TCM materials bolster Hechi poverty alleviation efforts

In recent years, Fengshan county in Hechi has been encouraging and supporting its rural and poverty-stricken households to develop its traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) materials industry by making use of the local favorable weather conditions.

Since 2016, the TCM materials industry has been included in the county's list of characteristic industries for poverty alleviation.

Related experts and technical personnel have been hired during the past four years to carry out technical trainings in the county to improve the technology level of farmers' plantations, as well as their management of TCM materials.

In addition, more than 12 million yuan ($1.71 million) of support funds was provided by the county government to entice more farmers to plant TCM materials. One mu (0.07 hectares) of plantations of Chinese medicinal materials can receive a government subsidy ranging from 540 yuan to 3,980 yuan.

"This year, I planted 32.5 mu of TCM materials, yielding 750 kilograms of Chinese medicinal materials per mu. The total income generated from this can exceed 70,000 yuan," said Peng Fengwu, a villager from Fengcheng town of the county.

Fengshan county plans to newly plant 7,360 mu of TCM materials this year, of which 6,800 mu has been completed. A total of 1,246 households have been involved in these efforts, of which 538 ones are poverty stricken.

In the past four years, the total cultivated area of TCM materials in Fengshan county has reached 14,000 mu, benefiting 2,050 households and helping lift 801 families out of poverty.