The large tea growing area of Phu Tho Land
Long Coc commune, Phu Tho province was established on the basis of merging the entire natural area and population of 3 communes: Vinh Tien, Tam Thanh and Long Coc of the old Tan Son district. Currently, Long Coc commune has a total area of 67.088 km2, with over 8,700 people, mainly Muong and Dao ethnic people.
According to the People's Committee of Long Coc commune, the whole commune currently has 960.54 hectares of tea cultivation, of which 943 hectares are for products. The newly planted area has increased compared to the previous year (31.8ha), the estimated yield is 13.2 tons/ha/year, the total tea output is estimated at 6,230 tons/year.
In Long Coc commune, there are sweet soup varieties that ensure quality and high productivity, with special flavors favored by the world such as: Che shan, PH1, LDP1, LDP2, PT14... along with domestic sweet soup varieties such as: PT95, Kim Tuyen, Bat Tien...
Of which, shan sweet soup is a precious sweet variety, developed for a long time (since the 1980s), and has now developed in some neighboring communes such as Xuan Dai, Van Mieu, Minh Dai, with about 7.5% of the total tea growing area of Phu Tho province. Chi shan includes the following varieties: Industrial chi shan, Chi Huong Quang and Chi Minh City Chi.
Long Coc commune has a total area of over 700 hectares of tea certified for group production, safety according to VietGAP standards, organic, hygienic, food safety, including classification by type and has been assessed OCOP for each tea product.
Raising the level of tea products is to increase farmers' income
Since October 2015, with the support of local authorities and the project "Improving capacity and reaching out to the community" of the Australian Government-owned Fund for the benefit of the Asia-Pacific People's Union, the Long Coc Safety Tea Production Cooperative Group was established with 3 members.
In 2018, on the basis of converting from a cooperative group, a safe tea production cooperative in Long Coc commune was established. Since then, the cooperative has become a bridge connecting, solving difficulties in varieties, fertilizers, science - technology, product output and increasing income for tea growers.
Forging a cup of homemade sweet soup to invite reporters, Ms. Pham Thi Hanh - Director of the Long Coc commune safe tea production cooperative (Mang 2 area, Long Coc commune) recalled that before the cooperative group, there were no tea processing facilities in the area, no one could handle it, people mainly sold raw fresh tea to traders and factories, so the income of tea growers was not high and was somewhat unstable.
"Therefore, after the process of finding garlic, learning and receiving encouragement from authorities at all levels, we have established a cooperative group, then a cooperative to link production, gradually improving product quality, seeking consumption markets to increase income for tea growers" - Ms. Hanh recounted.
Currently, the Long Coc commune safe tea production cooperative has 15 official members and more than 60 affiliated households, with a total tea growing area of 35 to 40 hectares, of which more than 16 hectares are safe production according to VietGAP standards. After many years of efforts, the cooperative now has 6 products meeting 4-star OCOP standards.
To ensure clean and safe tea ingredients, meeting the increasingly high requirements of the market, members of cooperatives and cooperatives must be responsible for their products, the production process does not use herbicides, do not use chemical pesticides, do not spray growth stimulants...
To have tea buds that meet standards, cooperative members have used manual harvesting methods. Tea is picked by hand in the early morning when the weather is still foggy, avoiding the harsh sunlight to keep the tea buds fresh and sweet. After harvesting, the sweet soup is classified and stared many times at high temperatures so that the sweet soup leaves can curl and create dryness for the buds. The stages from harvesting to processing are all of quality and retain the characteristic natural flavor.
The cooperative's products such as: Long Coc premium cup of tea, specialty nail tea, cup of tea tea, shan Tuyet tea... have all affirmed their position in the market and are favored by domestic consumers.
In 2024, the cooperative's tea production according to VietGAP standards alone reached 50 tons of fresh tea and more than 10 tons of dried tea. Farmers earn from 80 to 100 million VND/year/ha to grow tea (the largest household has 7 hectares), from 5 to 7 workers have a regular income of 5 to 6 million VND/month (about 20 working days per month).
Ms. Ha Thi Thoa - a member of the Long Coc commune safe tea production cooperative - shared: "Previously, my family sold fresh tea buds to traders at low and unstable prices. However, after joining the cooperative, the price was higher and the output was more stable, so the family's economy improved."
Homeland products are closer to tourists
Long Coc Tea Hill not only brings economic benefits from harvesting tea buds but also attracts domestic and international tourists. Tourists are very excited by the beautiful scenery of the potted tea hill, watching and experiencing the process of the Muong ethnic group staring at traditional tea, enjoying it on the spot and buying tea as gifts for family and relatives.
Mr. Nguyen Hong Duong - a tourist from Hanoi shared: "Long Coc tea when mixed often has a light blue color, natural fragrance, and has all the flavors: bitter, fishy, sweet, easy to drink and especially deep flavor. Along with watching the potted tea hill and enjoying a cup of local tea, we also directly experienced the process of people harvesting and processing, very attractive".
According to Ms. Hanh, recently, travel agencies and travel agencies have brought many domestic and foreign tour groups to see and experience the tea processing process at the cooperative. Many tourists after experiencing it have directly bought sweet soups from cooperatives for use as gifts.
"There are also many foreign tourists who visit the tea hills and come to the cooperative to see and experience them themselves. After watching people make and try tea, tourists buy it right away, foreign tourists like to buy pink tea, domestic tourists like to buy both pink tea and green tea" - Ms. Hanh shared.
In addition to selling directly to tourists at the production site, tea products of Long Coc commune safe tea production cooperative and other cooperatives and groups have been "on shelves" at tourist attractions in the area, Long Coc tea has been increasingly brought closer to domestic and foreign tourists.
Develop a circular, multi-value agricultural production model associated with tourism experiences and OCOP product development
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper reporter, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Viet - Chairman of Long Coc Commune People's Committee - shared that the ecosystem of intertwined tea bags and steep steppe hills in Long Coc commune is considered one of the most beautiful landscapes in the North. However, the development of tourism in the area is still not commensurate with the potential.
Specifically, production and business of services are generally still small; accommodation facilities do not meet the demand during peak season; tourism products are still monotonous. The number of tourists to Long Coc is still modest...
To effectively exploit the existing potential and strengths, Long Coc commune is implementing the Project "Promoting internal resources, promoting investment attraction for economic development associated with green tourism in the period of 2025 - 2030".
According to the project, the locality sets a target by 2030: Long Coc Tea Hill is recognized as a provincial-level tourist destination, positioned as an attractive, friendly and sustainable green tourism destination with the capacity to welcome at least 50,000 visitors/year; forming an accommodation system with 100 fully booked rooms and 10 community rooms that meet standards...
The project also sets out key tasks such as: Completing transport infrastructure connecting tourist attractions; supporting businesses and households to upgrade accommodation facilities, diversifying tourism service models; developing a circular, multi-value agricultural production model associated with tourism experiences and developing OCOP products; promoting the cultural identity of Muong people, knives for tourism; promoting landscape renovation, environmental protection; enhancing promotion of the image of Long Coc, especially on digital platforms...
To develop tea trees in the 2026 - 2030 period, the People's Committee of Long Coc commune has made a number of proposals to all levels and higher-level sectors such as: Proposal to support the development of tea areas associated with eco-tourism, community tourism in the locality; Proposal to support funding for renovation, environment, design of paths around tea hills to create tourism landscape; Proposal to support funding for renovation and replacement of new tea varieties with higher productivity; Proposal to support production techniques, food safety, application of processing technology.
