Chinese medicinal materials broaden farmers' income channels

Guzhang County is now welcoming a bountiful harvest of golden cypress. Villagers are busy harvesting the golden cypress in the golden cypress forest of Li Fangzhi of Laozhai Village, Yantouzhai Town. The scraped golden cypress is purchased and processed by Hunan Wancao Pharmaceutical Technology Development Co., Ltd. “The golden cypress will achieve a relatively good income this year. With an output of 350 to 400 kilograms per mu (about 0.067 hectares), it’s estimated to achieve an income of 80,000 to 100,000 yuan per mu (about 0.067 hectares)”, said Li Fangzhi.

More than ten workers are busy carrying out primary processing of Chinese medicinal materials in an orderly manner, including scraping, slicing, sorting, and baking in the processing plant of the company. The processed Chinese medicinal materials are neatly packaged and stacked in the warehouse.

“This year, the yield of golden cypress has reached over 500 tons, increasing by 40% compared with last year, with the sales exceeding 20 million yuan,” said Zhang Wandong, head of the company. The company has provided job opportunities for surrounding villagers. Currently, most of the workers in the processing plant are from surrounding towns and villages, and they are mainly engaged in the processing, drying, baking, etc. of medicinal materials.

“There are more than ten long-term employees in the plant, with their wages ranging from four to six thousand yuan per month. Now, forty to fifty workers are needed to scrape golden cypress per day, with their wages exceeding 3,000 yuan per month,” said Zhang Wandong.

The workers are also quite satisfied with their stable and relatively easy jobs at their doorstep. “I have been working here for three years, with a fixed salary of four thousand yuan per month. During peak seasons, I can earn five to six thousand yuan per month including overtime pay,” said a worker. The company is mainly engaged in the cultivation, procurement, processing, storage and preservation of Chinese medicinal materials. It has built two processing plants with an annual output of 500 tons of Chinese medicinal materials, covering an area of more than 8,000 square meters and equipped with 10 ovens and 12 processing machines.

It has developed more than 2,000 mu (about 133.33 hectares) of medicinal material planting bases in 53 villages including Qiecha Village, Gaowangjie Village, Wanping Village and Zimu Village.

It also provides free Chinese medicinal material seedlings, fertilizers and technical support, and farmers plant and manage Chinese medicinal materials. The company will purchase their medicinal materials to encourage farmers to develop the Chinese medicinal material industry and broaden their channels to increase income.