Tea, medicinal plants to drive organic agriculture in Lai Chau

At the conference "Developing commodity agriculture and medicinal plants toward a green economy" held in Lai Chau on April 24, Mr. Pham Van Duy, Deputy Director General of the National Authority for Agro-Forestry-Fishery Quality Processing and Market (NAFIQPM) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, repeatedly emphasized the transition from potential to tangible outcomes.

According to the Deputy Director General, Lai Chau possesses many distinctive advantages. Along the routes leading to Tam Duong, Tan Uyen, and Sin Ho, vast stretches of tea plantations are easily seen. Interspersed are expanding areas of cinnamon, macadamia, fruit trees, and medicinal plants. The clean air and land that has seen limited impact from industrialization are regarded as the locality’s most valuable assets.

However, developing organic agriculture still faces many barriers. According to the leader of NAFIQPM, Lai Chau currently has more than 500,000 ha of forest and over 16,000 ha of hydropower reservoir surface, forming a favorable ecosystem for organic agricultural production. At a time when many lowland production areas are facing environmental pollution and chemical residue pressures, Lai Chau's "naturally clean" advantage has become increasingly valuable.

Mr. Duy noted that global demand for organic agricultural products is rising rapidly, particularly in high-standard markets such as the EU, the U.S., and Japan. This presents an opportunity for highland specialty products to integrate more deeply into global value chains if production is methodically organized.

Among the products highlighted, tea and medicinal plants are considered the two sectors with the greatest potential for organic development. Lai Chau currently has around 11,000 ha of tea, more than 12,500 ha of cinnamon, over 10,700 ha of medicinal plants under forest canopies, and hundreds of ha of Lai Chau ginseng. These raw material areas are located at high altitudes with year-round cool climates, making them well-suited to natural farming practices with minimal chemical use.

In many highland areas, local people are accustomed to nature-based production methods. Tea plantations with limited use of pesticides, medicinal plant cultivation under ancient forest canopies, and specialty rice farming models following traditional practices are seen as favorable foundations for transitioning to organic agriculture.

However, Mr. Duy acknowledged that the biggest challenge at present is the small scale of organic production. The entire province currently has just over 42 ha certified as organic, accounting for a very small proportion of the total cultivated area. "The potential is significant, but a clear production trend has yet to take shape," he said.

One of the main reasons is fragmented production with a shortage of linkages. Many households operate on a small scale, making it difficult to uniformly meet organic standards. Meanwhile, the proportion of areas linked to production and consumption remains low, making it difficult for enterprises to establish stable raw material zones.

Certification is also a major barrier. The cost of obtaining international organic certifications is relatively high, while the number of certification bodies available locally remains limited. For many upland farmers, access to procedures, documentation, and organic production techniques is still unfamiliar.

Processing and market access are also key bottlenecks preventing Lai Chau’s organic agriculture from making a breakthrough. Despite having large raw material areas, most of the province’s agricultural products are still sold in raw or pre-processed form. Deep-processing facilities are limited, and linkages with raw material zones remain weak, resulting in low added value.

This barrier has made many farmers hesitant in transitioning to organic production. Organic farming often yields lower output in the initial stages and requires higher investment costs, while output is not yet stable.

According to Deputy Director General Duy, to develop organic agriculture sustainably, the most critical factor is reorganizing production along value chains. Enterprises need to play a leading role in the market, cooperatives should act as focal points for organizing raw material zones, and farmers remain the direct producers.

He also suggested that Lai Chau should prioritize planning concentrated organic production zones for products with strong advantages such as tea, medicinal plants, and specialty rice, while linking these zones with planting area codes and traceability systems to meet market requirements.

In Lai Chau's green agriculture development strategy, medicinal plants under forest canopies are considered a highly promising direction. Unlike mass production models, medicinal plant cultivation not only increases economic value per unit of land but also contributes to forest protection and provides livelihoods for upland communities. This model also aligns with the province’s orientation toward a circular, low-emission economy.

"We should not pursue area expansion at all costs, but instead focus on quality and value. Only when products meet standards, ensure traceability, and are associated with deep processing can the province’s organic agricultural products conquer premium markets," emphasized Deputy Director General of NAFIQPM Pham Van Duy.