1. l0[il] t'.
Peak Tea Mountain Study Report
l1r Khamphou PhoLyyalonq
April 2011
ttll
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2. ThE 5 a .ase study or Phou$n rea Mouildn, where the tea has re.enuy b€en comnrercia zed
san (nrountaii) ii pcak d std.ti xiengkharng provtn.e.
. Th€e v raqe deveopnert cuneE share th. mounbn area ot pholsan naney LrdB.lk
z0n€ (3an Nhotpieiq), NongP€r (Ban oo.an) and khanevienq. For d
rrea has beei €no',ipd a5 or hgh qratiLy ter, panted du.ing 1930s
, spufi.d by thc Pu erl
boom in Yrnnan. tea rr€es ar d sr buted over the rdra
deisiry vary nq in vunkcncunrrr. n d@p rore5t (pAFo ,006)
. Tbe 5tu'ly was un.edaken in so virages, Nhorpcnq rnd oo aE that LogeLher plss.s some
40 ha of hrnested an.eir and neL! y cu trared tea. Tora annla prcdldion s esLinaled at
nearf 4 toniee
'n
2010 5er rc ar between 40,000-80,000 kp per k9 The b! k of flodldioi
is io oo ai where t a.oahb!re5 5
. In recert yea6, an.envw d tea tr uorand reds have foned rh. basi5 ror 5tabijzed
aq..!turewrhteaqadensbenqa ocat€dro ndvdua househodr.ThcpotentL to*pain
d Uvauon exsts and crpanson s occuiing. clrtivaron methods 3.e geneE y raditona n
iature resultinq n ow yieds pcr I d s noty ro rjmir blshes
hod reYes to blo types or produ
Simple equirnreit has been provided by b!ye6 for pro.osnqi nalor market chainek arc
oca trad€G/buycE and a chines
m nor, suppemdnb Ban Nhorpienq, bll ths
are abe ro b€ haRcsted.
3nd rcduce abour d.mdnds Jslo.iated tr th bo0r p.riing and
pro.as nq Jre evideir. Gven posirve market.ondtions the sxpanson
v a96 may be L'arcnted
he ma nreian.e of nche
pbdtrd 5ratus Resu rs or.hen G aii yss urdertaken by the *udy t
arca is nd.rtve of h9r ntinsi. quarity
. Grcn tutNstoi airabrity, na*et demai! aid resource qGrity
l xicnq KhouJnq app€are €videit. A
th€ developncnti orentry of n,ore tea erpodec should be r proity to fa. irar€ s!.ll
. Loar.apacly !n iea s verr imted, to cope w th thc em
need to dev€lop ealt.a researhec who.oud rndertaid and fa. i

3. Ihe Lea hDmbn 5t!dy ir Phousan arr, paek distri.t, xieigkhaunq pro'nce I'as .onduden by
NAFRI atrd CARE slarr to better u/rdeEtand .omnrunlty access ro and G. or w d anrl cu r vaten le.
he Fren.h enab 5h Dq tea qarde F of tlre
best seierled ndgenou5 varieties in thc 1910t rn rc.enL ye3rs *imuated bv ure pu erh boom
tbese,eso0rces hav. b.en rehabiritated and no'! prDvide a va labe n
The a5se$nent r€s.ompeted n r,t .h 201r by Mr. Kbam)ho0 phoryyavono, the Head or socia
ThiDhavonq Boupha, lhe Prqect Manager for the T.a Fcasibility aid
Deslqn Stldy non ccRE. The rwo days fie {r su ey rlas ra. tared by staff of Aori.u lnc and Foreiry
of.e of Peak dstrct. Focus group ds.trsois, and in depth
t6fse.t wa k to ter qarden'js an.r w
GeneraDidureaf,dp€Epe.tv6o|bothwidteaand.UtiV3ledtea]
and head of DAFo or PEk dGr.t Wh e, iromaton on histDry
and d€moqftphy or vilaqe, oove/ry n Gi tea resomG maMqement and.onrrot, and famed
inrerest were obtained thrcuqh qrcup dis.ussion vth v laqe eaderetri
paek is the centra disrict or Xiengkhadng pmvin.e Lith a tota area !
is mountairo!sard rhedish.tlras a rota poprtation of69,r21people
!f which 34o/o arc Hmonq, 2 45or khmu and 63.61q0 Lao Lorm The dEtrcr has 9 (umban {vinaqe
d*eopmmt cune6). aid t s reporred thar tea I p€seir n 3 out o. ure5e e, naney Ladbalri,
Nongpet and xhanqvenq.
