In 2026, these endeavors were recognized with the Mai An Tiêm Award presented by the Việt Nam Cooperative Alliance, unlocking opportunities to elevate the stature of local medicinal herbal products.

From natural advantages to raw material zones

Compared to other localities across the province, Tủa Chùa is an area where agricultural production conditions are far from simple. High mountainous terrain, steep slopes, constrained arable land reserves, and water scarcity make people’s agricultural activities heavily reliant on nature.

Under such conditions, introducing a plant variety that both suits local soil characteristics and generates commercial commodity value was nurtured for many years by individuals like Hoàng Văn Quang, Deputy Director of Tủa Chùa Cà Gai Leo Cooperative. The turning point arrived in 2017 when Quang brought cà gai leo varieties from Phú Thọ for trial planting in Bó village (Tủa Chùa town) and Phai Tung village (Mường Báng commune), within the former Tủa Chùa district.

The prominent attribute of cà gai leo herbal tea resides in its liver benefits. Glycoalkaloid active ingredients - the valuable component in cà gai leo - have been scientifically proven to support liver function, clear heat, aid detoxification, and protect liver cells against harmful agents. Following extensive testing, laboratory results confirmed that cà gai leo thrives in Tủa Chùa’s climatic conditions. The plants grow vigorously, exhibiting medicinal indicators that satisfy the raw material quality required by the cooperative. Consequently, in 2019, Quang resolved to invest in transforming this plant into a flagship product, establishing Tủa Chùa Cà Gai Leo Cooperative.

Cà gai leo is a plant featuring considerable drought tolerance; its thorny stems deter livestock destruction, it experiences few pests and diseases, and it yields multiple harvests per year - averaging 3 to 4 batches annually. Under appropriate care, a single planting can be harvested across multiple years. For an area frequently facing water shortages like Tủa Chùa’s terrain, the characteristics of this crop are well-suited for development. It does not impose overly strict agronomic conditions, yet yields higher economic returns than several traditional crops, while improving land-use efficiency compared to varieties local farmers conventionally grow.

Huổi Lực village comprises primarily resettlement households relocated from the reservoir bed of the Sơn La Hydropower Project. Domestic and production water sources are limited, leaving residents in many areas able to cultivate only one crop per year. Considerable acreage faced the danger of abandonment, while the local labor force - particularly women and middle-aged residents - lacked stable employment.

Tủa Chùa Cà Gai Leo Cooperative coordinated with local authorities to lease 5% public reserve land to cultivate cà gai leo, xạ đen (Ehretia asperula), and Tủa Chùa purple taro. Currently, the cooperative has fulfilled its goal of expanding the cultivation zone by nearly 4ha, focusing on two key medicinal crops - cà gai leo and xạ đen - in Huổi Lực village.

Under proper production organization and cultivation care, cà gai leo delivers yields and output 3 to 5 times higher than conventional food crops, generating average incomes of VND 200 million to VND 300 million per hectare per year. The cooperative targets expanding by another roughly 5ha of cà gai leo, pennywort, and perilla by the end of 2026. Simultaneously, the unit aspires to partner with local households to expand the cà gai leo raw material zone to roughly 20-50ha, with the cooperative providing technical support and committing to off-take product output.

Elevating the value of medicinal plants

Recognizing that stopping at harvesting and selling fresh plants or dried raw materials leaves the potential value of cà gai leo unrealized, Tủa Chùa Cà Gai Leo Cooperative focused investment on processing, extending the value chain of medicinal plants right in the locality.

To transform fresh green cà gai leo leaves into premium tea packages, the cooperative established a meticulous, closed-loop production workflow. Following careful harvesting at the peak period of medicinal active substance content, cà gai leo leaves are thoroughly washed and processed via modern drying techniques, preserving natural aromas and valuable active compounds.

The production process is strictly controlled from input ingredients to packaging, ensuring every tea bag delivered to consumers is a top-quality, safe product - such as filter-bag tea, cà gai leo concentrated extract, and related lines. Step-by-step investments in equipment, herbal drying systems, and automated tea-packaging machines have reduced manual labor and heightened product uniformity. Through deep processing, the products have been warmly received by the market. In 2024, cà gai leo filter-bag tea - the cooperative’s flagship product - achieved 3-star OCOP certification.

For a product originating from a familiar plant in Tủa Chùa, OCOP represents far more than an accolade. More significantly, it marks a milestone in transitioning medicinal herbs from fragmented, smallholder cultivation into branded, standardized goods with transparent packaging and verified provenance.

The true value of cà gai leo is not measured merely by raw acreage. Behind every box of tea is a closed-loop production process spanning planting, tending, harvesting, preliminary processing, and packaging. Currently, Tủa Chùa Cà Gai Leo Cooperative provides regular employment for dozens of local laborers - primarily disadvantaged households in the area - with monthly incomes ranging from VND 7 million to VND 10 million per person. This opens avenues for citizens to participate deeper in the value chain rather than merely selling raw materials.

Aiming for higher value-added goods and market diversification, the unit plans to develop blended tea lines combining cà gai leo with xạ đen, pennywort, and perilla. It is also researching dense herbal pastes, cà gai leo syrups, and other deeply processed products.

The cooperative’s endeavors across this challenging land have been acknowledged. In 2024 and 2025, Tủa Chùa Cà Gai Leo Cooperative was awarded Certificates of Merit by the provincial People’s Committee of Điện Biên. In 2026, its cà gai leo filter-bag tea product was selected as an exemplary product by the provincial Cooperative Alliance of Điện Biên. Tủa Chùa Cà Gai Leo Cooperative was honored to receive the 2026 Mai An Tiêm Award from the Việt Nam Cooperative Alliance.

For Tủa Chùa Cà Gai Leo Cooperative, these recognitions unlock further opportunities to promote brand identity, forge market linkages, and access development assistance programs.

Hoàng Văn Quang shared that the unit plans to expand linked cultivation areas by approximately 5-10ha each year, combined with intensifying communication to encourage converting low-value crops into higher-income medicinal plants, while providing technical guidance on uniform organic farming to meet clean medicinal herb standards. Long-term off-take contracts will provide villagers with peace of mind for sustained production. Alongside these efforts are digital origin traceability, distribution channel expansion, e-commerce acceleration, and placing products across retail systems inside and outside the province.

The unit hopes to receive additional support regarding land reserves, infrastructure, and production workshops, alongside access to modern machinery such as roasting pans, chopping machines, automated tea-packaging lines, and closed-loop herbal paste extraction systems. These upgrades will reduce manual labor while enhancing product quality, uniformity, and packaging aesthetics, facilitating the transition toward high-value filter-bag teas and concentrated medicinal extracts with strong marketability. Expanding production scale will generate additional jobs for local laborers - especially women and disadvantaged households - securing stable incomes and driving household and local economic development.

The cà gai leo plant is on a special journey across Tủa Chùa. Forming stable raw material zones, cultivated under quality-controlled protocols, and processed into locally branded tea packages, the achievements of Tủa Chùa Cà Gai Leo Cooperative honor the spirit of entrepreneurship, resilience, and creativity in medicinal herbs. They firmly assert a daring, can-do mindset that turns adversities into an effective collective economic model, elevating clean medicinal herbal products steeped in the cultural identity and distinctive terroir of highland Tủa Chùa, Điện Biên province.