Tea industry brings prosperity to tea farmers in E China's Anhui

Farmers pick tea leaves at a tea garden in Shangzhuang township, Jixi county, east China's Anhui Province. (Photo/Zhang Xiaoxuan)

"I picked 10 kilograms of fresh tea leaves this morning, and they were priced at 16 yuan ($2.21) per kilogram, which was not bad," said Yao Xiangle, a tea farmer in Jixi county, east China's Anhui Province.

Since the beginning of the spring tea harvest season, Yao, 70, has earned over 6,000 yuan from selling fresh tea leaves.

Photo shows tea trees in Jixi county, east China's Anhui Province. (Photo/Zhang Xiaoxuan)

Yao grows tea trees on more than 7 mu (0.47 hectares) of land, some of which are old trees. He says a local tea brand, “Jinshan Shiyu,” has emerged from quality old tea tree varieties in Jinshan village of the county.

Jinshan Shiyu tea has entered the peak harvest season. Wu Jianjun, head of Jixi Hanhui Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., a local tea company, told People's Daily Online that the company bought over 10,000 kilograms of fresh tea leaves and produced around 3 tonnes of dried tea leaves per day on average.

"The output of dried tea leaves from tea gardens on 1 mu reaches 40 kilograms. At an average price of 300 yuan per kilogram, the average income per mu is 12,000 yuan," Wu said, adding that the income per mu in the core production area may even hit 20,000 yuan.

Farmers pick tea leaves at a tea garden in Shangzhuang township, Jixi county, east China's Anhui Province. (Photo/Zhang Xiaoxuan)

Shangzhuang township is the core production area of Jinshan Shiyu tea, with 9,000 mu of tea gardens, almost all situated on mountains between 500 to 700 meters above sea level.

Wu, a major tea grower in Shangzhuang township, took the lead in establishing a tea cooperative in 2007. With more than 400 farming households, the cooperative purchases fresh tea leaves from tea farmers for processing, and is responsible for providing regular training for tea farmers, including guidance on applying organic fertilizers, spraying bio-pesticides, and setting proper picking standards.

Thanks to the cooperative's efforts, Jinshan Shiyu tea has become a geographical indication product under national protection.

The township has built several standard tea production lines and adopted a business model that features cooperation among companies, cooperatives, growing bases, and farmers.

The annual tea output of Hanhui Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. reaches 800 tonnes, with the annual output value hitting 137 million yuan.

Photo shows a tea garden in Shangzhuang township, Jixi county, east China's Anhui Province. (Photo/Zhang Xiaoxuan)