China Anji White Tea Network News: "I didn't expect the tea seedling prices to be so high this year, I made a small profit." These words were spoken by Lin Jiayun from Xuyuan Village, Lianjiang Township, Ming Shan County. Before the Spring Festival, he was still worried about the unsold tea seedlings at his home, but now he is smiling broadly. All of last year's remaining tea seedlings at his home have now been sold to the Ming Shan County Perfume Seedling Planting Farmers Professional Cooperative at a price of seven and a half cents per plant.
From the current situation we understand, this year's tea seedling prices in Ya'an City will be better than last year, and farmers' enthusiasm for grafting tea seedlings will also greatly increase. The demand is strong, the quality is good, naturally the price is high.
People familiar with tea seedling cultivation all know that this year's newly grafted tea seedlings have just taken root, and the tea seedlings being sold now are all leftover seedlings from last year. But why did last year's low-priced tea seedlings double in price this year?
It turns out that some areas suitable for developing tea planting industries outside the province increased their tea garden expansion efforts last year, causing a sudden surge in tea seedling demand from the end of last year to the beginning of this year. According to Li Wanlin, head of the Ming Shan County Perfume Seedling Planting Farmers Professional Cooperative, when the tea seedlings were mass-marketed last year, due to oversupply and competition between cooperatives, the tea seedling prices kept dropping. Farmers, in order to quickly sell off the tea seedlings and recover costs, had no choice but to sell them at low prices. By the end of last year, there was a sharp increase in tea seedling demand due to the expansion of tea garden areas in provinces such as Guizhou, Yunnan, and Shaanxi, which caused the current rise in tea seedling prices.
"Another reason for the rise in tea seedling prices is the good quality of Ming Shan tea seedlings, which has received widespread recognition in the tea industry," said Li Wanlin proudly when talking about the quality of Ming Shan tea seedlings.
Li Wanlin introduced that since the establishment of the cooperative in 2007, the cooperative has focused on tea seedling cultivation, strictly selecting high-quality varieties for breeding to ensure the quality of the tea seedlings. Despite the overall decline in tea seedling prices last year, due to the excellent quality of the cooperative's tea seedlings, all the tea seedlings were sold out. Although the prices were not as high as they are now, there was still a slight profit under the guarantee of cost recovery.
A full range of varieties, smooth sales channels, ensuring stable prices
Li Wanlin, who had just returned from the fifth China Yibin Early Tea Festival "study abroad", also brought back good ideas for Anji white tea planting and tea industry development. Li Wanlin is not only the head of the cooperative but also the village chief of Xuyuan Village, Lianjiang Township. Besides managing the cooperative well, he also strives to contribute to the wealth and income increase of all villagers in the village.
Li Wanlin said, having dealt with white tea for more than ten years, plus frequent opportunities to go out for study and investigation, he has accumulated many good methods and new models for white tea planting and tea industry development. Whether it is grafting tea seedlings or operating tea gardens, having a wider variety is always beneficial to meet the needs of different customers.
"This year, the cooperative has collaborated with Sichuan Agricultural University to introduce new varieties suitable for cultivation and planting in Ming Shan, such as Sichuan Huangya Early, Chuanmu 28, and Mabian Green, further enriching the variety of tea seedlings," said Li Wanlin. The cooperative specifically hired Professor Tang Qian, the head of the Tea Science Department at Sichuan Agricultural University, as a technical advisor to provide professional advice on choosing new varieties of tea seedlings.
To ensure the stability of tea seedling sales prices, it is equally important to maintain smooth sales channels. "While the cooperative is fully selling the tea seedlings of its members, it also uses the sales channels found by the cooperative to help other villagers sell their tea seedlings," said Li Wanlin regarding the issue of sales channels. Even during the relatively difficult time of tea seedling sales last year, the cooperative's tea seedlings were not only sold out, but it also helped non-cooperative member farmers sell their tea seedlings.
In this regard, Lin Jiayun feels the most deeply. Lin Jiayun is not a member of the cooperative, "Last year, the sale of tea seedlings was very frustrating, I exhausted all my efforts but couldn't find a suitable buyer." Now, Lin Jiayun has greatly relieved himself after selling the old tea seedlings left over from last year to the cooperative. "Fortunately, Director Li's cooperative has sales channels, otherwise, I would have been worried to death."
This year, reduced production gives hope for higher prices
Due to the impact of last year's low tea seedling prices, the enthusiasm of most tea farmers for grafting tea seedlings has been hit, and this year's total tea seedling production will decrease to a certain extent.
"To gain benefits, one must work hard," said Ding Hua, the village chief of Perfume Village. Last year, many tea farmers could only break even on their tea seedling sales, and some even lost money. Therefore, the production enthusiasm of these tea farmers was affected, directly leading to the decline in tea seedling production this year.
Li Wanlin also said that last autumn, during the tea seedling grafting period, the cooperative was also concerned about this year's sales issues, predicting that this year's tea seedling production would be at most 0.8 billion plants, equivalent to half of last year's production.
Indeed, in a market economy environment, supply and demand relationships will have a huge impact on products. Currently, due to the influence of last year, this year's tea seedling production will inevitably decrease to a certain extent. Once the supply is less than the demand, tea seedling prices will remain high, which is a good thing for farmers selling tea seedlings this year. "No matter what, as long as we can ensure no loss and have reasonable profit margins, farmers are willing to graft tea seedlings. This way, buyers can also have access to goods, benefiting both buyers and sellers," said Li Wanlin. Market demand forecasting is quite challenging, but based on the current situation, compared to last year, this year's tea seedling sales prices will definitely see a significant turnaround, ensuring an increase in farmers' income.
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