April. 17, 2019 -- In October 2018, relying on the tradition of making Tibetan incense and taking advantage of local herb resources, Guxiang Farmers Professional Cooperative has been established in Lilong Village of Sangri County's Boidoi Town. The cooperative producing 10 kinds of herbaceous Tibetan incense with different types and specifications has helped local people get employed. Photo shows consumers buying Tibetan incense products at the cooperative. [China Tibet News/Liu Feng]

April. 17, 2019 -- Photo shows workers of Qionggar Tibetan Medicinal Materials Planting and Processing Professional Cooperative in Qusum Town picking herb saffron. [China Tibet News/Liu Feng]

April. 17, 2019 -- Shannan City has always adhered to green development and promoted environmental improvement and poverty alleviation through ecological industries.

Samye Town of Chanang County: developing ecological industrial complex

At the cherry planting base of Ruifeng Agricultural Expo Park in Chanang County's Samye Town, cherry trees covering an area of 23.45 hectares are growing very well.

In Samye Town, at the Modern Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Industrial Park, which is 10 km away from the cherry planting base, workers are busy loosening the soil and applying fertilizer for strawberries.

In recent years, in order to further combat desertification, give full play to the economic and environmental value of ecological industry, and promote the transformation of traditional agriculture to modern ecological agriculture, Samye Town has successively introduced some leading enterprises to carry out comprehensive development of ecological industries at the sand land area along the Yarlung Zangbo River. Modern agricultural planting parks for cherries, strawberries, peach trees and liquorice have been set up, enabling 1,400 people to get employed and get rid of poverty. At the same time, the sand land has also been greened.

At present, the National Desert Park of Samye Town is under construction. Then an ecological industrial complex integrating ecological restoration, nursery economy, tourism, as well as science popularization and education will be formed.

Lai Town of Cona County: cultivating high mountain tea

In Lai Memba Ethnic Town (Lai Town) of Shannan City's Cona County, under the influence of warm and humid airflow of the Indian Ocean, it enjoys abundant precipitation and lush vegetation, and is very suitable for the growth of high mountain tea.

In recent years, Lai Town has given full play to its advantages in natural resources, and vigorously developed the tea industry.

In 2011, a professional tea cooperative of farmers and herdsmen has been established, implementing unified planting, management, processing, and sale.

With fresh taste and pure natural quality, Lai Town's tea has been sold well in the market. Nevertheless, facing with the problems of yield, pest control, and processing technology, the output was limited. To solve these problems, in 2016, with the assistance of Anhui Province, green and black tea experts have been invited to give technical guidance, and five technicians have been trained. Then the yield and quality of tea have reached a new level.

"At present, our town has planted 50.92 hectares of tea trees, benefiting 132 people from 54 households. Relying on the tea cooperative alone, the per capita annual income of people in the town has exceeded 15,000 yuan RMB," said Phupa, the head of Lai Town.

Qusum Town: planting and processing Tibetan medicinal materials

In 2013, Losang Jinpa has quited his stable job in a Tibetan medicine factory and established the Qionggar Tibetan Medicinal Materials Planting and Processing Professional Cooperative in Qusum Town. In 2014, Tibetan medicinal materials has been successfully planted and well sold, and the cooperative has achieved profitability. But Losang Jinpa was not satisfied with the current situation, and planned to expand the business scope to Tibetan medicine, beverage and cosmetics production.

Receiving a government financing of nearly 3 million yuan RMB, the cooperative's planting area of Tibetan medical materials has exceeded 34.84 hectares. With 16 kinds of herbs such as herb safflower, Inula racemose, Himalayan Mirabilis jalapa Linn and others, this cooperative has become a resounding name card of Qusum Town's characteristic industries.

By the end of last year, 665 people from 190 households have joined the cooperative, and its annual output value has reached 2.75 million yuan RMB, driving the average annual income of each household increasing by more than 5,000 yuan RMB.

By: Liu Fang, Zhi Xinghua