Li Yucai and His Story of Growing Oilseed Peonies
Peonies can be enjoyed for their beauty, used as medicine, and even pressed for oil? This may sound unfamiliar to most people. But for the gray-templed Li Yucai, a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, this has been a major undertaking he has devoted most of his life to promoting.
“The oilseed peony is a high-end crop that combines ecological, economic and social benefits. Vigorously developing the oilseed peony industry is of great significance for promoting our country's oilseed production, safeguarding grain and oil security, improving the ecological environment, increasing farmers' incomes, and helping farmers in poor areas escape poverty and become prosperous.” Li Yucai pointed out in an interview with reporters that as the concept of ecological civilization takes root in people's hearts and the green economy develops rapidly, the development of the oilseed peony industry is ushering in bright prospects.
“Peony oil”, have you ever tasted it
“The oilseed peony is a plant unique to our country. Some countries have peonies, but they are all ornamental and do not have the function of high oil yield. In terms of the primary industry, calculating at 500 jin of seeds per mu per year for oilseed peonies and 10 yuan per jin of seeds (10 yuan per jin is the government protective price set by many provinces and regions across the country), then the income from seeds alone reaches 5,000 yuan per mu. Therefore, growing oilseed peonies brings several thousand yuan more income per mu than growing traditional crops.” Li Yucai clearly outlined the economic picture of oilseed peony cultivation for reporters with numbers.
“Peony seed oil contains as much as 92.26% unsaturated fatty acids, and in particular its α-linolenic acid content reaches over 40%. α-Linolenic acid is an important component of human brain cells and tissue cells, an indispensable polyunsaturated fatty acid that the human body cannot synthesize itself and cannot replace, and is also known as a ‘blood nutrient’, ‘vitamin F’ and ‘plant brain gold’.” Taking peony seed oil as an example, Li Yucai calculated an account for reporters: due to its unique health benefits, the current market price reaches over 1,000 yuan per jin; calculating at 500 jin of seeds per mu and an oil yield of 20%, each mu can produce 100 jin of oil, and at 1,000 yuan per jin, that is 100,000 yuan……
The root of the oilseed peony———Danpi (moutan cortex) is also a traditional Chinese medicinal material, with effects such as clearing heat and cooling blood, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, and reducing deficiency heat. The main ingredient of the well-known Liuwei Dihuang Wan is Danpi. Therefore, even if peonies are no longer grown, digging up the roots can still sell for 30,000 to 50,000 yuan per mu of Danpi (5-year-old). In terms of the secondary industry, the processing stage can process all the physical output of one mu of oilseed peonies (not counting roots and stems and other continued growth parts) into high-end edible oil, high-end cosmetics, high-end daily necessities, high-end medicines and anti-radiation products, and after processing into finished products the value is around several hundred thousand yuan.
“Peony stamen tea processed from peony stamens has already been exported to South Korea, Arab countries and others, and demand exceeds supply. And cosmetics developed from peony petals and peony seed oil have health and skin-moisturizing benefits superior to many popular products internationally……”
“Growing oilseed peonies can effectively adjust the planting structure and increase farmers' incomes. After oilseed peonies are planted, they do not need to be rotated for 30 to 50 years, and afterward only general management such as weeding and fertilizing is needed, saving labor, time and costs, and liberating a large amount of labor. Moreover, the oilseed peony is a crop that integrates the primary, secondary and tertiary industries and has a very long industrial chain.”
Li Yucai is as familiar with every detail of the oilseed peony as he is with his own child……
Small innovation drives big development
Why has such a promising industry not been developed for so long? Li Yucai told reporters, “Actually, as early as the 1960s and 1970s, people in the Heze area tried pressing peony seed oil. But because at that time the black outer shell of the peony seeds could not be removed, the seeds had to be pressed together with the shell. As a result, the crude peony seed oil extracted by primitive methods had poor quality, low oil yield, a dark color and a bitter taste. People mistakenly thought that this kind of oilseed peony had no development value, so peony seed oil was not effectively developed and utilized.”
At the critical moment, the breakthrough in seed hulling technology gave wings to the development of oilseed peonies……
With the development of science and technology and the mechanization of processing equipment, an advanced mechanical device can successfully remove the black outer shell of peony seeds, and after further processing, the peony seed oil produced is similar in color to peanut oil and soybean oil, and has a delicate fragrance.
