Report Feasibility study organic bitter tea Cao Bang - Helvetas

Feasibility Study Organic Bitter Tea in Cao Bang: 2007
Farmers from all districts in the province supply to the BTC. Focus of production is
currently on three districts, in particular Nguyen Binh. Farmers are not organised but sell
directly to the BTC as individuals.
Total production sold to the BTC during 2007 was nearly 10 tons of fresh leaf (bud). Farm
production is in the order of 1 - 1.5 ton of buds/ha/year for the low density plantings. For
the high density plantings this is higher, up to 3 - 4 ton/ha/year. Prices received by the
farmers from the BTC for one kg of buds is 15,000 VND/kg.
4.1.2. Input supply
Limited external inputs are used in bitter tea production. From data collected in the survey
it seems that these inputs (mainly chemical fertilisers and planting materials) are also
almost entirely provided by the BTC. Planting materials is coming from the nursery set up
as part of the provincial bitter tea development project. Input support to farmers is only for
the first year. After that, farmers are supposed to buy all inputs at full cost price .
4.1.3. Collectors
Farmers deliver the tea directly to the BTC or through a collector. In each of the districts
there is one collector. BTC staff estimated that 60% of the tea delivered to the company
goes through the collectors.
4.1.4. Bitter tea company (BTC)
The BTC has a head office in Cao Bang town and a processing unit at km 3 in Cao Bang.
Previously, there was also a processing unit at Dong Khe but at the time of the feasibility
study this unit was being closed down and equipment was moved to the BTC head office.
Processing of the tea is being done at km3, while packaging is done at the head office.
The BTC collaborates with the local extension service to contact farmers and to get
information which farmers are interested in planting bitter tea. Training and other support
to bitter tea growers is done by the BTC directly and here the extension service does not
play a major role.
4.2. Inputs
The following section focuses on the use of inputs in the bitter tea production, with
particular reference to their application under the organic standards considered for this
report (EU, Japan and South Korea). This section is based on information collected during
the survey as well as on data from the field visit by Daniel Valenghi to Cao Bang in May
2007 (see Annex 2). A summary of findings is given in Table 1 at the end of this chapter.
4.2.1. Variety and planting material (including nursery management)
There are no specific varieties for bitter tea. However, the material used by the farmers
supplying to the BTC is rather uniform since it for a large part originates from the nursery
set up under the bitter tea project.
Under the organic standards considered, seeds and planting material used for organic
production should be from organic origin. This requirement can easily be met once bitter
tea is being grown organically. Nurseries could be set up that produce planting material
from organically grown "mother" trees.
- 6 -