Yao Huaqing: Discussion on Chinese bee (Apis cerana) keeping and the targeted poverty alleviation model
Chinese bee keeping requires little investment, brings quick results, carries low risk and yields high returns. Under normal circumstances, each hive generates an annual income of more than 800-1000 yuan. Each household keeps 5-8 hives, increasing annual income by more than five thousand yuan, truly helping farmers escape poverty and become prosperous, achieving "one mind with two uses, one industry with double harvests, stable grain output and increased income, higher output and greater efficiency, realizing the 'double efficiency' of planting and breeding and the 'double win' of circular farming"; through bees' honey gathering and pollination, it is conducive to producing natural green, organic, pollution-free agricultural products, effectively enhancing the output and quality of crop farming and fruit and forest industries. 1 Longshan County has resources for Chinese bee keeping.
1.1 Mild climate with four distinct seasons. Longshan County is located in the hinterland of the Wuling Mountain area. This is an important part of the "microbial fermentation natural belt" in the "Three Belts Theory" of western Hunan proposed by Professor Zhang Yongkang of Jishou University in Xiangxi (namely: microbial fermentation belt, selenium-rich soil belt, natural linolenic acid belt). The beautiful ecological environment, slightly acidic soil, mild and humid climate, rolling mountains, majestic mountain ranges, crisscrossing valleys, high mountains and steep slopes, abundant springs, rich vegetation, and wild flowers in the mountain forests blooming one after another make this a subtropical humid monsoon climate zone, with four distinct seasons, mild climate, abundant rainfall and a long frost-free period. The county covers an area of 3131 sq km, with a forest coverage rate of 62.2%. In particular, the forest coverage rate in natural mountain ranges such as Wulong Mountain Grand Canyon, Luota Stone Forest, Taipingshan Forest Park and Dalingshan Mountain Range reaches more than 85%.
1.2 Rich and diverse nectar sources. Mountainous area accounts for 80.2% of the total area of Longshan County, while cultivated land accounts for 8.5%. Nearly a thousand kinds of plants and wild flowers grow there; in addition, in recent years, with the conversion of farmland back to forest and grassland and the continuous expansion of the planting area of Chinese medicinal herbs such as Codonopsis pilosula, Scrophularia ningpoensis, Gastrodia elata, Coptis chinensis, Magnolia officinalis and Eucommia ulmoides, the planting area of rapeseed, flue-cured tobacco, lily, citrus, vegetables and Chinese medicinal herbs has reached more than 400,000 mu, providing broad space and nectar sources for bee keeping and capable of supporting the survival of ten thousand bee colonies. Developing Chinese bee keeping enjoys uniquely favorable natural resources. 2 Longshan County has a foundation for Chinese bee keeping.
At present, the county has more than 400 farming households engaged in Chinese bee keeping, with more than 12,000 Chinese bee colonies, producing about 180,000 kg of natural high-quality honey annually, with an output value of more than 10.8 million yuan. Each household increases income by more than 8,000 yuan from bee keeping alone, and families engaged in Chinese bee keeping have basically escaped poverty. The little bee has become a "poverty alleviation industry" and a new growth point for farmers' income. For example, the Jingui Bee Keeping Professional Cooperative in Longshan County keeps Chinese bees and has developed more than 50 members. In June 2015, its chairman Wang Jinhua was invited to the Great Hall of the People and was awarded the honorable title of China's "Three Rural" Model Figure. In 2016, the cooperative's bee products were sold to Shanghai and other places, raising the value of bee products and increasing the cooperative's income. 3 Discussion on the model of Chinese bee keeping and targeted poverty alleviation
3.1 Leading enterprise-driven targeted model. That is, the "leading enterprise (company) + farmer" model, in which the government encourages leading enterprises (companies) to drive surrounding farming households to carry out Chinese bee keeping. In accordance with the targeted poverty alleviation plan and actual conditions, foster care or trusteeship models are carried out to provide bee species to poor households, carry out technical guidance and training, and through the model of "enterprise provides bee species + farmers breed + enterprise purchases bee products", follow the development approach of "small scale, large group", guide poor households to develop the breeding industry, and form a joint force for targeted poverty alleviation to drive poor households out of poverty and toward prosperity.
3.1.1 Targeted "555" foster care model. Farmers borrow 50,000 yuan by loan and hand it to the enterprise (company) for unified use and management. The company provides 5 to 10 bee colonies to poor households for foster care. Breeding is carried out according to the "four unifications", namely unified training, unified technology, unified management and unified sales, and the breeding profit is split 50-50 with the farming household.
3.1.2 Targeted "535" trusteeship breeding model. For poor households lacking the basic conditions for bee keeping and with low breeding skills (the elderly, weak, sick and disabled), trusteeship and commissioned breeding are adopted by handing the bees to the enterprise (company) for breeding. Farmers borrow 50,000 yuan by loan and hand it to the leading enterprise (company) for unified use and management, and the farmers' loans are subsidized with interest discounts by the Poverty Alleviation Office for 3 to 5 years. Poor households are encouraged to work for cooperatives (large households) to earn money and learn technical methods, and at settlement they receive dividends and labor wages according to the proportion agreed by both parties, realizing intensive and large-scale development of breeding.
3.2 Targeted model driven by capable large households. Learn from the targeted poverty alleviation model of Chinese bee keeping implemented in Puding County, Guizhou Province, namely "(1+9)×10" (that is, 1 skilled prosperous person + 9 poor households × 10 hives of bees), support skilled bee keepers, drive poor households to become prosperous together, mobilize or attract large bee-keeping households with funds, strength and technology, and hand bees to farmers for foster care by providing bee species, providing technology and supporting development. Large breeding households provide "one-stop" services from management to recovery and sales, forming a virtuous cycle in which funds follow the poor, the poor follow capable people, capable people follow the industry, and the industry follows the market. Through the driving and radiating effect of large households, poor households gradually escape poverty and become prosperous.
3.3 Targeted model of cadre assistance. Give full play to the vanguard and exemplary role of Party member cadres in poverty alleviation, actively carry out paired assistance, and through Party member cadres seeking help from skilled bee keepers, develop the bee-keeping industry and expand sales channels for bee products. Through paired assistance, stimulate the sense of responsibility of assisting Party member cadres, expand the sales scope, and guide poor households with dedication to escape poverty and become prosperous through bee keeping.
3.4 Targeted model of whole-village advancement. The government provides rewards in place of subsidies, carrying out Chinese bee keeping with support after breeding begins, hiring skilled bee-keeping experts to provide services, conducting on-site training and guidance for poor households, and signing technical service contracts, forming an industrial layout of "one township, one product" and "one county, one product", and combining with rural tourism to increase the added value of Chinese bee keeping.