HEFEI, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Wang Yunpeng,
58, who has been engaged in tea plantation for more than 40 years, used
to be apprehensive that his decades-long experience was being
challenged by the standardized farming. No
application of fertilizers and pesticides did yield less output, but at
the same time induced higher income for him, Wang said. Wang
hails from the city of Lu'an in east China's Anhui Province, famed for
generating one of the country's best varieties of tea leaves. Wang
was invited to join a local cooperative in 2017 when he encountered
severe financial difficulties due to his son's ailment. Owing to their
worsening financial conditions, the Wangs' were officially listed as
impoverished. "Before joining the
cooperative, I cultivated tea based on my experience," he said, adding
that due to the varying qualities of tea leaves, he could hardly sell
the produce at a higher price. He
leased his 0.2 hectares of tea garden to the cooperative, and in return,
the cooperative provided him technical guidance on tea cultivation
using a scientific approach. The tea
grown according to certain standards, including no application of
fertilizers and pesticides, came to be known as Lu'an Guapian bearing
the GI logo. Lu'an Guapian was
registered as a geographical indication (GI) product in 2008. The GI
logo on the green tea indicates the specific geographical origin of
Lu'an, vouching for its distinctive quality. The
provincial authorities issued certain criteria for the use of the GI
logo stipulating that the logo will be allowed on the package only when
the quality meets the standards. "Tea
factories used to buy fresh leaves from farmers by weight. Now they
strictly consider the size and color of the leaves before purchasing,"
said Wang. Though initially, the
elderly tea farmer worried that he may earn less, as the standardization
policies decreased the output of leaves, the results were gladsome. The
use of standardized tools and production practices, without the use of
pesticides and artificial fertilizers, generate a 5 percent-10 percent
higher rate for the fresh leaves compared with the market price, Wang
said. In addition, Wang just needs
to cultivate tea, as the cooperative is in charge of tea processing and
marketing, thus drastically reducing his workload. Wang's
annual income has now doubled to around 30,000 yuan (about 4,239 U.S.
dollars), and as a result, the entire family has been able to shake off
poverty. The success story is not
unique to Wang. According to local authorities, the increase in average
annual per capita income of farmers in the Lu'an tea plantation area
exceeds 1,500 yuan. Anhui Province
has 78 GI-registered products and the annual sales totaled nearly 41.5
billion yuan in 2019. Among them, 15 GI products have been exported to
overseas markets totaling nearly 2.8 billion yuan in revenue. In
addition, 47 GI products related to poverty alleviation projects have
helped more than 260,000 poor people, whose per capita annual income
grew by 3,000 yuan. China and the
European Union (EU) completed an eight-year agreement on GI in 2019 that
included 275 GIs from the two sides. Besides, another China-EU
agreement on GI will be inked soon. According
to the new agreement, Chinese products will have the right to use the
official certification mark of the EU, making it easier for companies to
export relevant products to Europe. "Someday the tea I plant may be in a foreigner's cup," Wang said. Enditem
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