Changlin series oil tea cultivation supports ecological protection and increases farmers' income

On May 25, the author came to Ouyang Village, Xinhua Township, Jinping County, Guizhou Province. Standing on the verdant summit of Ouyang Village's oil tea hill and looking around, the barren slopes of a few years ago had been covered by newly planted oil tea forests stretching beyond sight.

“The oil tea tree bears fruit twice a year (oil tea bubbles and tea seeds) and blooms once, needs no pesticide spraying or fertiliser, and its leaves stay evergreen all year round, laden with fruit. The oil tea forest protects the ecology, beautifies the village, and increases farmers' income, so why not do it?” said Ouyang Kehong, director of Ouyang Village, proudly.

Seven years ago, Ouyang Kehong introduced improved oil tea seedlings such as “Changlin No. 21”, “Changlin No. 53” and “Changlin No. 26” from Hunan, and mobilised villagers to plant new oil tea forests and to graft oil tea forests by high-branch grafting. Village Party branch secretary Ouyang Kejun went on to say: “Ouyang Village has little land and many people, and economic development is slow, so villagers all chose to go out to work and earn money. Now the villagers who worked away from home have returned one after another to take up oil tea cultivation, and 100% of farming households are engaged in ecological oil tea. When we plant new oil tea forests on barren slopes, there is one standard we must observe: old oil tea forests must not be destroyed and can only be grafted, and the vegetation on the hills must not be destroyed either.”

According to Ouyang Kehong, he grafted and newly planted more than 100 mu of oil tea forest, and last year harvested more than 4,000 kg of oil tea seeds, which alone increased his income by more than 50,000 yuan. “Following Ouyang Kehong's lead, I planted more than 70 mu of improved Changlin series oil tea seedlings and high-branch grafted 5 mu, and together with more than 20 mu of old oil tea forest, I earned more than 40,000 yuan in total. The oil tea tree has become a money tree.” villager Ouyang Keqi told the author cheerfully.

Today, Ouyang Village has its own oil tea professional cooperative, and the cooperative has set more villagers on the path of developing ecological oil tea forests. In recent years Ouyang Village has newly planted 2,500 mu of oil tea forest, improved 7,000 mu of low-yield oil tea forest, and high-branch grafted 1,000 mu of oil tea forest, becoming the largest oil tea base in Jinping.

Text by Li Bixiang