Before the Dragon Boat Festival, farmers were busy picking bamboo leaves on mountains of Shangyi Village, Qiaotou Township of Guidong County. The 79-year-old Li Jinquan not only became rich himself through the bamboo leaf industry but also helped more than 3,000 farmers increase an average annual income of 18,000 yuan.

Guidong County has many mountains and dense forests, a mild climate, and abundant rainfall. In recent years, the county has utilized idle land along the forests, roadsides, riverbanks, streams, and houses to plant bamboo leaves.

Through various methods such as policy rewards and subsidies, Party members leading, the county has guided villagers to plant bamboo in Qingquan Town, Qiaotou Township and other areas.

At present, the planting area of bamboo in the county has reached 24,500 mu (1,633.33 hectares), with a comprehensive output value exceeding 100 million yuan.

“To revitalize the mountainous areas, our village gave out bamboo seedlings, with a deposit of 1 yuan per tree, which will be fully refunded after acceptance and survival. Now,we plant bamboo trees in barren land next to my house, and we can earn an annual income of no less than 6,000 yuan per mu (0.067 hectares),” said a local villager in Zhongxin Village of Zhaiqian Town.

This year, Zhongxin village distributed 2,160 seedlings and planted them in 11-mu (0.733 hectares) deserted land to increase income. To guarantee sales channels for villagers, the county government has launched a series of preferential policies to introduce those who run businesses outside to return home for development.

Zeng Maolin, who started a business in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, is one of them.

In 2023, Zeng Maolin invested more than 35 million yuan to build a full chain industrial system for picking, processing, and selling bamboo leaves in Qingquan Town.

In the company’s production workshop, bamboo leaves are sorted, frozen, and packaged, which will be sold to various parts of the country.

Zeng Maolin said: “The total production of bamboo leaves in Qingquan Town is over 5,000 kilograms, and my company can purchase 90% of them.”

Chinese source: hunantoday