tea production
The area of tea gardens continues to increase slightly
According to statistics, in 2021, the total area of tea gardens in the 18 major tea-producing provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) across the country will be 3,264,100 hm², an increase of 99,000 hm² or 3.13% year-on-year. Among them, the harvestable area was 2,916,400 hm², an increase of 152,300 hm² or 5.22% year-on-year. The provinces with a harvestable area of more than 200,000 hm² include Yunnan Province (457,000 hm²), Guizhou Province (428,900 hm²), Sichuan Province (324,900 hm²), Hubei Province (280,700 hm²), and Fujian Province (216,700 hm²).
2. Tea production growth slows down
In 2021, the total output of dry hair tea in China will be about 3.0632 million tons, an increase of 77,100 tons or 2.58%. There are Fujian, Hubei, Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces with an output of more than 300,000 tons.
3. Significant growth in agricultural output
In 2021, the total output value of dry hair tea in China will be 292.814 billion yuan, an increase of 30.156 billion yuan or 11.48%. The provinces with an output value increase of more than 3 billion yuan include Sichuan, Shandong, Hubei, and Shaanxi.
4. Continuous fine-tuning of tea structure
In 2021, among the traditional Chinese tea categories, except for yellow tea, the output of the other five major tea categories will increase at different rates. Among them, green tea was 1,849,400 tons, a slight increase of 6,700 tons, an increase of 0.36%; black tea was 434,500 tons, an increase of 30,200 tons, an increase of 7.47%; dark tea was 396,800 tons, an increase of 23,500 tons, an increase of 6.3%; oolong tea 287,200 tons, an increase of 9,400 tons, an increase of 3.38%; white tea 81,900 tons, an increase of 8,400 tons, an increase of 11.43%; yellow tea 13,300 tons, a decrease of 1,200 tons, a decrease of 8.28%. The output ratio of green tea, black tea, dark tea, oolong tea, white tea and yellow tea is about 139:33:30:22:6:1; the proportion of black tea, dark tea and white tea in the total output has risen.
Operation
1. Effectively deal with unfavorable factors, and production in various places is in an orderly manner
In 2021, China's climate will be characterized by obvious warm and humid climates, with more floods than droughts and deviations in the climate year. In terms of precipitation, the national annual average precipitation is 672.1 mm, which is 6.7% higher than normal. In terms of temperature, the national average temperature in 2021 will be 10.5 ℃, the highest since 1951. However, according to the statistics of the Ministry of Emergency Management, the direct economic losses caused by meteorological disasters are slightly less than the average value of the past 10 years.
Overall, the weather has little impact on the national tea production in 2021. Although there were two nationwide cold waves at the beginning of the year, the overall impact was limited due to the early occurrence and short duration of the cold waves. From February to April, regional drought occurred in Yunnan and Guangxi, which affected the production process of spring tea to a certain extent, but the degree of impact was younger than before. There are many floods in summer and autumn, but because it has reached the middle and late stages of tea production, and the disaster-stricken areas responded in a timely manner and produced self-help, the losses were minimized.
In terms of fighting the epidemic, in order to minimize the adverse impact of the epidemic on production, in 2021, the governments of major tea producing areas have issued relevant policies and taken active response measures. The first is to do a good job in the maintenance of tea gardens; the second is to improve the production and processing capabilities of processing enterprises; the third is to strengthen technical guidance and training; the fourth is to do a good job in recruiting and training tea pickers; These measures have effectively maintained the order of tea production and ensured the continuous increase of the industry's income.
2. Proper planning and effective implementation, the three teas have been steadily promoted
In 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives will officially issue the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of the Tea Industry". All localities responded positively and made serious plans. Technology-based tea, green-based tea, quality-based tea, brand-based tea, and culture-based tea have once again become hot spots. Under the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the tea industry has adjusted and optimized its layout according to the principle of suitable regions and varieties. At present, it has formed famous green tea in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, high-quality oolong tea in the southeast coast, characteristic and export green tea in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, southwest black tea and special tea, etc. In the four advantageous areas, the concentration of production reaches more than 80%. At the same time, all localities have carried out in-depth actions of zero growth in the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, vigorously promoted green prevention and control technologies, and significantly improved the ecological environment and product quality in major tea-producing areas. The national coverage rate of green prevention and control of tea pests and diseases reached 57.5%.
Guided by the overall planning of "tea culture, tea industry, and tea technology", various regions continue to expand the various functions of the tea industry, extend the industrial chain, and enhance the value chain. Combined with the rural revitalization strategy, a number of tea-industry characteristic towns, tea estates, and tea pastoral complexes have been built. All localities continue to promote the implementation of brand strategies, and focus on cultivating and supporting brand enterprises while building regional public brands. In 2021, the number of national-level agricultural industrialization leading enterprises in the tea category will reach 86.
The efforts to empower the tea industry are also increasing. According to estimates, in 2021, the technological contribution rate of tea production will exceed 60%, the area of cloned tea trees will reach 64.27%, the mechanization level of tea garden management in key tea-producing counties will reach 37%, the processing of bulk tea will be basically mechanized, and the mechanism rate of famous tea will reach 90%. The above; Internet of things, big data, biotechnology and other new technologies are widely used in the tea industry.
3. There are still problems that cannot be solved, and market risks are gradually increasing
Under the situation that the national tea production situation is stable and improving, some outstanding problems restricting the development of the industry still need to be solved urgently. First, the area of tea gardens is large, and the proportion of old tea gardens is too high. At present, the area of tea gardens over 30 years old in China is about 1 million hm², accounting for about 31% of the total area. According to the survey, the average yield of old tea gardens is low, and the incidence of pests and diseases is high and heavy, which seriously affects the quality and efficiency of tea. Second, production costs continued to rise. Spring tea picking mainly relies on manual labor. With the hollowing out of the countryside, the labor force is shrinking and aging, labor efficiency is not high and costs continue to rise. In addition, green organic has become an industrial development trend. Factors such as the rising cost of tea garden management and technological upgrading and transformation of production links have also increased non-labor costs. Third, the problem of unbalanced product supply and demand structure has not been alleviated. As the newly added tea gardens after 2018 enter the harvest period, the new incremental production every year is bound to further increase the pressure on market sales. Using marketing to solve the "difficulty in selling" will be the main proposition of the tea industry in the future.