After traveling for a long time in the folds of the overlapping Wuling Mountains, the off-road vehicle left the road, turned left and right along the winding cement mountain road, and came to Nanmuhe Village, Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County, Yichang City, Hubei Province, the Yinshi Mountain Village located in the southwest of Hubei Province, more than half an hour later.
The village of Nanmu River, which spans more than 20 square kilometers, is shaped like a V, and 507 households in the village are "hanging" on the mountainsides on both sides. A Nanmu River flows through the bottom of the ditch.
"Look, this is the oldest ancient tea tree found in our village. It has been identified by Huazhong Agricultural University as 500 years old." Wu Xuelin, secretary of the village party branch, led a reporter to climb a steep mountain forest. Unable to take even breath, he gasped excitedly. Experts found that there were more than 6000 ancient tea trees in the village that were only 120 years old.
Nanmuhe Village was once an important node of the "Ten Thousand Miles Ancient Tea Ceremony", with a long history and tradition of tea planting. The tea garden in the village covers an area of more than 5000 mu. However, because many people in the village have entered the city, "who will plant tea, who will pick tea" has become a dilemma, and more than 10% of tea gardens are facing the dilemma of abandonment.
How to solve the "tea garden dilemma" and let the old tea industry glow with new vitality? The reporter conducted an in-depth interview on the exploration and practice of Nanmuhe Village.
"We have three moves. First, the Party branch leads a professional tea garden service team to mobilize the village's labor force to actively participate." Wu Xuelin said that Nanmuhe Village, from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain, has an altitude of 400 meters to 2000 meters. The height difference of more than 1000 meters naturally forms a 15 day tea picking time difference, which also gives the tea garden service team relatively sufficient time to pick tea.
The service team also purchased customized tea industry insurance for the team members, which broke through the convention in several aspects: first, to adapt to the current situation that the village labor force is dominated by the elderly, and to relax the age of the insured from 60 to 70 years old; The second is to adapt to the characteristics of farmers' irregular employment. When insuring, it should not be given to individuals. Anyone who works will be insured; Third, the insured amount increased from 400000 yuan to 800000 yuan, and the per capita premium also decreased by 130 yuan.
"The second way is to make good use of high technology. You see, this can 'call workers with one click'." Wu Xuelin takes out his mobile phone and opens the WeChat applet of "Tea Garden Service".
This helped the villager Deng Zongyong a lot. At the age of 59, he fell ill when he was young and could not do heavy work. His wife and children also worked in Yichang. The temperature rises sharply in late April, and the price of spring tea in the 4 mu tea garden is the same every day.
"Three days early is a treasure, but three days late is not as good as grass." Anxious Deng Zongyong thought of "one click call for work", but his old machine could not operate. So he asked the village cadres to fill in the tea farmers' names, contact numbers and service addresses. After the order was issued, a couple in the village answered the order. They took tea picking equipment with them, and it took only one and a half days to pick more than 1000 jin of fresh leaves.
"The third move is to revitalize the ancient tree tea garden in the village." Wu Xuelin said that the village leased 1200 mu of ancient tree tea garden to Hubei Guihe Tea Industry Co., Ltd., and the first-class products can be sold for 3000 yuan per kilogram, turning "green leaves" into "golden leaves".
At noon, when the reporter passed through the middle of the mountain in Nanmuhe Village, laughter spread from the forest. When he came closer, a dozen members of the service team were picking ancient tea. They flipped their hands and skillfully threw fresh leaves into the basket on their back.
"My name is Zheng Wanxi, and my family is happy." Knowing the reporter's intention, Zheng Wanxi made tea workers laugh at his words, "200 yuan a day. Unexpectedly, the old tea garden that came to Hongjia for decades has suddenly become a treasure, and let us make some money with it."
Not only Hongjia, but also Tang Peichong, a villager, whose tea garden is located on a steep cliff, has never been there since she was married in her 20s and her grandson was in his 10s last year. Now there are enterprises picking and purchasing. The old tea garden abandoned for decades has not only circulation fees, management and maintenance fees, but also can earn picking fees in their own tea garden.
"These trees are symbiotic with tea trees. Winter gives way to the sunshine of ancient tea trees, spring and summer shade the shade, and autumn leaves provide nutrients for the soil. This complete ecosystem can produce pure natural ecological tea." Han Yupei, the head of Guihe Tea Industry, said that stepping on the extremely soft land covered with branches and leaves, the socialized service of tea gardens has brought great convenience to enterprises, We can focus more on production, processing and marketing.
Since the establishment of the service team in Nanmuhe Village, there have been 121 members, providing 285 tea farmers with services such as picking and pruning, realizing an income of 658000 yuan for general workers, 5436 yuan per capita, and 2327 mu of tea garden area.
Nanmuhe Village is only one of the 12 pilot villages in Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County. The socialized service area of tea industry in the whole county has reached 55000 mu, and is currently being promoted in 31 key tea producing villages. In addition to the branch leadership, the service team also has a variety of modes, such as tea enterprise leadership and capable person leadership. This year, under the adverse weather conditions of postponing the opening of spring tea garden for 8 days, 2338 members of 35 service teams in the county tried their best to seize the weather, time and price. The output of fresh leaves increased by 1.6% year on year and the output value increased by 1% year on year.
To solve the "tea garden dilemma" is also to solve the "rural dilemma". On May 9, Yichang Municipal Party Committee and Government held an on-site meeting to promote the pilot work of socialized service of tea industry in Wufeng County, and representatives of Nanmuhe Village exchanged experiences.
"At present, the average age of our service team members is 54 years old. We hope that with the decline of marginal costs and the improvement of economies of scale, more young people working outside can come back to join, and find the answer to rural revitalization in solving the tea garden dilemma." Wu Xuelin said.
It is full of stars to return to the village committee from the tea garden. The tea production workshop beside is brightly lit. The ancient tea collected by the service team members in the daytime will be processed here overnight.
Tonight, there will be no sleep again.
(Our reporter Wang Jianhong and Zhang Rui)
