Shan Tuyet tea well preserved in Na Hang

Tea farmers in Na Hang District in the northern mountainous province of Tuyen Quang are interested in organic farming which helps them better preserve local speciality.

Girls from ethnic groups of Dao and Mong get stable incomes from picking tea leaves. Photo: MP.

Trieu Thi Thom from Dao ethnic group in Hong Thai Commune, Na Hang District used to not have a stable income. Many times, she had to sell her pigs and chicken to get money to solve some sudden business.

Things have changed since she was employed as a tea plucker in a local co-operative.

Thơm said that she heard about someone called Ba Uncle in Hong Ba Hamlet could earn VND8 million monthly thanks to tea but in her hometown, she just dared to dream about the sum.

Like many Dao people, for years, Thom went to school in the morning and did farming work in the afternoon.

“It was very difficult to get a paid job here,” Thom said.

Five years ago, Dang Ngoc Pho, director of Shan Tuyet Son Tra Tea Co-operative planned to expand his business. He sought local labour who are good at harvesting tea. The tea is harvested by hands, not all leaves are picked during harvesting but only a few top young and juicy leaves with a portion of the stem on which they have grown and the so-called bud (or tip) – an unexpanded leaf at the end of the shoot.

Pho prefered to employ local workers as it helped him save labourers cost while created jobs for people from ethnic groups living in the neighbourhood.

“Since I worked for Pho, my life has been changed very much,”

Thom said, adding that she could pick up to 10 kg of tea leaves a day if working hard. She was paid VND 25,000 -50,000 for a kilo depending on the kinds of tea leaves.

Some other workers could earn more than VND 300,000 daily, Thom said.

They usually get up about 5 am and start picking tea leaves until 9-10 am. After having lunch and taking a rest, they continue working from 3 pm to 5 pm or later.

Income generated from picking tea leaves was much better than doing other farming work, Thom said.

Organic tea

A few decades ago, people in Hong Thai Commune usually went to mountainous areas to chop down old-aged tea trees and then, sold the wood for a few hundreds thousand Vietnamese dongs, said Vi Ngoc Quy, head of the Na Hang District’s Agriculture Department.

Local authorities then stopped people from chopping the tea trees.

“Seeing the soil in Hong Thai Commune and some other communes is suitable for growing Shan Tuyet tea, the district authority had plans to develop tea industry early but local people were sceptical about it for long,” Quy said.

Director of Shan Tuyet Son Tra Tea Co-operative Dang Ngoc Pho said that in 2013, he happened to read about Shan Tuyet tea grown in Suoi Giang Commune, Van Chan District of Yen Bai Province could be sold for a few millions Vietnamese pet kilo.

Meanwhile, Shan Tuyet tea trees grew very well in the Hong Thai Commune, Na Hang District of Tuyen Quang Province.

Pho said that at that time, local people usually picked tea leaves to use daily but not for sale.

Pho asked them to tell him how to process the tea leaves and then, he tried. He gave his friends and relatives the tea he made as a present. It was said to have the typical taste and scent of mountainous land. However, not all tea he made had the same quality.

After five years, Pho’s tea business turned better and better as he invested in modern machines plus mastered tips to make good tea.

Tea leaves must be from ancient trees which are at an average altitude of more than 1,000 m above sea level. The tea leaves are picked entirely by hand. He only pays workers if the leaves they picked satisfy his requirements.

Now, there is more than 60 ha of Shan Tuyet tea in the Hong Thai Commune. The tea trees are also seen widely in communes of Sinh Long, Khau Tinh, Thuong Nong, Thuong Giap and Son Phu.

Shan Tuyet Na Hang tea was granted geographical indications, trademarks and origin tracing codes. Many enterprises from other provinces have signed contracts to consume the tea products.

Pho’s co-operative contributed to reducing poverty for farmers and the Hong Thai commune was granted title new-style rural area at the end of July 2020.

A month later, Shan Tuyet Hong Thai tea products were certified as an organic agricultural product by the Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association.

Dang Ngoc Pho, Director of Shan Tuyet Son Tra Tea Co-operatives said: “Tea farmers in Hong Thai now learn to nurse and collect tea correctly, strictly following organic farming process. We all want sustainable development like Shan Tuyết tea. A 20-year-old tea tree is half as tall as an adult but stays steady.”

Tea plucker Trieu Thi Thom said that she wished Shan Tuyet tea would grow across Hong Thai mountainous area so that she could earn her living with tea farming instead of growing other crops.