Ma Jie: use a leaf to benefit the common people

A well-known local builder, however, changed his interest to the tea industry and became the main force and brand protector in the development of Yinfeng in Shimen.

A person in charge of a city-level leading enterprise, however, because of a complex to open up wasteland and grow tea, led the people in the mountainous areas to wade out a road to get rid of poverty and become rich.

His name is Ma Jie, the legal person of China Tea Wuling Green Stone Gate Tea Industrial Park, the chairman of Hunan Chuyun Tea Industry Company, a leading enterprise at the municipal level, and the chairman of Longchihe Tea Cooperative, a popular science demonstration base in the province. director of China Tea Circulation Association, Hunan Tea Association, Hunan Tea Association, the top ten cutting-edge figures of Hunan tea in 2014.

He has many identities, but he only calls himself a tea man; he is not good at words, but he is eloquent when it comes to tea. He said that tea is his dream and the "golden leaf" for the people in Shimen to get rich. As a Shimen tea man, his mission is to make good use of this leaf for the benefit of the people.

Looking for a Dream in Tea Mountain

"this is the place I dream of."

Unlike ordinary "tea bosses" who make a living with tea, Ma Jie grows tea more out of interest and ideal.

In 2003, having made some achievements in the construction industry, he switched to the tea industry because of his interest and founded Chu Yun Company. Although he is not a "professional background", he has opened up a world by virtue of diligence and honest management, and has won a good reputation in the industry, and the sales of "Chuyun Tea Industry" continue to rise.

"it would be nice to have your own organic tea base and sell your own products in the store." Ma Jie is determined to go further. In order to have a broader world in mind, he went to seven tea-producing villages and towns in Shimen County, compared and investigated in many ways, and finally chose to set up a cooperation base in Longchihe Village, the core area of Hupingshan National Nature Reserve. He bought fresh leaves from large local growers in the form of orders, and actively looked for new "tea sources."

When the village secretary learned what he thought, he said to him, "you are a man of practical work." Are you willing to do it on the mountain? "

The "mountain" mentioned by the village secretary refers to the higher position of Bafeng Mountain in Shanghai. It was originally the birthplace of Taihe "Shimen Yihong", which is well-known at home and abroad. Later, because of the decline of the tea industry, it has been basically abandoned. The infrastructure on the mountain is poor, and there is only a narrow and steep muddy road up the hill. It's a two-hour walk up there. As soon as Ma Jie heard his heart, he immediately called in experts to go up to the mountain to inspect.

"at 30 degrees north latitude, with an average elevation of about 900 meters, the soil is rich, tea forests are alternating, and the ecology is excellent. It is very suitable for growing organic tea. This is the place I dream of! " Ma Jie is very excited.

However, on the other hand, he was shocked by the difficult living conditions of the common people on the mountain: "I didn't expect such a poor place!" Because of the inconvenient transportation and no planting of cash crops, most families in Bafeng Mountain have no stable source of income, so they can only rely on young adults to go out to work. Ordinary people live in old wooden houses, and they go down the hill on two legs. There are four mules in the village, and the daily necessities are transported up the mountain by them.

At that moment, Ma Jie made up his mind to build an organic tea garden: "this is not my own business, but also related to the improvement of the living environment of the local people." A feeling that Hunan businessmen "care about the people when they have status" surges secretly in Ma Jie's heart.

Pour painstaking efforts

"growing tea is not for me alone."

On how to build a tea garden, Ma Jie's idea is very clear: set up cooperatives and invite ordinary people to buy shares. It can not only ensure the quality of planting, but also get rich with the common people. But this idea was questioned by everyone at the first village meeting.

"planting corn and sweet potatoes can still earn some money every year, but what if you only invest no income in the first three years of growing tea?"

"it's good to set up a co-operative, but we can't afford that much money to buy shares."

……

In the face of these doubts, Ma Jie patiently reasoned and did his work. He held meetings with the villagers many times from morning to two or three o'clock in the afternoon. "it was a bit of a retreat at that time." Ma Jie said. But seeing this poor tea mountain, he strengthened his belief: "someone has to change here."

