Yunnan Ning'er "buys insurance" for coffee prices to prevent farmers from cutting down trees at cheap prices.

The picture shows local farmers checking the maturity of fresh coffee fruits. Photo taken by Miao Chao

The fresh fruit color of coffee has changed from green to red, indicating that coffee in southern Yunnan will enter the "picking season" in November. Unlike in previous years, Ning'er County implements policy-based coffee price insurance, and local farmers are no longer worried about the ups and downs of coffee prices.

The reporter recently visited Manya Village in Ning'er County and saw that the coffee trees were full of fruit, which made the branches "bow their heads". Wang Zhifa, a farmer in Manya Village, is in a hurry to shovel the corn into his pocket before the coffee "picking season", so as to make room for fresh coffee fruit.

"my family grows 4 mu of coffee this year, compared with 8 mu of land before." Wang Zhifa told reporters. Last year, when the price of coffee hit rock bottom, Wang Zhifa cut down 4 mu of coffee trees with a knife and planted corn instead, which gave him the appearance of drying corn today.

However, more than a decade ago, the traditional agriculture of Manya Village was to grow corn, with a meagre income and widespread poverty in the village. In 1997, a coffee company settled in Manya Village to guide local villagers to grow coffee.

"in 2003, I came to Manya Village for the first time, and I was saddened by the poverty of the common people." Li Bin, general manager of Pu'er Manya Coffee Company, said that at that time, the walls of the houses of farmers in the village were ventilated, and some people were even naked. "ordinary people use sand buckets to serve vegetables and soup, and add soup to me one spoonful at a time. I'm impressed. " "We buy all kinds of stainless steel pots and send them to farmers. Also bought them rice cookers, in addition to lighting, rice cookers are their first electrical appliances. "

Growing coffee for more than a decade has brought considerable income to local farmers, and Manya village has gradually become rich. Now there is a motorcycle in every house, and there are tractors or even cars parked in front of some homes. The affluent Manya village completely eliminated the problem of poverty in 2015. however, new problems have emerged in recent years.

In recent years, due to natural disasters and the impact of the international market, coffee prices fluctuated greatly, affecting coffee production and farmers' income. For farmers like Wang Zhifa, many people have cut down coffee trees with a knife. "the price of coffee last year can only maintain capital, and we can't leave the land idle, can we?" Wang Zhifa said to the reporter helplessly.

This year, coffee prices began to pick up, and Wang Zhifa regretted it again. Compared with Wang Zhifa's regret, Li Bin expressed his concern. "Farmers cutting down trees (coffee trees) is a damage to the industry, and the role of industry in driving farmers out of poverty and becoming rich is obvious, and it is extremely important to protect the sustainable development of the industry."

44% of the land area of Ning'er County is the most suitable for growing small grains of coffee. The county has a total coffee garden area of more than 100000 mu, more than 80% of which has been put into production. There are more than 30,000 farmers engaged in coffee cultivation. Peng Zhaorong, director of the Bureau of Tea and characteristic Biological Industry in Ning'er County, said that coffee cultivation is mainly distributed in remote and poor mountainous areas, and the income of ordinary people mainly depends on "tea trees" and "coffee trees." Ninger's water, electricity, road and other infrastructure is mainly driven by the "two trees" industry.

This year, in order to stabilize the production efficiency of coffee growers, Ning'er County has bought coffee price insurance for farmers and enterprises to solve many factors such as unstable coffee prices. The county has completed 15132.8 mu of coffee price insurance, of which poor households growing coffee have achieved full coverage, totaling 6171.5 mu, achieving a win-win situation of protecting the coffee industry and accurate poverty alleviation.

Peng Zhaorong said that during the insurance period, if the average purchase price of fresh coffee or coffee rice is lower than the insurance price, the insurance company will be responsible for the difference in accordance with the terms of the insurance contract. In the future, Ning'er County will attract investment, introduce leading enterprises that can withstand market risks and play a leading role, and set up professional cooperatives to promote the sustained, healthy and stable development of the industry. (end)