Wangcang tea farmers increase income despite lower production and prices, what is the secret?
Continuous low temperatures cut spring tea production by 10%, and the price of new tea is more "affordable" than in previous years. This year, farmers in Wangcang County, Sichuan Province, who faced pressure from both production and the market, actually increased their income! Where is the secret? Recently, a reporter visited Micang Mountain, the dominant premium tea production area of Wangcang County, and found the answer amid a strong atmosphere of tea industry modernization.
Going out to seek true expertise, an old tea village welcomes a new look
Driving along the winding mountain road to the mountainside of Micang Mountain, one can see patches of emerald green ecological tea gardens from afar, with clouds and mist curling around the tea trees, as if in a fairyland. "That is our sprinkler irrigation system watering the tea trees." said Tan Bo, chairman of Wangcang County Mumen Tea Industry Company. This sprinkler irrigation system is part of the Huangliang high-standard ecological green organic tea planting and production base. "Water volume, irrigation time and others can all be precisely controlled, greatly improving spreading efficiency. It is precisely by relying on these modern production methods that the villagers no longer have to depend on the weather for their livelihood."
Tan Bo is a native of Huangliang Village, Mumen Town. Starting from contracting 1.3 hectares of tea garden in the village, he witnessed the development and changes of his hometown's tea from the past extensive style of depending on the weather to today's modern production and management.
Huangliang Village is located deep in Micang Mountain and has always had a tradition of growing tea. However, in the past, it adopted extensive production methods, and the tea produced was small in scale, had poor disaster resistance, poor quality and poor sales.
"The change began in 2009. During post-disaster reconstruction, Zhejiang provided assistance to us, offering technical guidance and also bringing mature production concepts." Tan Bo said. Thanks to being diligent and eager to learn, over several years Tan Bo's family tea garden not only continued to expand in scale, but he himself also obtained the title of intermediate tea technician and became a role model for the villagers.
After that, Tan Bo built factory buildings and added equipment on the basis of the old Huangliang tea factory, established a tea company, and while expanding the scale, introduced new varieties and carried out standardized production according to "formula fertilization, green prevention and control, pruning and picking, and deep processing." Today, Huangliang Village has established 20 hectares of organic tea demonstration base, with more than 1000 hectares of contracted green tea garden base around it. The 2000 sq m organic tea processing factory not only drives the development of the tea industry in all of Mumen Town, but also extends its influence to surrounding townships such as Hualong and Nongjian.
Capital alliance makes the "Micang Mountain Tea" brand bigger
Unlike the past spring tea prices that often ran into thousands of yuan or even several thousand yuan, this year the price of Micang Mountain spring tea is much more "affordable." He Xulun, chairman of the county's Sichuan Micang Mountain Tea Group, told reporters that this year the company's best-selling spring tea flat tea costs only 200 yuan to 500 yuan per jin.
"In the past, if tea prices dropped, I definitely would have been so anxious I could not sleep." Sitting in front of his own house, He Huaru, a tea farmer from Group 5 of Huangliang Village, Mumen Town, was very calm this year. "Now the Micang Mountain tea brand has become well known. The unit price is a bit lower, but sales are higher. Calculating the total account, income is still rising."
"Wangcang has exceptional ecological conditions, and the tea quality is very good. It is just that in the past enterprises each went their own way and could not form a combined force." He Xulun said. In recent years, Wangcang County has focused on gathering the advantages of the tea industry and guided more than 20 enterprises in Wangcang to jointly form Sichuan Micang Mountain Tea Group through a capital alliance, with the government taking the lead to make the "Micang Mountain Tea" brand known.
Yu Gang's Bifeng Tea Industry Company in Huya Village, Gaoyang Town, Wangcang County also became part of Micang Mountain Group, and the villagers of Huya Village also benefited. The local area adopted the "company + base + farmers" development model, bringing more than 4000 surrounding tea-farming households together to work on the business, solving employment for more than 30000 labor positions, with an annual output value reaching 30 million yuan.
After the brand became well known, unlike in previous years when tea farmers took their tea everywhere to promote it, this year many orders came to them on their own. "During the Spring Festival, a tea company in Chengdu ordered 6000 jin in one go, with sales reaching over one million yuan." Yu Gang said. Next, he will also use the high-quality ecology to develop tourism, health and wellness and other industries, further extending the tea industry chain. "Every year during the tea-picking festival, up to ten thousand people come to the village for tourism. Many local villagers spontaneously open farmhouse restaurants. Not only is the tea popular, but the villagers can also earn another sum from tourism."
Fu Yin, Chen Shaohai, our reporter Zhang Yanling