p:inputTextarea returns empty string - jsf

Question

I have a p:inputTextarea and I need the value of it while processing the form. It turned out that every time I submit the form I get all the values except the one from the textarea. #{xyzUI.description} is a String object with regular getters and setters.
<ui:composition>
<h:form id="form1">
<p:panel rendered="...">
<p:panel id="formPanel">
<p:panelGrid columns="2" cellpadding="5">
<!-- other form elements -->
<p:outputLabel>Description:</p:outputLabel>
<p:inputTextarea value="#{xyzUI.description}" style="width: 350px;" counter="display" counterTemplate="{0} characters remaining" maxlength="2000" autoResize="true" rows="4" />
<h:panelGroup />
<h:outputText id="display" />
</p:panelGrid>
<p:commandButton rendered="#{not xyzUI.noChange}" action="#{xyzUI.submitForm}" update="formPanel" ajax="true" value="Apply" >
<p:ajax update="formPanel"></p:ajax>
</p:commandButton>
</p:panel>
</p:panel>
</h:form>
<ui:composition>
In my backing bean the value is always "". I don't know what's wrong.
public void submitForm()
{
...
tmp.setDescription(description); // String is always "" while debugging
myList.add(tmp);
RequestContext.getCurrentInstance().update("content");
}

Answer 1

I ran your code locally and discovered the issue. In the command button, remove the p:ajax call.
PrimeFaces command buttons are ajax enabled by default.
So change this:
<p:commandButton rendered="#{not xyzUI.noChange}" action="#{xyzUI.submitForm}" update="formPanel" ajax="true" value="Apply" >
<p:ajax update="formPanel"></p:ajax>
</p:commandButton>
To this:
<p:commandButton rendered="#{not xyzUI.noChange}" action="#{xyzUI.submitForm}" update="formPanel" value="Apply" />
My backing bean for reference
#ManagedBean
#ViewScoped
public class xyzUI implements Serializable{
private static final long serialVersionUID = 6259024062406526022L;
private String description;
private boolean noChange = false;
public xyzUI(){
}
public void submitForm(){
System.out.println(description);
}
public boolean isNoChange() {
return noChange;
}
public void setNoChange(boolean noChange) {
this.noChange = noChange;
}
public String getDescription() {
return description;
}
public void setDescription(String description) {
this.description = description;
}
}