Areas under te3.!tivatioo n Peak rrave gradua ly erprfded bu
ha oran.€nt tea alqery iuter.r.p bured in rre tuo srrdy vi[a9.r
olNhotpienq and oo€i Ge€ beow)
The PlDUsai .r G dlvded into Pholsan No aid Phousan Ya Nhorpeng vilage E o.ated in
Prorsan Noi beonq nq lo the Ladlruak v lage d.v.opment .!ner. Ban oo an r lo.ated i. the
Phousan Ya eai pan oTthe Noirl

4. Nlroipienq war resenred in 197s to the.utrenr ste,
today there are 2l NHs in rhe vilaqes a[ of whch
are of rai Phaun ethncitr/. Road ac@s ro thk
v lag€ is reiabe onry during the dry sea$n with wer
eason a..ss not possibre after h
mu t p e iv€r .m$inqs, The total vil ase population
G 129 of whch 59 are femae, villageE .1a55ry 3
HHs as b€inq better{ff, 21 as or mid. eve and 4 as
p.or. Poo. Hlls have
partc0lar paddy iand and most are yornq nsly
mairied coupes Poorcr hous€ho ds strugg e to meet
tud and lncome needs prmarly through shifring
oltdion B€tter off
households have hore and and I v6to.k as wet as
mo€ dveEe sour@s of in.ome Village lead€rehtp
are pmmotinq the dev€lopmenl of commercial doos
such as t4 and fruit trees as wel as sustainable ffIrP haDesrnq. T6 cwenty pmvides a mited
5u pplemental sou rc ofjncome to many HHs.
Oo{n oct€d on Phousan yai is o€ted ound 3s
km no.th€st of the cit of P€k Road a..es G
reasonabry qood wrh ony 5 km of dr1 rcad. TliG
village was Frrred in 1974, wtth the p.putation
movinq back fiom vietnam,8y2010, the vi aqe had
a popu atioi of 269, wilhii 33 HN5 al of whi.h ara
Hmong. A numb€r of new familiE have moved to
the village over the yea6 iiom Nonshet districr.
Villasers da$ify 36 HHs as be nq or mid everand 2
as pmr. r'rd-ever househotds rypic y produce
suff'.ent rc€ for year round consu
do race shorlaqes, ony far 1 2 months and no every
year. In ontrasti poore horseholds struqqe ro
met lmd and ln@me ne€ds thrcuqh shifrng
chrcnially r.e deficit. rea
prcduction ir .urently a prcvdlng an estimated
50qo of househod n.omes and this is exp€ded by
farmec to bsome pbqressivey more imDortanr
TEA REsouRcE AssEssMENr
T€a from Phousn area i5 widely bet *ed as a qold qua ity tea due to the su iabi ry or so si
elevatoni and weather. Tea in Phousan area was initialy pranted by the Fr€nch duing1930safrer
they tesled a wide number of o6l wrd types and slecred a number of vaieiies for further
re ar$ raruev destrcyed by the French under pft$uft irom the
3 dl sh to protect ihen tea nvslTenrs ii lnd a. H oweveri sD me tea vee,s rema ned and they have
s nG nalurany prcpaqaten. At hiq u y witd tea s ako rcpoa.ed by
some. h Ban Nhotp enq and Ban oo an, t€a .u nvation has rc.eifly resrzrted
Nhotpienq has establshen tea s€d nureery qbups ontaininq 2l househotds Asofthe {udy podod
thek rameE had som€ 40,000 s*dtinqs ready for panriiq in rhe cominq wet seaso[ at cutr€ir
pant density rates thh 6uld equate to an additionat 60 Ha or 3 ha per household a though hiqher