Where there's a will, there's a way. Thanks to Ma Jie's efforts, Longchi River Tea Cooperative was established in May 2013, with the first batch of 107 tea farmers. Ma Jie, who serves as chairman, travels in many ways, asking experts for inspection and guidance, asking the government to support the construction of roads, and raising funds to expand the tea factory. Some villagers reported that there was a lack of funds and technology for growing tea, so he invited everyone to visit and study free of charge; invited experts from the county agricultural bureau and tea office to come in for training and guidance; and provided tea seedlings and organic fertilizers for everyone free of charge.

In the winter of 2013, the first batch of tea seedlings of Longchi River Tea Cooperative were planted in Bafeng Mountain. In order to take good care of these seedlings, Ma Jie led the villagers to plant tea every day. Sometimes when it was dark, he went down the mountain with a stick. In Bafeng Mountain in December, when the wind was cold and the temperature was low, Ma Jie came down from the mountain, but his clothes were tired and afraid of sweating. During that time, Ma Jie's toes were all bloodshot and rotten as a result of walking too much in the mountains.

The family was very distressed: "who told you to toss about the tea garden!" But Ma Jie thought it was worth the hard work.

Help farmers get rich

"Tea brigade combines to open up a new road"

In Longchihe Village today, everything is changing because Ma Jie led everyone to set up co-operatives.

800 mu of new tea garden has been built, the office rooms and production lines of the tea factory have been renovated, water circuits and other infrastructure are slowly catching up, and people have a new hope for life.

Xu Yuanzhi, who lives more than 900 meters above sea level and is in his twenties, did not expect that after walking through the mountains for most of his life, his wife can find someone to drive the baby home in an off-road vehicle after giving birth.

Yang Shenxue, who is in his 40s, did not care about anything in the past. Now he not only grows 7 or 8 mu of tea himself, but also fattens the villagers on motorcycles, and his wages are uniformly spent by the cooperative.

The consciousness of the villagers has become more open, the planting technology has been improved, and the work has been done more quickly. The scale of the cooperative continues to expand and has been promoted throughout the village with the support of the poverty alleviation work units of the Bank of China Hunan Branch stationed in Longchihe Village. The tea planting area in the village has increased from 2500 mu in the past to more than 4000 mu now, and the average household income has increased from 2000 yuan / year to 5000 yuan / year / household. Longchihe Village Tea Garden has become the raw material supply base of China Tea Company's "China Tea Wuling Green" brand. At present, we are applying for EU organic certification.

"the real benefits are not yet clear." Ma Jie told us: "the new tea garden planted in 2013 will not begin to benefit until next year, and the yield per mu is expected to reach about 6000-8000 yuan." We are planning to build a new high-quality tea production line, hoping to catch up with next year's spring tea picking. "

The "rear" has been done, and the "front" has made preparations early. In recent years, Ma Jie has actively developed products and docking market. Chuyun tea industry has developed into an enterprise integrating planting, processing, scientific research and sales. It has developed more than 10 kinds of products such as black tea cake, white tea cake and Zen tea. It has 8 chain stores in Changsha, Changde and Zhuzhou and 6 agents outside the province. The annual sales of tea reached more than 10 million yuan. The company works closely with China Tea Company, and its products are exported to Africa and the European Union through Chinese tea.

"there is no shortage of good products. I believe that after the benefit of the tea garden in Longchi River Village, the sales will not be a problem. " Ma Jie is full of confidence.

Now, he is planning another "big plan": to enlist the support of the Bank of China's Hunan Branch to jointly implement the "Tea Tourism Integration and Industrial Poverty Alleviation" project in Longchi River.

"Longchi River has beautiful scenery and beautiful scenery. We hope to increase construction and develop it into a demonstration village integrating organic tea cultivation, tourism and leisure."

On Bafeng Mountain, Ma Jie's dream is like new tea in the garden, growing hard and waiting for harvest.