“This year, Longhua has had ample rain, and the town government has organized multiple skill training sessions. Through scientific management, Tea production has increased again, and our income this year has risen compared to last!” said Cheng Qiangui, a tea farmer from Renmin Village in Pingshan County's Longhua Town, Yibin City, with great delight.
Recently, reporters learned from Longhua Town in Pingshan County that the town's soil is rich in Selenium, and the tea industry is a traditional one here. In recent years, the town's Party Committee has focused on the entire chain of the tea industry, strictly grasping the “production end,” “processing end,” and “sales end.” They have been committed to filling and strengthening the chain, driving the tea industry towards development in the direction of “standardization,” “intensification,” and “branding.” This has resulted in continuous growth in the average per-acre value of tea in the town for three consecutive years and an ongoing increase in local tea farmers' incomes.
“In 2024, the estimated fresh tea leaf output of the entire town is expected to reach 31 million pounds, an increase of about 15% year-over-year. The total annual production value is expected to exceed 167 million RMB, with an increase of about 33 million RMB, or approximately 25% year-over-year,” said a relevant official from the Longhua Town Party Committee.
Focusing on the “Production End”
Driving the “Standardization” of Tea Industry Development
Longhua Town has promoted a shift from extensive production to intensive management in the tea industry through measures such as building standard tea garden bases, standardizing tea production management and protection, strengthening technical training and guidance, paying attention to cultivating the awareness of tea farmers, and strengthening the promotion of agricultural product safety. These measures have not only improved the quality of tea but also driven the “standardization” of the tea industry, bringing tangible economic benefits to tea farmers.
Currently,
a 500-acre
selenium-rich tea demonstration base has been built in Renmin Village,
a 400-acre high-standard tea industrial park in Fuxing Village,
and a 500-acre organic tea garden in Baxianshan Village.
Additionally, high-quality and efficient demonstration points for the tea industry have been established,
promoting a shift from decentralized management
to organized management in the tea industry.
At the same time, by guiding tea farmers to pick buds, one bud and one leaf, and one bud and two leaves for famous and premium teas, and using village party-crowd service centers as contact points, the demonstration tea gardens covering more than 4,000 acres are uniformly trimmed, harvested, fertilized in trenches, and pruned, leading to a shift from extensive production to intensive management in the tea industry.
“We also regularly organize training, dispatching technical backbone staff to front-line villages and groups to provide guidance on tea production management and protection, advocating the use of scientifically formulated fertilizers to improve soil organic matter content and enhance the quality of tea products,” said a relevant official from Longhua Town.
Focusing on the “Processing End”
Driving the “Intensification” of Tea Industry Development
In recent years, Longhua Town has integrated resources, developed standardized tea enterprise workshops, advanced small-scale mechanization empowerment, and deepened process flows, significantly improving the town's Tea processing level.
In the past three years,
the town has integrated 39 local small tea processing enterprises and workshops,
building eight standardized tea processing factories,
and constructing a new factory for famous and premium teas in 2024.
This year,
approximately 7 million pounds of dry tea were produced,
with over 80% locally produced and processed.
At the same time,
various types of tea production machinery have been continuously equipped,
advancing mechanization in the tea industry.
The town now owns 1,700 single-person electric tea harvesters,
1,800 electric pruning machines,
209 gasoline pruning machines,
and 922 tea processing machines.
Through mechanization empowerment,
labor efficiency and the rough processing of products have been improved,
laying a solid foundation for subsequent processes.
In addition, Longhua Town has hired tea processing masters from Xinyang, Henan Province, to develop tea processing techniques, exploring the creation of new tea varieties, enhancing product quality and variety, and increasing market competitiveness. At the same time, they have strictly implemented the eight standard procedures in processing workshops—withering, fixing, rolling, drying, aroma enhancement, grading, sieving, and packaging—to ensure quality control throughout the process from fresh tea leaves to finished tea products, fully improving the taste of the tea soup and the added value of the products.
Focusing on the “Sales End”
Driving the “Branding” of Tea Industry Development
Longhua Town leverages its selenium-rich soil advantage to create selenium-rich tea brands such as “Fuding Gongcha” and “Wupan Silver Tip,” and through enhanced promotional efforts and the integration of tea tourism, it constantly enhances the influence and market competitiveness of Longhua tea.
The town mobilizes professional sales personnel from eight standardized tea processing factories to explore markets in Zhejiang, Anhui, Shandong, Guangxi, Shaanxi, and other places. It invites television stations to film documentaries in Longhua Town, integrating elements such as tea picking to expand promotional coverage. Meanwhile, the town's state-owned capital company invests in creating high-quality agricultural specialty product stores, utilizing platforms like tourist centers and Longxi Square to display and promote selenium-rich tea products. Since the beginning of this year, selenium-rich teas worth approximately 200,000 RMB have been sold.
In addition, Longhua Town is also actively exploring the integration of tea and tourism.
By opening up the organic tea garden in Baxianshan and hosting various tea-picking festivals, enhancing agri-tourism experiences, further raising the profile of Longhua Town's teas.
Currently, the tea industry in Longhua Town is becoming an important path to prosperity for local farmers through its unique geographical advantages and innovative development model.
With the in-depth implementation of the “three ends and three transformations,” the tea industry in Longhua Town will welcome even broader prospects for development, painting a picture of a prosperous industry and prosperous farmers in a beautiful countryside that is gradually unfolding here.
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