The nutritional value of α-linolenic acid has gradually been taken seriously. The World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations decided as early as 1993 to specially promote α-linolenic acid worldwide, and in recent years China's scientific community has also recognized the importance of α-linolenic acid to human health. Therefore, peony seed oil rich in α-linolenic acid has gradually revealed its value for promotion.
In 2006, the laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Forestry detected the various components of peony seed oil. The test results showed that the content of various elements beneficial to human health in peony seed oil is very high, making it a high-end edible oil. After the test results for peony seed oil came out, Heze subsequently carried out small-scale, specialized experimental production and achieved success. In April 2010, the State Forestry Administration organized a special demonstration meeting in Heze on developing oilseed peonies, attended by 3 academicians and more than 50 experts. Academician Yin Weilun, Academician Li Wenhua, Academician Shu Huairui and the attending experts unanimously agreed that developing an oilseed peony base in Heze City, Shandong, has broad prospects and considerable benefits. The experts' scientific conclusions also found a scientific theoretical basis for the future development of oilseed peonies.
In order to promote oilseed peonies to all suitable planting areas across the country, Li Yucai wrote articles to promote them while busily traveling to the grassroots to give lectures, beating the drum and calling for the development of oilseed peonies. One computer, one microphone, one Lunan accent: Li Yucai alone is a mobile classroom. Over the past few years, he has traveled in this way to all provinces and cities except Hong Kong, China, Macao, China and Taiwan, China……
What comforts Li Yucai is that the General Office of the State Council has just issued the "Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of the Woody Oilseed Industry", and placed the development of oilseed peonies in a prominent position.
At present, oilseed peony development plans have also been introduced successively in various provinces and cities across the country. For example, Shandong Province plans to develop 3.7 million mu of oilseed peonies by 2020, with Heze City alone developing 2 million mu; Shaanxi Province plans to develop 2 million mu by 2020…… At present, all regions across the country suitable for growing oilseed peonies have set off a boom in oilseed peony development, and seedling-raising and planting areas have shown geometric growth.
⟦NL> The dream of oilseed peonies
In promoting oilseed peonies, what Li Yucai values most is the importance of our country's food safety.
“In 2013, China imported 9.221 million tons of finished edible vegetable oils such as palm oil, olive oil, soybean oil and rapeseed oil, and imported 67.835 million tons of edible oilseeds such as soybeans and rapeseed, with total imports reaching 50.34 billion US dollars. At present, our country's dependence on foreign edible oil has exceeded 60%, surpassing the international security warning line. Among the edible oil consumed in our country each year, low- and mid-range edible oils such as blended oil, soybean oil and rapeseed oil account for nearly 85% of the market share, and problems such as worrying safety conditions of bulk oil and gutter oil endangering health seriously threaten people's health.”
“In addition, the cold and drought tolerance of oilseed peonies also meets the conditions for nationwide promotion. China is one of the countries with the most severe desertification in the world. These areas have relatively harsh climates, with drought, little rain, high cold and barren land, while the planting conditions for oilseed peonies are very broad.” Li Yucai gave an example, “The Fengdan peonies in the area of Fenghuang Mountain in Tongling, Anhui, did not die of drought after 8 months without rain; the purple-spotted peonies in the Lanzhou area of Gansu planted on high-cold, arid and barren mountain ridges above 2,000 m in altitude can grow with rainfall of only 300 mm, and can still produce about 400 jin of seeds per mu, and the peony seed oil produced in such places has an α-linolenic acid content as high as 49%.” Li Yucai said.
It is precisely because oilseed peonies have high yield, high oil yield and good quality, and because oilseed peonies have well-developed root systems with a powerful fleshy root system, and do not need rotation for 30 to 50 years after planting, effectively avoiding the soil erosion caused by annual plowing when growing traditional grain crops, that they play a great role in windbreak and sand fixation and in conserving water and soil, making them one of the preferred shrub species for protecting and building ecology.
“The oilseed peony combines ecological, economic and social benefits, and vigorously developing oilseed peonies is one of the important practices for advancing ecological civilization construction.” Li Yucai told reporters his dream: he hopes that every person across the country can eat 10 jin of peony seed oil each year, and he expressed that he will use his life's energy to realize his “peony dream”.