2014 Spring Tea Production Report from Ministry of Agriculture of China

Recently the Ministry of Agriculture has released the planning and production report of 2014 spring tea. The report shows both the improvement on restructuring and some common issues in the industry. We post the report on TeaVivre now for you to get a clear view on the overall situation of Chinese tea’s development in 2014.

Due to last year’s drought in Yangtze River region, as well as the low temperature and continued rainfall in early spring, 2014’s spring tea was deeply affected. However, instant measures were taken such as strengthening tea garden management to fight against the strike; spring tea’s production is still increasing.

Long Jing Tea Trees Fried by High Temperature: Resulting 2014’s Output Decrease

Declines in the Growth Rate of Tea Areas

Guided by the The Views of Promoting Sustainable Development of Tea Production announced by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2013 with the aim of keeping tea cultivated area in a reasonable level, this year the expanding trend of tea gardens has been effectively controlled. The total area of tea plantation is 40,010,000 mu (6,591,124 acres) in 2014, with an increase of 1,820,000 mu (299,821 acres) compared to last year. The growth rate fell to 4.8%, with a decline of 3% from past few years’ data, according to the preliminary stats from tea production departments of China.

Extension of Tea Harvest Time

Influenced by the low temperature and continued rain in early spring in east China, the appropriate tea picking time has been delayed for 7 to 10 days compared to normal years. But benefits from the good weather in the following days, the whole picking period has been prolonged about one weak accordingly. Plus the growth of total tea production in western China based on the good weather there, China’s annual tea output continued to expand.

Increase of Harvest Amount

The total amount of tea harvest in 2014 spring is 924,000 tons, which increased 80,000 tons by 9.54% from the previous year. Except Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi and Henan being affected by disaster, other tea plantation areas in the country have increased output. The top five increased provinces are: Guizhou by 22,100 tons, Yunnan by 21,800 tons, Sichuan by 14,000 tons, Fujian by 10,000 tons and Shanxi by 7,400 tons.

Increase in Price of Middle-end Teas

This year the central government issued eight stipulations about thrifty and pragmatic, so the prices of high-end teas decreased. As more and more people tend to drink the middle-end teas, the price increased along with its production.