The "Dendrobium King" of Yulin, Guangxi lets a scarce "immortal herb" help farmers increase their incomes and become well-off
He Zhonghai, the "Dendrobium King".
Tourists visit the Dendrobium officinale garden at Wucai Tianyuan in Yulin, Guangxi.
Tourists visit the Dendrobium officinale garden at Wucai Tianyuan in Yulin, Guangxi.
He is the "Dendrobium King" of Rong County, Yulin City, Guangxi, with a Dendrobium officinale planting area of 3,000 mu, and a winner of the "National Award for Contributions to Germplasm Resource Protection"; with only a high school education, he has been elected to the Rong County CPPCC for three consecutive terms; he participates in politics through his words, drives development through his industry, and by leveraging Rong County's special geographical advantages, he has developed the Dendrobium officinale industry and led tens of millions of farmers onto the road to prosperity.
He is He Zhonghai, a member of the Rong County CPPCC and chairman of Guangxi Jianbao Dendrobium Co., Ltd.
Relying on Rong County's geographical advantages to vigorously develop the dendrobium industry
Dendrobium officinale belongs to the orchid family, also known as Xianhu Lanyun, Huanhun Cao, Busi Cao and so on, and is popularly called "the first of the nine great immortal herbs". Wild dendrobium generally grows on the cliffs and precipices of high mountains, making it difficult to find and pick. Dujiao Mountain in Rong County has high peaks and deep valleys, and its hinterland is shrouded in clouds and mist all year round with numerous streams and ravines. The wild Dendrobium officinale bred by this mountain range is an excellent variety among dendrobiums and a precious Chinese medicinal material.
"I am optimistic about it!" He Zhonghai was optimistic about the market prospects of Dendrobium officinale and was determined to use this scarce "immortal herb" to build a career.
In April 2012, He Zhonghai invested tens of millions of yuan to establish Guangxi Jianbao Dendrobium Company. In order to protect the germplasm resources, through the efforts of He Zhonghai and other CPPCC members, the Rong County People's Government designated Dujiao Mountain as a "Wild Original Germplasm Protection Area for Dendrobium officinale" and established the Dujiao Mountain Dendrobium officinale Breeding and Production Demonstration Base, stipulating that no unit or individual may enter the protection area without authorization to dig or harvest wild Dendrobium officinale, and that specialized enterprises in the county shall exclusively engage in the protection of Dujiao Mountain dendrobium germplasm resources, the tissue culture and production of Dendrobium officinale seedlings, large-scale planting, and deep processing of health products.
At the same time, He Zhonghai established a cultivation base, where he raised a batch of wild dendrobium purchased from various places in Rong County like treasures, maintaining humidity according to the characteristics of its wild living environment, using tree bark for propagation, and not spraying pesticides...
Hard work pays off. More than ten months later, the wild dendrobium that flowered and fruited finally brought him his first batch of seedlings. After placing the seedlings in a greenhouse for a period of time, He Zhonghai transplanted them into large sheds for planting. In order to save planting costs, He Zhonghai innovatively adopted the method of building racks under the forest and hanging cages on branches to plant Dendrobium officinale, which not only made full use of the space under the forest but also saved the cost of building cages, and was widely imitated.
To accelerate the pace of dendrobium development, He Zhonghai built three wild Dendrobium officinale tissue culture factories with a total area of more than 33,000 sq m and a seedling acclimatization field of 20 hectares, successfully tissue-culturing the Dujiao Mountain imitation-wild Dendrobium officinale "Dujiao Mountain No. 1" and "Dujiao Mountain No. 2", which not only retain all the chemical and medicinal components of the wild original species but also ensure the success of dense planting. After acclimatization, the seedlings have more developed root systems and more vigorous growth, with an annual yield of fresh stems of more than 300 kg per mu, and an output value per mu of more than 200,000 yuan. In November 2013, He Zhonghai won the national "Award for Contributions to Dendrobium Germplasm Resource Protection", and Rong County was awarded the title of "Hometown of Chinese Dendrobium officinale", all of which are inseparable from He Zhonghai's efforts.
