60,000 saplings settle into their new home in Xiongan New Area

At the Millennium Xiulin project site in Gonggang Village, located in Xiongan New Area, every sapling carries a QR code ID tag. By downloading the Xiongan Forest app and scanning the code, the tree species, specifications, production and management information of each tree are clear at a glance. Looking closely at the place-of-origin information, one finds that quite a few tree species come from Pingyuan County, Dezhou City.

The entry of Pingyuan saplings into Xiongan New Area was made possible by the establishment of two offices. On May 27 this year, the Dezhou City Pingyuan County Forestry Bureau Office in Xiongan New Area and the Pingyuan County Sapling Association Office in Xiongan New Area were unveiled and established at the same time, marking a substantive step forward for Pingyuan saplings entering Xiongan New Area.

The Millennium Xiulin project in Xiongan New Area is expected to afforest 900,000 mu, which not only creates enormous demand for saplings but also imposes strict requirements on sapling quality. "The advantage of establishing a sapling association is that it drives farmers to join forces and venture into the market together. If farmers had to go it alone, entering the Xiongan market would be impossible," introduced Sui Lihui, president of the Dezhou City Pingyuan County Sapling Association. "All saplings entering the Xiongan market must have two certificates and one tag. Among them, the production qualification certificate can only be obtained by companies and association organizations with legal-person status; ordinary natural persons do not meet the market entry threshold."

Moreover, saplings entering Xiongan New Area are subject to three planting standards: original crown saplings, diameter at breast height, and soil ball, which set higher requirements for sapling planting. "Previously, when saplings were sold and transported, crown trimming was carried out to ensure the survival rate. But Xiongan New Area, in accordance with national requirements, uniformly plants trees with their original ecology intact, which sets higher requirements for later-stage sapling maintenance," said Zhang Yanlong, a technician at the Dezhou City Pingyuan County Forestry Bureau.

To improve the level of later-stage sapling maintenance, the Dezhou City Pingyuan County Forestry Bureau Office in Xiongan New Area assigned senior forestry engineers to stay stationed in Xiongan. "The tree species needed in Xiongan New Area are all long-lived landscaping trees such as Chinese scholar trees, Chinese ash and goldenrain trees. The county forestry bureau office in Xiongan is mainly responsible for the management, maintenance and technical services for Pingyuan saplings in Xiongan New Area, to improve the sapling survival rate. After technical services were put in place, our sapling survival rate reached 90%, not a single sapling was returned, and it became a model section project of the Millennium Xiulin project in Xiongan New Area. " said Zhang Shouping, director of the Dezhou City Pingyuan County Forestry Bureau Office in Xiongan New Area.

Dezhou City's Pingyuan County is rich in sapling resources. Relying on the "one zone, four bases" construction of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development strategy, it took the lead in connecting with Xiongan New Area, achieving adjustment of the sapling planting structure and improvement of planting efficiency. "From 2013 to 2017 was a trough for the sapling industry, but after connecting with Xiongan, Pingyuan saplings achieved destocking and quality improvement. Take willow saplings as an example: those with a diameter at breast height of 2 cm fetch about 2 yuan each on the market, while the price we send to Xiongan through the association can reach 10 yuan, multiplying farmers' planting returns. " said Sui Lihui.

Up to now, Dezhou City's Pingyuan County has organized 12 promotional events for Xiongan saplings, and has successively supplied more than 30 varieties and over 60,000 saplings to China Communications Construction Company Limited and PowerChina Roadbridge Group Co., Ltd., with an output value of more than 1 million yuan. "Through association connections and forestry bureau assistance, we have created a Pingyuan model of Millennium Xiulin, made the Pingyuan sapling brand known, and driven quality improvement in Pingyuan forestry and increased farmers' income," stated Zhao Hailing, director of the Dezhou City Pingyuan County Forestry Bureau.