densry pantnq s exDecr€d sed ror rhe n6er/ was.oltected
thh (2007 3)i rarme^ also panled our natu.ally occurifq seed ings wrh suppo( for such reported
tom oxfan. The totat arca cuftenuy p.kpd (q.upand fietds wrh aftient tea re.qrcrrh and intei
planted new sftdlinst 5 appoximat€ly 10 ha, wih v aqere acrively prepardg tr expand ths. Larler
ancent t€a trcer prevously felen for sw dden cu tivauon have sif.e re g6wn (the net etrect b€ n9
similar to a wdey used €juvenaton prunnql as shown in Fiqurc I beow llre den5ty of such
ai.ient trces 5 some 50 to 100 p€r Ha. Aditiona intetsplanting has nDw o..ured in(easing the

5. Fn 8an oo."n, te. has been co e.led
ch ies€ trade6
materas for dig snpe tea
prc.e$ nq uniLsror mao.ha prcdrctioi
tofof hodlehord! 3nd th€n pur.hased
iion then This
productoi and som.ng ol lea rrom
wthin th€ Torcst
od tea kees p,esenl havc b?en d vided
up amoiqsl the commdiily tD enabe
Land was alocated at the villqte eve
ba5ed on households abour
rvailabity Thrclqh ths pm.ess trie
arqe y fu y al ocated
The tora area of rea ab€ to be picken E approxmrtcry 30 hJ! rnd vi aqe6 have p r to expaid th s
th6u9h.utivaron To enabre this Ean 0o an has a so esrab shed a rea
and seed ifrponed frcm chnr bythe o@rbuyer, Mr Gu.
In bolh s es new s*dllnqs e typica y rnt€. panted berw.ei an.ient reei Ter qrden3 ar,a
wred.d 2 3 tinres per year whei rhe rr€s aL. young aid then oire r
mprovement nrethods e used v lagere rpot th ther. c 3 diffcrcnt types
of ancient lea dfre,enLialed by eaf si?e/shapc €t . Typ oly the lea s
rnd rcalvey thh. sh@ts arc pale ehais.lhercllearsaboul
5 about s 7 .m lo.q aid 2 .ni I
Land a location has been undetakei in the area and ownership oT e trr€. aiceit or nerv.lrtieated
tea gardens is a.lnowedsed by thc o.3 3uthority. ownetshp of lea
autho.ity alrocated to indvidua HHs rcgaditrg to then iih.rtan.!
gadens s.haEod ai a lower Ete ihan fo prddy or rcsdeila laid with s(h Tees bei'E I p 19,000
PROOUCTTON AND PRICE
de6ry 1o $me 600 r€e5 / Ni
meteE 10 hale pi.kinq possib e
lrore than 10 ha of cnedry haRest8d tea gardens
ha is hato sted in Ba. oo ai iioh
beei vaditional use of t€a leaves lvh€n boirinq wat€r
hrrl5 ii Ean 0o an knorv how to pro.e$
qreen and ba.k teasr however, ony grc.n tea s prc.esed a5 they sai.l, there 5 no buyer and
rarmeE do not ketlFra{e rorb n sai Oo.rn a 50 kiow how to make
tunss Produd (L+) ld d(eod r.nie n p.5oE
(rrP) i %sre n

6. Gm dry) :mh: procs]]q re.hiqr w- smcd
FameE €po(ed that aboul 5 kq or rreih ear oakes 1 kg or qr€en ts. durnq the dry seas.n,
however, it nsds rt lea5l5 kq oltrelh caftD make 1kq otqr€en te
rcqu*l trrl lea s pi.ked a5 one b0d with two €ves; however, bud and thre caves n aho
sometimes pi.ked. lne qreen lea pr.esin9 used by fameE n B€n
Nhoipienq and Ban oo ai is rmirarand sbown betow
cre.n tea pckinq atrd p.oce$in! s lndetukei roi
borh vlrages. tlao.ha s noma ry pmdu.ed n
March, Aprl, and r'1ay
'!hen
p ces are hqher
andihe€3re nrore buye6. Ev€n thoushth?.e6
tea and other rive hood
advtes eq. r.e c!rtvationi rarme6 divd€
In 8an Nholpienqi f3.me6 who either are not
very qood ln qrcei La pro.Bsinq i{hoqle or
3re not willnq to proe$ qftn tea @n ei
rEh €af pi.ked to qreen Lea frakeG n thc
vilaqe at Kip 1,000 s,000 per kg. Fbn tbe 10
ha or haRe5ted tea, Nhotpienq pnduced abdur
300 kq oforE.n t?a n 2010 The pice ofE€i
tea producen s Kio {0,000 reqrrd ss of 5pr nq
nurbes Dr rcr sedson Dicks. Ths p ser ar the sanre prie to brher
lrade6. Prces lrav€ shown 5lab ity over trre Ptr€rrr markEr fluduaton pefod and volumes have
..redsqEen tei for f r s.n@h.t imddeorJn for
bo tu.n s P'on!c)

7. ptons Tor tea pi.led drinq rhe dry seasoi Firsry, farmeB Gi
make Mao.ra themserves and serrat kip 30,000 oer kgj se.ond yi fame6 cn 5el fresh teaf ro the
qreen t€ prodtr.lion odup orto Mr Gui the Ch nese tea trader fton P
kq. Typi.a ly rarmeE wl oroc€$ lhe r own tea The,eareony5holsehodrinBanooairhDknow
hotr t! make qreen tea, and rhey have romed 3n inrorma qreei tea prcdudion snup oth?r
villageB a,e iot inrolved as a.cordnq to MI lonsye i head ofthe qroup rlrer pd.e$ g sk s
mqht rot be adequare. Ea.h member of the qrou0 has abort I hr hiaested tea area, taEer than
the avecqe (0.5 Ha) hodiiq. rhe qrolp pioduces sonre r,500 kss a ypar whi5t faocha prodlcinq
houselrolds on aveEqe pDdu.e 60
at n9 to a reh caryled or5ome ssokqtha.
The ma*et ch:nncs for tcr from both rtes me shotrn below ii Fiqure x:
,,--- -_trtl
- ,r--"rl
This above plls nteaews wM major buye6 demonnEtcs th tea5 froir this area are enre nq
sPeoalty tea ma ets n chinri Europe and Horq Konq.Ihe poreitia to expand produdlon and saes
rcPorted as good by kadeu
Fresh €al picking nandard is reported a5 qood farner constlenl
Fame6 maocha pb@ssins quarity n Ban oo'ri Lva5 commented o by Mr Gu LrraL rame6 are
inprdv nq their pro.e55inq t€chniqu
It was ftpotud that tota t€a oroduction tom Phousan tea ndtrnta n !v
benq a 10c'o inffcas? rrcm 200! rev€rs a5 rame6 coie.red
'nore
N d tea aid rhe tia est€d area
wrs eipanded. Howeveri this figurc appears ikely !o be an underestimat€ Mr Gu reports collecunq
and erported about 20 ton ol p n distr.t Mr. Gu commence,J
n z009andtraifed lameE ii pd
s0,000 seedrngs b rameB it Kp s00 per 5edrnq
Tea san n.reasinqly mpotant $ur€of in.om. ror neary a hous€holds n the tro viages. Ever
tbouqh Ban oo an has nor in.omc rmm tea rbai 8an Nhorpienoi rhe sor(es ot nconr. i. Bai
Nhotp€ng aie more dive6. thai the.r5e or Bai Oo an
,ad a tota average pe,.apita in.om. of some (]p 1g m Lion, th5 benq
poverty line or 32,000 per .apb/
f0.60/day whcn .onp ed to other sou..es {se tabte 2 beo[), rar
a(ounts for p€,haps s% of tobl qer tea qardens report bei.q able to ea l
somc kjp 4 mil oi rro.r tea sa €s last year.

