China Anji White Tea Network Information: "I didn't expect the price of tea seedlings to be so high this year, and I made a small profit." This was said by Lin Jiayun from Xuyuan Village, Lianjiang Township, Ming County. Before the Spring Festival, he was still worried about the unsold tea seedlings at home, but now he is smiling. All the remaining tea seedlings from his family last year were sold to Ming County Perfume Seedling Planting Farmers Professional Cooperative at a price of 7.5 cents per plant. From the current situation, it seems that the price of tea seedlings in Ya'an City this year will be better than last year, and farmers' enthusiasm for cutting tea seedlings will also increase significantly.
High demand and good quality naturally lead to high prices. People familiar with tea seedling cultivation all know that the tea seedlings currently being sold are actually the leftover old seedlings from last year since the tea seedlings just grafted this year have only just taken root. But why did the tea seedlings that could only be sold at low prices last year double in price this year?
It turns out that some areas suitable for developing tea planting in other provinces increased their tea garden area expansion last year, which caused the demand for tea seedlings to soar from the end of last year to the beginning of this year. According to Li Wanlin, the person in charge of Ming County Perfume Seedling Planting Farmers Professional Cooperative, when the tea seedlings were massively on the market last year, due to the oversupply, plus competition among cooperatives, the price of tea seedlings kept falling. In order to quickly sell the tea seedlings and recover costs, farmers had no choice but to sell them at low prices. By the end of last year, the expansion of tea garden areas in provinces such as Guizhou, Yunnan, and Shaanxi led to a sharp increase in demand for tea seedlings, which in turn caused the current rise in tea seedling prices.
"Another reason for the rise in tea seedling prices is the excellent quality of Ming County's tea seedlings, which have been widely recognized in the tea industry," Li Wanlin said proudly when talking about the quality of Ming County's tea seedlings.
Li Wanlin introduced that since the establishment of the cooperative in 2007, the cooperative has focused on tea seedling breeding, strictly selecting superior varieties for breeding to ensure the quality of the tea seedlings. Despite the overall decline in tea seedling prices last year, thanks to the excellent quality of the cooperative's tea seedlings, all the tea seedlings were sold out. Although the price was not as high as it is now, they still achieved a slight profit while ensuring the cost.
Complete variety and smooth sales channels guarantee stable prices. Li Wanlin, who had just returned from the fifth China Yibin Early Tea Festival "study abroad", also brought back good ideas for white tea planting and tea industry development. Since Li Wanlin is not only the person in charge of the cooperative but also the village chief of Xuyuan Village, Lianjiang Township, besides managing the cooperative well, he must also 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 and often having opportunities to go out to study and investigate, he has accumulated many good methods and new models for white tea planting and tea industry development. Whether it's grafting tea seedlings or operating tea gardens, having a complete variety is always beneficial to meet different customer needs.
"This year, the cooperative has collaborated with Sichuan Agricultural University to introduce new varieties suitable for propagation and planting in Ming County, such as Sichuan Nong Huangya Early, Chuanmu 28, and Mabian Green, further enriching the varieties of tea seedlings," Li Wanlin said. The cooperative specially hired Professor Tang Qian, the director of the Tea Science Department of Sichuan Agricultural University, as a technical advisor to provide professional advice on selecting new varieties of tea seedlings for the cooperative.
To ensure the stability of tea seedling sales prices, it is equally inseparable from smooth sales channels. "While the cooperative is fully selling members' tea seedlings, it also uses the sales channels found by the cooperative to help other villagers sell tea seedlings," Li Wanlin said regarding the issue of sales channels. Even during relatively difficult times for tea seedling sales last year, the cooperative not only sold all its tea seedlings but also helped non-cooperative member households sell their tea seedlings.
In this regard, Lin Jiayun feels it most deeply. Lin Jiayun is not a member of the cooperative, "Last year, selling tea seedlings was too troublesome, I exhausted all my thoughts but couldn't find a suitable buyer." Now, Lin Jiayun has greatly relieved after selling the remaining old tea seedlings from last year to the cooperative. "Fortunately, Director Li's cooperative has sales channels; otherwise, I would have been very worried."
This year, with reduced production, there is hope for higher prices. Affected by the low price of tea seedlings last year, the enthusiasm of most tea farmers for grafting tea seedlings has been hit, and the total output of tea seedlings this year will decrease to a certain extent.
"To have benefits, one must work hard." Ding Hua, the village chief of Perfume Village, said that last year, many tea farmers only broke even on their tea seedling sales, and some even incurred losses. As a result, the production enthusiasm of these tea farmers was affected, directly leading to a decline in this year's tea seedling output.
Li Wanlin also said that when grafting tea seedlings last autumn, the cooperative was also concerned about this year's sales issues and estimated that this year's tea seedling production would be at most 0.8 billion plants, equivalent to half of last year.
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, the output of tea seedlings this year will inevitably decrease. Once the supply is less than the demand, the price of tea seedlings will remain high, which is a good thing for farmers who have tea seedlings to sell this year. "No matter what, as long as we ensure no loss and reasonable profit space, farmers are very willing to graft tea seedlings. This way, it can also ensure that buyers have goods to buy, benefiting both parties," Li Wanlin said. Market demand forecasting is quite challenging, but from the current situation, compared to last year, this year's tea seedling sales prices will definitely see a big turnaround, ensuring an increase in farmers' income.
Related thematic articles: Focusing on building a large county of Anji White Tea in Guizhou - Anji White Tea, West Lake Longjing, uniform dress code, Anji tea farmers enrich their pockets through new tea experience, White Tea, also known as Anji White Tea, is one of China's six major types of tea. Anji White Tea has tender leaves that are pure white, with only the main vein showing a faint green color, making it a rare variant tea species. It belongs to the "low-temperature sensitive type" tea. The China Anji White Tea Network introduces the origin of White Tea, the history of Anji White Tea, Anji White Tea prices, and displays Anji White Tea enterprises. To find White Tea, visit the China Anji White Tea Network!