Hohhot village innovates tea products to shake off poverty

An innovative type of tea developed at Deshengying village in Wuchuan county, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, is working like a charm for poverty alleviation and bringing dramatic changes to the local community.

Zhu Linfei, a science and technology agent, developed the new tea.

The new tea is made from stems and leaves of scutellariais, a plant in the mint family. With the integration of traditional and modern processing techniques, the scutellaria tea's great taste and diverse health benefits has gained popularity in the past two years.

In 2012, Zhu Linfei founded Shengyuan tea production cooperative in Wuchuan county. After years of continuous innovation, he created a production and management model integrating tea planting, processing and marketing.

He built a processing factory covering 2,000 square meters at Deshengying village in 2014, creating jobs for 30 local residents and helping 13 families move of poverty.

His cooperative can process 60,000 kilograms of scutellaria tea annually, with sales volume reaching 2 million yuan ($288,248). Its annual profit is nearly 800,000 yuan.

Zhu set up 80 agency shops in the county and created over 200 jobs for local people.

To ensure the output of scutellaria, Zhu signed planting contracts with local underprivileged households. The cooperative purchases scutellaria from these growers, which helps to increase the income of growers.

Zhu also established planting bases in three other townships. Over 200 residents from 68 poverty-stricken families in the county benefit from this mode.

Zhu said that he will expand his production line and the size of the planting area.

“Helping underprivileged families live a better life is my ultimate goal,” he said.