8. ln 8an oo an the tolaraveraqe iicome per cp ta was sonc (ip t 4 m
some $0.13/day. Neaily harfof tota villaqe imone s deiv€d ftunrda. a re, btrrrsro and L$ulry me
nan otherso!(es. brgertea falm a vrere able to }odu.e over
100 kq oT Maocha ea.h oamin! p n 2010. Ferr rarnetr ra nto ths.rteqory
wth mon earn nq belwee Kp 3.6
Tea .ultivrtion aid prcductoi s a liiqhy rabdf ntensvc adiviy with th. workDad ror str.h b. no
ay the key rces i panlng, weeding and lrcsh eal p.kng as in
Like other agri.u LlElad'ites, both men aid,vomen { do together depending on tre wor(oad
children arc ai nvoved durnq rcekends and on schoo ume lor rcadinq, pckng, and 5el iq
OPpoRruNrw aND cH^LLFNcEs
Posit ve featu.es of te3 as a .rcp F
qood repla.ement crop to opum
lio red paddy land,
'vilh
upand fi ps. Tea.ai rdpdy be
domestcated and 6 rcported toqow much faster than nkoduced seed inqs About 40i000
ated and wl be Dlanted nrune 20
b. Phou5ane has qood qua iV tea, and therc is hqh market demaid lor th s adiiq to n6m.
.. Cunent tea domeslction i datufally based, other blq tres are
@nseaed {trif tre tea fieks nris is in ri.e with o.a poiq for forertry and e roimentil
D sadva;bqes repo red by rar ne6 arel
manaqemeil ror the fEt tuo yea6. nrh sonr€lime.rcates cofllidnq abor demaids wth
b. nr€rc is io loflna grcup prcdu.iron, and as s!.h qre.i tea p6..$ ng qua ly ay valy
b€tLveen d ferent fameu. creei t
harrday ror 2 kq orq'een tea, whiie pro.essinq Shniqhq Mao.ha
c. The .reot or.e or xp 40,000 per kq of qrcer tea n Ban Nhotpeiq s .on5dered low
compared to the t me rcquircd An expe.tauon of Kip 60,000 per kg lvas ment oned
d Road a..e$ r soruumes dffi.

9. er tea c!rvation are erpandiig. wrie tlrr ptudrdioi.omes ol
{rcam, lameu are inq methods atrd stop wok ha5ed wthernq.
Ths.ould ncde the esrab shne
by the vrrJqe prod0.tion gouD Fa.ne6 a so r.u d k to mprovc ttu r tda prc..sirg qua ty as
Bu yer persp ective (MrGu Liansyinq):
Da.u$iois L'(h lrr G! Langyllg, a cliiieee
hqhqhtedthehqh5!rab tyof andhxenq KhoungasalvhoeandPhousaiein pa iftarroriea
.uuvaton. M. cu hr5 been iiro ved if tea.o {tiotr frcm Phorane ro, five y€a6 and ra5 arpported
pro.€* iq trin nq and s€dLinq sre.8e.J!se oT rhe tea quirty, orlrer traders ar5o.orre.t teJ i the
r who re.e ved r.on.e$ oi on Ph6aie (rnd bu I r rord tD the
molnlain top) io roiqer has the c
Pucr tea pi.c.otr..t on n 2003, many ch nese vaders nopped.oni iq he $id.
0 tons or Maocha and some fres I leal fionr rarn,e6 ii Pholirc
atrd $oune dnr.i in 2010 and erpe.ts thd thr produ.ton wirr rea.
