Economy and Business

Drought reduces Lingyun tea output

By Huang zhaohua and Huang Feifei (China Daily Guangxi Bureau)
Updated: 2010-04-03 17:53

Due to the severe drought in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, the output of its famous local tea, the Lingyun tea, has suffered from a considerable loss in production, which also resulted in most tea growers having to find new jobs.

Lingyun County is located in the northwest Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, which has the honor of being "the large hometown of pekoe tea in China". According to an official in Lingyun County, the tea growth areas had reached 7,200 hectares in 2008, and the total annual output of Lingyun tea was 3,080 tons.

Since last August to March 20 this year, the drought has seriously affected local residents' life and agricultural growth, especially the Lingyun tea industry, which is one of the corporate champions of Guangxi.

According to Wu Liuzhi, a manger of the tea process factory in Lingyun County, "compared with the corresponding period last year, the decrease in Lingyun tea's processing was over 66 percent. Last year our factory had employed over 20 workers for tea processing, but now we have less than 10 people".

For Lingyun tea, the tea-picking period is from March to October, and the optimal tea-picking time is March to April, "the output of Lingyun tea is more and the quality is better in March and April, so the sale price of tea in that period is also higher than at other times. However，now the tea's output is quite less and quality is also not good because of the drought".

With the increase in Lingyun tea's exports, the tea process factory had extended the factory building by borrowing 1 million yuan from the banks. But with production of Lingyun tea reduced this year, the loan has added to their financial burden. "Now I really do not know how to pay the banks' interest," the manger added.

In Lingyun County, over 50,000 famers earn their daily bread by growing tea. However, the drought has also caused the majority of tea growers to suffer from unemployment. Huang Daxiong, general manager of Guangxi Lingyun Bofu Tea Corp, said, "In former years, we had already organized the tea growers to pick the teas. But this year, many farmers have to find new jobs because the output of tea has decreased".

"Although the output of Lingyun tea is reduced, and our corporation will increase the tea price, the amount of sale remains basically the same. Because Lingyun tea is widely demanded by the European markets, especially in France, America and Sweden", Huang said.

The issue of the output of Lingyun tea's reduction has been a concern of the local government, which has researched and investigated the Lingyun tea's production base and prepared to build hydraulic engineering. "I hope that government will make the effort to ensure corporations' and famers' benefits", Huang added.