Zhejiang suffers from "late spring cold". Half of the tea garden leaves are frozen.

Original title: half of the tea gardens in Zhejiang were damaged by the cold in late spring.

Female tea pickers rush to pick the first batch of spring tea in front of the cold air (online photo source: Keqiao Daily)

A few days ago, in many tea-producing counties in Zhejiang, snow and frost fell, and ten thousand mu of green tea gardens were covered with a layer of white gauze, and the beauty brushed out the circle of friends; but for tea farmers in these areas, they simply wanted to cry without tears. Originally, spring tea was about to be picked, and it was this sudden spring cold that led to inestimable losses.

The reporter learned from the Department of Agriculture of Zhejiang Province that in the spring cold, more than half of the nearly 3 million mu tea gardens in Zhejiang suffered frost damage, covering an area of more than 1.5 million mu, about 3700 tons of morning tea were damaged, and the economic loss was estimated to reach 1.8 billion yuan. Lishui, Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Huzhou and other places suffered the most.

After entering March, the weather in Zhejiang remains warm, and many spring teas have entered a critical period of budding. But in just a few days, this wave of strong cold air caused the temperature to drop by more than 20 ℃. Snow fell in many places in Zhejiang on the 10th, although the rain and snow gradually stopped on the 11th, but with the low temperature, frost appeared in most areas. What spring tea fears most is "flat frost and alpine snow".

The reporter contacted Weng Liang, a tea farmer in Wengjiashan Village, Xihu District, Hangzhou on March 10. According to him, as "Longjing 43" has basically sprouted, it is greatly affected by the spring snow. If the temperature continues to drop, the more likely the bud head will freeze. In the afternoon, the family was busy removing snow to prevent frostbite due to continuous cooling.

"in Xihu Longjing Tea, the early sprouting 'Longjing 43' was severely frozen, and some early budding species were not spared." Shang Jiannong, president of Hangzhou Xihu Longjing Tea Industry Association, told reporters that at present, more than 200000 mu of tea gardens have suffered frost damage, and although tea farmers will snatch some of the shoots before the cold wave, Xihu Longjing Tea's production reduction this year has become a foregone conclusion.

It is understood that in Lishui, the city hardest hit by the disaster, more than 370000 mu of tea gardens were affected, with an economic loss of about 400 million yuan; in Anji County, Huzhou City, about 100000 mu of white tea gardens were affected to varying degrees; in Xinchang County, Shaoxing City, the earlier "Wu Niu Zao" has been basically picked, but the budding "Longjing 43" has been seriously affected by the cold wave.

At present, agrotechnical experts from various parts of Zhejiang have gone to the countryside one after another to guide tea farmers to carry out scientific self-help in order to reduce losses. Experts estimate that the loss of spring tea in Zhejiang reached more than 30% before the end of March, and the reduction in production has become settlement. affected by this, the full exploitation of spring tea in various places will be postponed for more than 10 days. (reporter Zhu Haiyang)