year Mr Cu has used some 2 tons oa tea sedr or Pholsanc vareV J
(china)to support tea qJrden h both renq Khuang and Phoukhoud in Luaiq Prabano sone s0 50
hawerepatedinKhoundnrd.r'rrGusesxienq$!rnqa5akeyteaLrrcdlcrioiDrovh.eofthe
Tea 5 3 neL'.rop to paFo, but ha5 )een irreasiNly rccoqnted as ol.ommercia porentia for the
Ter .an be dome5t.ated ea5ly aid the PAFo ha5 lnderttrken 5ome
popagation fta s usirg ancic te
@istrahL! in.udnq a) budqetrand lil a.kortecm.a elpet5e, rth mo5t
techni.ar promot oi b.in9
crop. (M,. B!Fpha Boudkhanpone, Head orAoriculLur Dvr Dn, rcnq (hoianq PAFo )
with hiqh elevaton, above 1,200 ditons ror .lrlvalidn or high
qua ty tea and donr€sti.ation and.rrtivaron is etpa di.g i rrrd zord Ho|ever, there aB innrfl.reil
mechanisnr5lo Drote.t fore.t tea reso(r€s rlith many trees havinq beei le ed tr the a5tfuroyea s
omprerEisive Lea dion Le.rrniqler require
developmert. A hoistc ptug,ami'e of action ii suppod oT tea sedor shoud be hlrod!.ed to
Drodu.toi h Phou5aie area (Hr Bounerd (omrrhi.hrn, deputy h.ad or
AccordhqloteacsltivatonsutablymapFnqitherearesbolt60,469harnd43,975haorandii
total aid arca i the ddt.ict. riis seens to be the Iqhe$ prcoo{ion oaany disvct n lao5
C6N.IicrnNc
rea cltvation, qreen tea and Mao.rra Dro{r0don in Phousane zone ii Peak d6tr.t rema ns lnder
developed but ls showinq sgns of stmng grcMh. nr€ hiqh prcpoftion of househod i(omes derved
lrom tea n oo an and iG LoLar va dr poreira aid s etpe.led ro
increaf sgnir.a ly over thc ncit dons.Dmc nto poductoi
3ased on oo ai data, rame6 trith apprcxinrate y o,e ha oa tea agepofte'l L be.be to qeneEi!
some 300 kq5 or Mao.ha (equvient to 1,s00 kqs ortresh Dr) omhq p?rlraps hp r4 milrioi (usD
3,000). rhe Dotenta ror poveny rcdlction rrom the . op 5 thus.ear
civef the proven poientia ii P€akand other tea nvestments n Kro0n, srpporthq lhe deveopment
or tea prcdlction and prc.e$ino grcups at vlal]e ev€s aDpea6 waiianted even in lho5e sites
curientry yrithout tea r€sourcer.

10. Fame6 withn sludy v laq?s aF arerdy ope'dtnq drfiercnl lorms or
€nab n9 a.ce$ to iivestment fnan.e fD, eipanded 0ro.e$ nq fa.lliLies fty be trsranted in oD ai
Locl ca € eties li;a. p.N4 narketvdleand atr expanon
imported rypcs. v raqeG repor that rhree loca
rssesm.rtofthese ilDes vs:r vis
..nteE rhe DAFO .oud potentia y suDpoft fa ner
enabhhn.nt or teJ seedl'nq n!6eres usng seed ftum tun oo ai a
etpaBionortcacutvalonhloot,erviraqes.nrs, rcqurc.6dinationwithbuycE.
f sonre ares of aicieillea !n Pho
need nol be ai e{ensive afea
The esbbl5hment ol a smarr d€ a techitcar sence eitre woutd
eupport the development oT oAFo stafi skilh in tea .r rvauon aid prov de 3 5te for demonstErnq
npoved prtminq and on-farm tea management
appear w3rantcdr al Improvemetrts rn prunng of re qrowth
t.e6 folowmq rquvemhon used in India .oud enable
substantially qrcater yieds 3nd er5e pcrnq wthin a sho/r tine fidme. b) medms b nain eil
reiilty w inoeasiiqy b€ requ r€d ai prart density rGes - 5mple actons such as use of requne
ground .oVeE.o! d b€ u:efu y tesied
ther tea buyed/prc.e$Drs
reduce the irkr aso.ated wlh nlnber Dr buye6
deve oped by Mr c! cor rd b. athailivp to others in Yu mar q ven rhe apparcfr qua ity of rea in the
areaands!itab iiyforexpaidedcdlvalon