NgheAn (VNS/VNA) - Shan tea, a type of wild tea tree grown by ethnicminorities, has been well known in the mountainous provinces in the north ofVietnam for many years.

But little is known about alarge Shan tea area in a remote mountainous district of Nghe Anprovincein central Vietnam.

Profitsfrom the tea have become the main source of income for local people from theH’mong ethnic group in Ky Son district.

About 15 years ago, Ky Son districtwas the poorest in Nghe An province. The ethnic minority people there grew marijuana to generatemoney.

A group of volunteer warveterans from the province was assigned the task of helping locals improvetheir livelihoods.

“We decided to grow Shantea because of its short cultivation time and stable income that it can bringfarmers,” Vuong Xuan Tru, deputy head of the group told Thanh Nien (Young People)newspaper.

Shan tea has been grown in the mountains of the northern provinces of Ha Giangand Yen Bai at a height of 1,200m above sea level or higher. Realising thevillages in Nghe An are at the same height, the group brought the tea seedlingsto Ky Son, taught themselves how to grow, harvest and preserve the tea, beforeteaching local farmers.

Thanks to fluctuationsbetween day and night temperatures and steep hills, Shan tea grows rapidly onthe mountain without fertilisers.

More and more householdsthen realised the benefits of the tea and gave up growing marijuana andswitched to Shan tea.

Until now, more than 400households in Huoi Tu and Muong Long communes in Ky Son district are growing the tea.

The growing area then wasexpanded to the districts of Anh Son, Thanh Chuong, Nghia Dan and Con Cuong.

The more than 1,000 ha ofShan tea grown in Nghe An has become one of the biggest Shan tea cultivation areas in Vietnam. The tea has helped ethnicminority farmers get out of poverty and improve their livelihoods.

Pham Duc Trinh, former deputy directorof Anh Son Tea Factory, one of the war veterans who came to Nghe An and taught locals togrow the tea, said that Shan tea from Nghe An and other northernprovinces share similar features. But wind and fog of the mountainous weatherconditions make the Nghe An tea taste sweeter and smell better than other types.

Almost all households inH’mong villages grow Shan tea and drink the tea every day.

A common health tip amonglocals is to chew fresh, bitter-tasting Shan tea leaves to cure stomachaches.

Phan Thi Hong, a local in Cao Son district told ThanhNien newspaper that taking care of the Shan tea plants is simplewithout having to water or fertilise them.

“Each day I harvested about50 to 60 bunches of tea, each of them sold at 7,000 VND (0.3 USD) for wholesale traders and10,000 VND (0.4 USD) for retail buyers,” she said.

Nguyen Van An, a tea growinginstructor, said that the Nghe An Shan tea is completely free of chemicals.

Nguyen Thi Anh Hong, deputy head of theVietnam Tea Association, said that the Shan tea that is famous in northernmountainous provinces has been successfully applied in a central province likeNghe An.

“This is a precious area ofraw materials that will create products of high value to Vietnamese teaproduction,” she said.-VNS/VNA