“These past few days have been extremely cold, and areas at higher elevations are experiencing freezing conditions. Let's discuss how to protect the Tea plants from frost.” Due to a strong cold front, Fuding City has experienced a dramatic temperature drop with heavy snowfall across seventeen towns and districts. From 08:00 on January 22nd to 08:00 on January 23rd, the lowest recorded temperature among various tea garden stations was -7.3°C at Hengchunyuan Tea Garden in Jiayang Township. On January 23rd, the Fuding Tea Industry Development Leadership Team organized tea technicians and science and technology extension workers to visit the tea mountains and gardens of the Jiayang She Ethnic Township. They inspected the growth of the tea plants and provided advice to farmers on how to manage and protect the tea plants against low temperatures and cold weather.

The Senior Agronomist of the Fuding Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau and Fuding Tea Industry Science and Technology Extension Worker, Wang Huai Zhen, explained that in response to the current cold weather, the main focus is to increase the resistance of the tea plants to ensure they can survive the winter safely. The snow covering the tea gardens can be beneficial for tea plants that haven't yet sprouted new buds as it prevents pests and diseases. However, prolonged accumulation of snow can harm the tea plants and affect their growth and the Spring Tea harvest. The current measures include clearing the thick layer of snow from the tea plants, adding about 10 centimeters of soil around the base of the plants to protect the roots, and using local materials like dry grass and rice straw to cover the branches and leaves of the tea plants to provide protection.

To cope with this severe cold spell, local tea farmers had also prepared in advance. “Since the start of winter, we have been weeding and conducting pest and disease control to enhance the resistance of the tea plants,” said tea farmer Wang Ronggui. He added that with the guidance of the technical experts, they are implementing measures such as fertilizing, adding soil, and covering the tea plants to refine and strengthen the various cold prevention and insulation measures, ensuring the healthy growth of the tea plants.

Despite the significant temperature drop, due to effective training and adequate preparation, most of the 360,000 mu of tea gardens in Fuding are currently in good condition, and it is expected that there will not be a significant negative impact on newly planted or young tea plants.

“Once the weather warms up, we will remind everyone to remove the protective coverings from the tea plant branches and do proper field management to ensure a good spring tea harvest,” said Special Technology Extension Worker Cai Qingping. At the same time, the Fuding Tea Industry Development Center's technicians and other science and technology extension workers will periodically organize training sessions in various tea gardens to further improve the management skills of tea farmers and ensure that the public benefits truly from the tea industry.