Qiyang Tea Oil

Qiyang Tea Oil

　　In December 2004, Qiyang County was awarded the honorary title of “China’s Hometown of Tea Oil” by the State Forestry Administration.

That year, the county produced 1,497 tons of tea oil, generating an output value of 32.9 million yuan and increasing the average income of local forestry farmers by 181 yuan.

Qiyang County has long been renowned nationwide for producing high-quality tea oil and is known as the “natural oil depot” of southern Hunan. It is one of the main tea oil production areas in Hunan Province, with a current total tea oil forest area of 427,700 mu. To expand and strengthen the tea oil industry, since 2003, the Qiyang County Party Committee and County Government have implemented an administrative head tenure responsibility system in 20 townships across the county, with the township heads serving as the primary responsible persons. They are required to complete the weeding and tending of all tea oil forests within their jurisdictions within three years. In 2004, the county allocated a special fund of 500,000 yuan to introduce new tea oil varieties and carry out variety improvement for low-yield and aging tea oil forests. In November of that year alone, 15,000 person-times of township and forestry cadres participated in tea oil forest cultivation and tending, completing a total area of 153,800 mu for the year. In response to the situation where most local forestry farmers take more from the tea oil forests than they invest, with most tea oil forests having mixed varieties, uneven tree shapes, low per-unit yields, and poor economic returns, over the past two years, the county has organized specialists to learn from Liuyang and Youxian, introducing high-grafting technology for clonal rootstocks. The goal is to establish a 100,000-mu high-quality seedling demonstration base centered around major tea oil production areas such as Xiaojia, Panshi, Baishui, and Guanyintan by 2006. At the same time, the county supports leading tea oil processing enterprises and promotes an industrial development model of “company + base + farmer.” Over the past five years, the county's Jin Hao Vegetable Oil Co., Ltd. has developed contract farming on 113,400 mu, increasing the average annual income of contracted farmers by 370 yuan per person.