Determined to implement the certification of organic tea

Choose the side to send faith

According to Ha Trong Tuan, Director of the Agricultural Extension Center of Thai Nguyen province, tea is acknowledged as a key crop, owning the potential and special strength of Thai Nguyen. Currently, the province has the largest planting tea area in the country, of about 22,500 hectares.

In recent years, Thai Nguyen province has promoted restructuring tea varieties, applying science and technology in production. Although most of the province's planting tea area has been produced under safety criteria, not much has been certified for organic production.

In 2020, implementing the agricultural production plan of the province, the Agricultural Extension Center of Thai Nguyen province has implemented the model of organic tea production according to Vietnamese standards TCVN 11041 with a scale of 60 hectares.

The target of the model is to successfully build a chain of product consumption at each model point, widen the sustainable production methods to improve quality, product value, and producer's income.

At the same time, it will help farmers having a new agricultural production method that is friendly to nature and the environment, contributing to the protection of health of producers and consumers.

Thai Nguyen provincial Agricultural Extension Center surveyed and selected 5 sites to organize the implementation of the model with a scale of 60 hectares. It is worth mentioning that the selected sites are all cooperatives that have real experience in safe production such as IPM, VietGAP, organic production, etc.

According to the current price on markets, 1 kg of premium tea in Thai Nguyen sells for about VND 5 million, nearly equivalent to 800 kg of plain rice. It is from high profits that many tea growers and large enterprises in Thai Nguyen have the same tendency to invest in tea gardens and seek the strengths of each tea variety to increase the overall economic value of tea.

Ngo Viet Thuat, Director of Thuy Thuat Tea Cooperative (Phuc Triu commune, Thai Nguyen city) could not hide his honor and proud when saying that that participating in the program to build organic production certification is a proof of profession and fame of the cooperative. Cooperative selection is based on many aspects to assess the level of safety in the production process. So, it is responsibility and also opportunity for tea makers to grasp and master the new production process to make valuable and high-quality products.

Companion with farmers

Ngo Thi Luyen, Deputy Department of Technical Planning under the Agricultural Extension Center of Thai Nguyen province says that the production sites are all specialty tea production areas, mainly for domestic consumption, so the selling price is high.

Therefore, the production plan of the model needs to be close to reality and have a sustainable development strategy to attract the market and member households.

After being trained in technical instructions and granted training certificates, households involved in production are gradually converting production, overcoming unsuitable techniques in creating isolation buffer zones, improving soil creation, etc., to meet the requirements of the plan.

Dao Thi Thoi, leader of Chinh Phu organic tea production cooperative group (Phu Xuyen commune, Dai Tu district) says that participating in the model, tea makers have a more coherent awareness of organic production techniques.

“In addition to supporting materials such as organic products enriched through leaves, microbial products, fertilizers, biological pesticides, etc., we are also trained to compost organic fertilizers, manure on site, improve soil creation, and manage pest,” Thoi says.

It is worth mentioning that the farmers have been instructed to have a specific quantitative method for each part of the producing progress than the previous method of mainly based on sensory ability and experience.

After 2 years of implementation, most people can see that the tea plantation ecosystem has changed, the production environment and living environment have been improved, the growth of tea has stabilized in terms of yield and quality.

The good news is that people have seen that organic tea production is an inevitable trend. The Agricultural Extension Center of Thai Nguyen province will coordinate with related agencies to mobilize resources to continue supporting cooperative groups and agricultural cooperatives in all aspects to develop market sustainably.

Thai Nguyen not only holds the title of "the first renowned tea" area but also leads the country in tea area with about 22,500 hectares, compared to Lam Dong's 13,000 hectares and Yen Bai's 8,500 hectares.

Within the last two years, tea areas in some tea hubs, like Lam Dong and Yen Bai, have been halved, whereas Thai Nguyen tea producers have expanded production. This signifies that tea plants are indeed contributing to economic efficiency and have established themselves as the province's staple tree. Numerous specialty tea models have generated billions of VND, and tea tree literally means "money tree."

Since mid-2021, the Thai Nguyen province Sub-Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection has established certification of planting area codes for 17 production areas with a combined area of 108 hectares. Participants include 238 households in 16 cooperatives and one company. Tea takes up the majority of the program's area.