According to figures of the Vietnam Tea Association, currently there is 125,000 ha of tea in Vietnam, of which Lam Dong province holds 21 percent with productivity of 7 tonnes per ha. Each year, Lam Dong produces about 162,000 tonnes of fresh tea buds, achieving nearly 27 percent of nationwide tea production; while tea income per ha in Lam Dong province is the highest in the country, at over VND280 million per year per ha.
Lam Dong province has long been recognised for its role in clean tea in building, positioning the tea brand and creating products’ value. Since 2004, Lam Dong’s People Committee and Department of Agriculture and Rural Development have boosted investment as well as encouraged enterprises and tea farmers to implement effectively the High - Tech Agriculture Program.
The area of high quality tea was planned in Da Lat city, Bao Loc city, Bao Lam district and Di Linh district by Lam Dong’s People Committee in Decision 243/2004/QD-UB dated December 31, 2004. Accordingly, by the end of June 2011, Lam Dong had a total of 4,837 ha of high productivity and high quality tea (including 2,572 ha of high productivity tea and 2,095 ha of high quality tea), with 3,456 ha still in planning. There are presently 22 foreign companies and 11 domestic ones investing in growing high quality tea with area of 1,361 ha; 20 organisations and individuals have been granted the certificate of VietGap standards for 113 ha of high quality tea, Phuong Nam Tea Company (Bao Loc) has cooperated with some Bao Loc families to produce 40 ha of high quality tea with GlobalGAP standards.
Currently, Bao Lam has the largest production area of high technology tea; 1,450 ha of high quality tea and 700 ha of high productivity tea are invested by 19 companies as well as household farmers with the techniques, capital and labour, creating a breakthrough of growing local, high productivity tea.
With the aim of quickly possessing raw materials of high quality tea, People Committee of Da Lat city not only manoeuvred the cooperation between Haiyih Co., Ltd and dozens of household farmers of Xuan Truong commune in growing high quality tea, but also carried out policy of supporting farmers with 50 percent of the cost of buying seedlings. The cooperation of producing high quality tea which starts from planting to harvesting, purchasing, processing and exporting between Haiyih Co., Ltd and farmers of Xuan Truong commune has affirmed the effectiveness of the relationship between companies and farmers in sustainable agricultural development in Da Lat.
According to a survey of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, High Tech Agriculture Program and activities of attracting companies to high quality tea areas as well as linking to other programs (notably the Project of Tea and Fruit Development, sponsored by Asian Development Bank - ADB), new-breed tea has currently accounted for 36 percent of total tea area in province, high quality tea revenue has reached from VND 200 to 250 million per ha per year, and profit has amounted from VND 70 to 90 million per ha per year, 10 times higher than production of traditional breed teas. From the initial success of high quality tea, the People’s Committee has recently decided to continue the program in future. Accordingly, there will be 800 ha of high quality tea planted in Bao Lam, Di Linh, Da Lat and Bao Loc in the period from now to 2015.
Mr Pham Van An, Director of Lam Dong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said: The potential for tea industry development in Lam Dong province is still very huge, so in coming years, State investment will focus on tea breed selection, technology, building and carrying out processes of production, and searching new markets for product consumption. Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has advised provincial authorities to carry out guidelines and policies on land, capital, techniques of intensive cultivation, localisation of purchasing materials in order to continuously attract other companies to invest and cooperate for the purpose of stabilising domestic market and tea exports. As the role of good supporters to farmers in the area of raw materials, companies will expand their agencies of purchasing tea, signing agreements of product consumption for farmers in the project area, lending fertilizer without interest rates with amount based on investment for intensive cultivation, technical assistance of production for farmers, ensuring each technical assistant to be responsible for product quality for his areas, making people more familiar with the market mechanism in order to create stable raw material inputs for factories.
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