Mingjianxiang tea tea purchase subsidy policy triggers struggle between blue and green camps

In response to issues such as subsidies for purchasing tea leaves in Mingjian Township, legislator You Hao held a production and marketing coordination meeting on the 5th. (Photo by reporter Zhang Xiesheng)

As the end-of-year election approaches, the subsidy policy for purchasing tea green tea in Mingjian Township, the largest tea-producing area in Nantou County, has unexpectedly set off a struggle between the blue and green camps. In response to the Agricultural and Food Administration's recent decision to subsidy 3 yuan per kilogram (tea farmers 2 yuan, tea dealers 1 yuan), Cai Zongzhi, the Kuomintang's candidate for township chief, proposed at the production and marketing coordination meeting held by legislator You Hao today (5th) that he hopes to return all the subsidies to tea farmers. In response, Agricultural and Food Administration Director Yao Shiyuan responded that if tea merchants on the purchasing side are not subsidized, it may affect the willingness of tea merchants to purchase, and it will be difficult to achieve the substantive purpose of stabilizing the price of tea.

Mingjian Township in Nantou County is the largest tea-producing area in the country. Due to oversupply in the market in recent years, the purchasing price of tea greens has dropped from about 30 yuan per catty to about 15 yuan, posing severe challenges to the livelihood of tea farmers. On the 22nd of last month, the Mingjian Township Office held a symposium on stabilizing the price of tea green tea purchases at the Songboling Visitor Center. At that time, after the Democratic Progressive Party's Nantou County Mayor candidate Wen Shizheng and Mingjian Township Mayor Chen Hanli, who was seeking re-election, the Agricultural and Food Administration agreed to adjust the original subsidy of 3 yuan per kilogram to 3 yuan per kilogram (equivalent to 5 yuan per kilogram), and a subsidy model of 2 yuan for tea farmers and 1 yuan for tea merchants.

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However, Kuomintang legislator You Hao held another famous commercial tea production and marketing coordination meeting at the same venue today. Cai Zongzhi, the Kuomintang's candidate for township mayor, questioned the credibility of the tea dealer alliance that implemented the acquisition during the meeting, and advocated that the 1 yuan subsidy to tea dealers should be changed to subsidize tea farmers. He also promised to seek increased pesticide testing subsidies from the county government. Since it coincides with the election period, the relevant issues have been interpreted by the outside world as signs that the blue and green camps are diverging from each other, and there is a strong smell of smoke.

In response to different local voices, Director of Agriculture and Food Yao Shiyuan explained that the subsidy plan has been proposed by the township office and submitted to the county government for approval. It can be implemented as scheduled this year. If the content of the plan is changed at this time, it may cause delays in the subsidy period. Yao Shiyuan emphasized that when dealing with the imbalance of production and sales of agricultural products such as peanuts and garlic in the past, the biggest concern was that merchants were unwilling to enter the market to purchase. If all 3 yuan was used to subsidize tea farmers, tea merchants might be unwilling to purchase, and the purpose of stabilizing the price of tea leaves would not be achieved.

Cai Zongzhi (standing), candidate for mayor of Mingjian Township, proposed a proposal to return all subsidies to tea farmers. (Photo by reporter Zhang Xiesheng)

Director of the Department of Agriculture and Food, Yao Shiyuan, said that if tea merchants are not subsidized for tea tea purchases, tea merchants may not be willing to enter the market to purchase tea. (Photo by reporter Zhang Xiesheng)

Mingjian Township Office held a symposium on tea tea purchase and price stabilization at the Songboling Visitor Center on September 22. (File photo, taken by reporter Zhang Xiesheng)