Nanping, September 9 (Zhongxin Net) -- "Seven digging for gold, eight for silver, and nine for copper." This agricultural proverb popular in the Wuyi Mountain Tea District of Nanping City, Fujian Province, refers to the fact that digging deep into the weeding of tea gardens in the seventh month of the lunar calendar is like digging gold, followed by August and then September.

Today, rising from hills 100 meters above sea level to high mountains 2000,<> meters above sea level, tea plantations are distributed in Wuyi Mountain. The varied topography leads to variable climate. Yangzhuang Township, located in the north, has a high altitude and low temperature, and the tea development period is generally slow for more than ten days.

In keeping with the times, this traditional farming season has been greatly modified. Chen Xingxing, senior agronomist of Yangzhuang Township Rural Revitalization and Development Center, said: "After 2018, the habit of digging deep weeds in July for more than 1100,<> tea farmers in the township was pushed to September, and the results proved to be more conducive to improving soil fertility, promoting the growth of whisker roots, and killing insects and bacteria. ”

The science and technology commissioner instructed tea farmers to dig deep and weed on the spot. Photo by Ye Guobao

The reason why "Nine Digging Copper" broke the circle into "Nine Digging Gold" is due to the construction of a modern tea industry meteorological system with precise monitoring, accurate forecasting and fine service, and the undertaking is the Wuyi Mountain Tea Science and Technology Meteorological Service Group led by Shen Changhua, provincial science and technology commissioner and director of Nanping Meteorological Experimental Station.

The whole chain of the tea industry, from planting, picking, processing to storage, is closely related to meteorological changes. In the past, Wuyi Mountain tea farmers suffered from the lack of meteorological observation information of tea gardens and could not create a microclimate suitable for tea growth. Once encountering common disasters such as frost, drought, and heavy rainfall, the losses are heavy. "Relying on urban meteorological observation points alone cannot meet the actual needs of the majority of tea farmers." Shen Changhua was deeply moved, "If relying on the sky to eat is the historical helplessness of Chinese farmers, then 'seeing' Tianshi tea is the realistic aspiration of Wuyi mountain tea farmers." ”

Shen Changhua (first from right) and meteorological service members go to the "Smart Tea Mountain" demonstration base to investigate the growth of tea. Photo by Ye Guobao

In 2014, the meteorological service group built the first tea meteorological observation station in Shiyuanlang Village, Xingcun Town, filling the gap of rural tea meteorological observation in Fujian Province. Subsequently, the construction of the "Smart Tea Mountain" project began. The so-called "smart tea mountain" is to rely on the Internet of Things information technology of smart meteorology, install monitoring stations and observation instruments in tea mountain, collect microclimate environmental elements and remote video of tea gardens in each village, tea yield and dynamic inventory information, etc., and access the Internet to form tea garden big data.

Meteorological service members went to tea gardens to investigate the impact of frost damage on spring tea growth. Photo courtesy of Wuyishan Meteorological Bureau

Chai Jun, secretary general of Wuyishan Chaoyang Dongsheng Tea Industry Professional Cooperative, said: "No matter where you go, as long as you swipe the mobile phone screen, the changes in tea garden temperature, relative humidity, rainfall and other data will be clear at a glance, providing a 'clairvoyant' for tea farmers to arrange tea garden management remotely." ”

As of 2022, Wuyishan City has built 29 tea meteorological observation stations such as the mother tree Dahongpao and tea garden real landscape measurement stations, and networked with existing meteorological observation stations to weave into the province's first tea meteorological observation "mesh".

"The observatory is responsible for collecting the influence of temperature, humidity, light and other factors on tea growth, and its data can reflect the growth of tea plants and the disaster situation of tea gardens in a radius of 500 mu." Jiang Liping, deputy director of the Wuyishan Tea Institute, explained, "By comparing the data of tea environmental factors, we can find the reasons for the difference in tea quality, which in turn guides the planting of tea plants. ”

In 2021, the model of "smart tea mountain" in Wuyishan City was promoted to the Fuding Dabai Tea District of Ningde City.

