A goat forages for weeds in the tea fields of Jingning She autonomous county. [Photo/WeChat account: ls-mnews] 

The Qi'er tea company based in Jingning She autonomous county – administered by Lishui city in East China's Zhejiang province – has over the past six years been raising goats to control the weeds in its tea fields, local media reported.

According to Liu Huiping, vice-general manager of the company, before bringing in the sprightly goats, the cost for hiring manual labor to clear the weeds had reached 3,700 yuan ($574) per mu, or 667 square meters.

Goats are seen as an efficient clearing tool and they are an eco-friendly option, requiring no herbicides.

"After raising goats in the tea fields, we don't have to resort to herbicides, machine rentals or exhausting manual removals. The goats can also convert the unwanted plants into valuable milk, meat and manure," Liu said.

Jingning county currently has more than 12,000 mu of its tea fields using goats to control the weeds, in an initiative that has greatly improved labor efficiency and the quality of the tea, according to Tang Weibin, an official from the county's tea industry development center.

Jingning county is home to the renowned Huiming Tea, a golden prize winner at the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition.