Guilin Town, Linzhou City: Tiny Medicinal Herbs Open the Door to Prosperity
Since the beginning of this year, Guilin Town in Linzhou City has accelerated the pace of adjusting its agricultural industrial structure. Following the approach of building bases, expanding scale, and opening up markets, and adopting a "cooperative + farmers" model, it has encouraged farmers to actively grow medicinal herbs such as isatis root (Isatis indigotica, woad) and red sage (Salvia miltiorrhiza, danshen), exploring a new path to enrich farmers and increase their incomes.
Walking into Guilin Town, along the road from the town area to Gushan Village, the reporter saw small yellow flowers blooming on both sides of the road, just like rapeseed flowers, giving off a faint fragrance. According to nearby villagers, these are not rapeseed flowers, but a medicinal herb -- isatis root. Li Sen, a 50-year-old villager from Gushan Village, used to make a living growing traditional crops such as corn and wheat. This spring, he heard that the town was going to develop medicinal herbs and transfer land to grow isatis root. After hesitating for quite a while, Li Sen decided to give it a try.
Li Sen, a villager from Gushan Village, Guilin Town, Linzhou City
"The township government came to the village and said that transferring land to grow isatis root would bring high economic returns, so I started growing it."
Li Sen is an expert at growing traditional crops, but when it comes to growing medicinal herbs, he was completely in the dark and had no idea where to start. In order to help farmers master medicinal herb cultivation techniques, the Guilin Town government reached out through multiple channels to invite medicinal herb experts and professors from the province and city to provide farmers with agricultural science and technology information services on an irregular basis.
Li Wenzhuang, Director of the Village Committee of Gushan Village, Guilin Town, Linzhou City
"In order to increase the income of the isatis root base, we hired experts to provide technical training to some farmers, including impoverished households, covering everything from the initial sowing of isatis root to later management. Through the training, our impoverished households, as well as some workers, gained more confidence in growing it."
With the guarantee of cultivation techniques, the villagers' enthusiasm for growing the herb was greatly stimulated. All 18 impoverished households in Gushan Village joined the cooperative by contributing their land as shares and participated in the year-end dividends. The cooperative then helped them increase their incomes by hiring impoverished households to manage the land. Through medicinal herb cultivation, they earned a real and tangible income.
Li Wenzhuang, Director of the Village Committee of Gushan Village, Guilin Town, Linzhou City
"During the cooperative's operation, the yield per mu was more than 200 kg, income increased by 1,500 yuan per mu, and impoverished households increased their income by 3,000 yuan per year."
The isatis root cultivation base in Gushan Village is only one part of Guilin Town's efforts to advance the adjustment of its agricultural industrial structure. The red sage cultivation base in Pingxinzhuang Village is also growing well, with a harvest in sight.
Since the beginning of this year, Pingxinzhuang Village has actively explored a "company + base + farmers" model, effectively linking growers with economic organizations and solving the problem of selling the medicinal herbs. At present, the first phase has developed 260 mu of red sage cultivation, employing 60 people to participate in farming and management at the base, including 10 impoverished individuals.
At present, Guilin Town has planted more than 4,000 mu of isatis root and red sage medicinal herbs in total. All 33 villages have established specialized cooperatives. Farmers' incomes have increased by 3,000 yuan per year. These tiny medicinal herbs are opening the door to happiness and prosperity for the impoverished people of Guilin Town.