The problem that tea plants are susceptible to frost in winter and spring has always plagued Wuyi Mountain tea farmers. Shen Changhua led the team to cover tea trees before the arrival of strong cold air for emergency disaster prevention, and changed to scientifically arrange pruning before winter to actively prevent disasters.

At the beginning of 2021, before three rounds of strong cold air went south for more than half a month, the frost damage index test carried out by the meteorological service group in the Yanziyong ecological tea garden in Xingcun Town showed that the degree of frost damage symptoms of different varieties was significantly different whether tea plants were pruned or not before winter and whether the film was covered or not. For example, it was originally thought that tea leaves would be frost-damaged only when they were minus 10 degrees Celsius, but in fact, pruning tea trees before winter can only withstand the test of minus 6 degrees. On October 10 of that year, the meteorological service group launched the pre-winter meteorological warning service in Wuyishan City for the first time, customizing four antifreeze measures for 29,1 tea farmers in the city: early fertilization, post-winter pruning, film covering, and spray water to wash the frost. Tea farmers are no longer afraid of sudden "change of sky", and the "defense war" against frost of tea trees has ended successfully.

Zhang Caisheng, chairman of Wuyishan Xingyang Agricultural Machinery Professional Cooperative, was overjoyed: "The economic loss of tea among cooperative members is more than 20% lower than in the same year. ”

Meteorological services also extend to drought fighting. The meteorological service team joined hands with the tea science and technology commissioner to select three tea gardens such as Wuyishan Qiyuan Tea Industry Co., Ltd. to continuously carry out the investigation of the impact of high temperature and drought on tea yield and quality, obtained a large number of first-hand information, and formed a detailed targeted plan.

In 2022, the drought in Wuyishan City lasted for more than 4 months. Some tea farmers divert water from water pipes to relieve leaf transpiration and meet the needs of fertilizer decomposition of tea plants. Unexpectedly, due to the limited amount of water source, the uneven distribution of tea roots, and the difficulty of diverting water from the steep slopes of tea plantation mountains, some tea plants have died.

"No weeding, no fertilization, no pruning." In the extremely dry year, Wu Shilian, chairman of Wuyi Mountain Zhonglian Red Ecological Tea Industry Co., Ltd., adopted the "three noes" practice of the meteorological service group, and as a result, more than 700 mu of alpine tea at an altitude of more than 500 meters increased by more than 3000,<> kilograms of fresh leaves year-on-year. When Mao tea was evaluated, Wu Shilian, as a tea artist, said: "At that time, the aroma of cinnamon tea was more sensational and more distinctive. ”

Wuyi Rock Tea, one of China's top ten famous teas, has ranked second in the brand value of Chinese tea for six consecutive years. The biggest feature of Wuyi Mountain is ecology, how to ensure that Wuyi rock tea has excellent ecology and improves quality and efficiency? The issuance of climate "ID cards" to high-quality Wuyi rock tea and the development of tea climate quality certification have proved to be a new path.

Since 2018, the Meteorological Service has embarked on this technical research, establishing a four-level evaluation standard from excellent to average. As long as consumers scan the QR code on the outer packaging of tea companies, the "life" of Wuyi rock tea is impressive, covering detailed information such as tea garden altitude, telephone address, biological control, climate resources, and quality level.

Li Mei, who was transferred from the Fujian Meteorological Bureau to the Wuyishan Meteorological Bureau as the director, said: "Entrusting the Provincial Meteorological Service Center to organize authoritative experts to use meteorological data to identify the quality of Wuyi rock tea is a useful supplement to the existing Wuyi rock tea quality perception review. It has traceability such as fixed point, timing, quantitative and tea garden microclimate, so that consumers can buy and drink with peace of mind. ”

In the past three years, 3 of the tea enterprises participating in the evaluation in Wuyishan City have obtained the "excellent" and "excellent" climate quality certifications. 7 tea enterprises roughly calculated, each kilogram of tea added about 7 yuan year-on-year, and sales increased by more than 200%.

There are three characteristic agricultural meteorological service centers in Fujian Province, namely Fuzhou vegetables, Nanping tea and Zhangzhou fruit trees. In August 3, the Fujian Meteorological Bureau and the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs evaluated the performance of three provincial-level service centers in the past three years, and "Nanping Tea" was rated as "excellent". (End)