It’s now the golden season for picking camellia seeds. Camellia seeds hang over branches of camellia oil trees in Shanhe Village of Zhangshi Town, Guiyang County, and villagers are busy picking camellia seeds.

In recent days, 350,000 mu (23,333.33 hectares) of camellia oleifera tree forests in Guiyang County have ushered in the harvesting period.

Through precise measures such as transforming low yield forests and fertigation, the average yield of camellia seeds per mu (0.067 hectares) has increased by about 30% compared to last year.

“Last year, the average yield of camellia seeds per mu (0.067 hectares) in the base was about 300 kg. After a year of management and maintenance, it has reached about 350 to 400 kg. It is expected that our output value will reach more than 10 million yuan,” said Nie Fen, chief engineer of Guiyang Tianrunjian Ecological Camellia Oleifera Development Company.

Guiyang County is the main production and core area of camellia oleifera in Hunan Province, and also a national demonstration county for the “Good Grain and Oil of China” action plan.

In recent years, technicians from the local forestry department have made scientific planning and provided full-process technical guidance for the transformation of low-yield and low-efficiency forests.

At the same time, the county actively applied for project funds for growers, totaling more than 16.4 million yuan, for the implementation of camellia oleifera tree forest transformation and water fertilizer integration projects, significantly improving forest production capacity.

In addition, to promote the scale and intensive development of industries, the county has vigorously promoted the industrial development model involving enterprises, bases and farmers, encouraged the transfer of forest land for scale operation.

Resources, capital, and labor have been effectively integrated through the innovative model involving “village collective, enterprise and villagers”, allowing all parties to share the benefits of industrial development.

Camellia oleifera trees not only help conserve water and make barren mountains green, but also boost farmers' income.

At present, Guiyang County has cultivated 16 camellia oleifera enterprises, including 4 provincial and municipal leading enterprises, 3 provincial forestry industrialization enterprises, 45 cooperatives, family farms, and 176 large-scale growers, showing a favorable momentum for cluster development.

This year, the total output of camellia oleifera fruits in the county is nearly 160,000 tons, and the total output of camellia oil is expected to reach 11,000 tons. The comprehensive output value of the camellia oleifera industry is expected to reach 2 billion yuan. More than 60,000 people increase their income at their doorsteps through this industry.

Chinese source: rednet