Chinese medicinal herbs become a new industry enriching farmers

Dugezhuang Village is located in Boye County, Hebei Province. This place has long had a tradition of growing Chinese medicinal herbs, but because planting was scattered, risky and not on a scale, the village found it hard to profit from Chinese medicinal herbs. In recent years, the village has introduced new seeds and transformed its planting methods. Large-scale, intensive planting methods have expanded farmers' initial 100 mu to 15,000 mu, and the villagers have also taken the road to prosperity by growing Chinese medicinal herbs.

"One mu of land brings in at least 5,000 yuan. Our village began planting the Chinese medicinal herb bupleurum on a large scale, and more than 1,500 households in the village have now taken it up." Recently, Gao Hui, a large-scale grower in Dugezhuang Village, Boye County, Hebei Province, said, "We growers do not worry about sales, and the price is guaranteed, because we have signed orders with the village's Cuiwei Bupleurum Cooperative. In 2015 my family planted 15 mu, with a yield of 120 jin of bupleurum roots per mu. The cooperative purchased them at 50 yuan per market jin. After deducting the costs of seeds, agricultural supplies and pesticides, the net income was more than 80,000 yuan. In 2016 I planted more than 30 mu, and thanks to proper management, they grew well, with a net income of about 160,000 yuan."

"Our village has a tradition of growing Chinese medicinal herbs for many years, but because market conditions are unstable and there were no orders, villagers faced great risks in planting, and in some years they even lost money, so their enthusiasm was not high. Before 2008, the village's bupleurum planting area was only around 100 mu or so, all planted separately by each household, without forming a scale." Liu Shiliang, the cooperative's president, said nearby, "In 2008, through an introduction from a friend, I got some Japanese-made Mishima-brand bupleurum seeds from Beijing. At the time I trial-planted 100 mu. The new variety of bupleurum not only had high yield and good quality, but also had strong disease resistance during the growing period. That year I earned more than 400,000 yuan."

After growing rich, Liu Shiliang did not forget his fellow villagers. In 2009, with help from the relevant county government departments, Liu Shiliang led the establishment of the Boye Cuiwei Bupleurum Professional Cooperative and established a direct sales channel with the Japanese company Tsumura & Co. The whole village's bupleurum was grown under contract, all of it exported to Japan. In late November 2013, Cuiwei Cooperative signed an agreement with Beijing Shennong Baicao Holding Co., Ltd. to jointly build a modern Chinese medicinal herb industrial park of more than 10,000 mu. Both sides strictly followed relevant national technical requirements and rules to develop Chinese medicinal herb cultivation in a standardized way, effectively raising the level of intensive, industrialized, large-scale and standardized production of Chinese medicinal herbs. Good reputation and the guarantee of prosperity led more farmers in the village to start growing bupleurum. At present, the cooperative's members have grown from nearly 100 households at the beginning to more than 1,500 households, accounting for 95% of the village's farming households, and the planting area has grown from more than 100 mu at the beginning to 15,000 mu, effectively broadening the villagers' road to prosperity.