop is harvested in August and the last crop of the year is harvested in October and November. To build the Ta Xua tea brand, along with mobilizing people to expand the area, the commune coordinates with the district's professional departments to guide people on proper care techniques, harvesting on time, ensuring productivity and quality; preserving and conserving the ancient tea area.

Mr. Dinh Van Thuy, Vice Chairman of Ta Xua Commune People's Committee, said: Tea trees are the main tree in hunger eradication and poverty reduction for local people. Along with propaganda and mobilizing people to renovate and restore existing tea areas, the commune creates conditions for enterprises and cooperatives to invest in production, business, processing, increasing product value, meeting market demands.

In recent years, most of the fresh old-growth tea buds in Ta Xua commune have been purchased by Tay Bac Tea and Specialty Company Limited at a price of 40,000-80,000 VND/kg, to produce products such as: Tea balls, bamboo tea, rattan tea and tea bags... Ms. Nguyen Thi Tham, Director of Tay Bac Tea and Specialty Company Limited, informed: On average, each year the Company purchases 50 tons of fresh old-growth tea buds, processing them into more than 10 tons of products. To meet market demand, the Company has just invested in a tea cake press to process tea using modern fermentation technology. The advantage of tea cakes is that they have a long shelf life, the longer they are stored, the higher the quality of the tea.

The conservation and development of Ta Xua Shan Tuyet tea trees has connected farmers with businesses to create local agricultural products and attract tourists , contributing to improving people's lives and implementing the new rural construction program.

Article and photos: Huy Thanh

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