"In the past, only a very small number of people in Rong County planted dendrobium, scattered and fragmented, unable to form a real presence. Under the demonstration and drive of this company, Dendrobium officinale has become a characteristic medicinal herb planted on a county-wide scale," said Li Min, vice chairman of the Rong County CPPCC.
Dendrobium wine, dendrobium tea, dendrobium beverages, and dendrobium lozenges: these products have now been produced and launched one after another. In 2015, He Zhonghai invested 235 million yuan to build five factories covering 20 hectares - a Dendrobium officinale ultrafine powder factory, a Dendrobium officinale wine factory, a Dendrobium officinale tea factory, a Dendrobium officinale beverage factory and a Dendrobium officinale lozenge factory. Among them, the Dendrobium officinale tea factory began trial production in early December 2015, and the other 4 enterprises are installing production equipment in an intense and orderly manner.
The "four-in-one" operation model leads farmers onto the road to prosperity
"We earn both wages and rent," said Wei Song, a resident of Rongzhou Town, Rong County. "The stable wages ensure that we do not have to worry about food and clothing."
In order to lead farmers out of poverty and to prosperity, He Zhonghai leased 3,000 mu of land in Qiaobei Village, Mujing Village and Qianqiu Village of Rongzhou Town and at "Wucai Tianyuan" in Yudong New Area of Yulin City at a rent of about 1,500 yuan per mu per year to build the Dujiao Mountain Dendrobium officinale demonstration base. Farmers who lease their land not only receive rent annually but are also given priority to work in the base planting and managing Dendrobium officinale, with a monthly wage of 2,000-3,000 yuan. The Dujiao Mountain Dendrobium officinale Breeding and Production Demonstration Base alone employs 380 farmers.
In order to lead more villagers to plant Dendrobium officinale, He Zhonghai is committed to promoting the "company + base + cooperative + farmer" "four-in-one" operation model. At present, the cooperative's members have expanded to 5,780 households. In 2015, the cooperative produced more than 60,000 kg of fresh Dendrobium officinale, with a total output value of 520 million yuan, an average of 90,000 yuan per household, and its products are sold as far away as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou as well as Zhejiang, Hong Kong, China and other places.
Through He Zhonghai's efforts, the "immortal herb" has finally become a "prosperity herb", benefiting his hometown. While using industry to drive economic development, He Zhonghai has not forgotten to give "special care" to poor areas and poor households. In poor villages where dendrobium is planted, he built bridges and roads to improve transportation conditions, and presented 900,000 Dendrobium officinale seedlings worth 1.2 million yuan to more than 400 poor households across the county.
"My life is so much better now!" Zhao Boyuan of Mujing Village, Rongzhou Town, told reporters that he used his rooftop to build a 400 sq m Dendrobium officinale base and planted Dendrobium officinale under trees and in the forest, earning considerable income. Mujing Village in Rongzhou Town was once a well-known poor village in Rong County. Since 2012, with the assistance of Jianbao Company, the village has rapidly set off a boom in Dendrobium officinale planting. At present, 436 households have planted Dendrobium officinale, more than half of the total number of households in the village, and the village's total Dendrobium officinale planting area has reached 56,000 sq m. Over the past few years, this single item alone has increased the village's per capita income by more than 6,000 yuan each year. In January 2014, Mujing Village was awarded the title of "National One Village One Product Demonstration Village" by the Ministry of Agriculture, and in 2015, the village successfully shed its "poverty cap".
"Next, we will not only develop various deep-processed products, but also plan to expand the Dendrobium officinale planting area to 100,000 mu within ten years, so that more people can join this road to prosperity." He Zhonghai is full of confidence about the future.
It seems that this veritable "Dendrobium King" has not stopped. How to make better use of Rong County's dendrobium resources and how to help more farmers get onto the road to prosperity is the mission and responsibility he consciously shoulders as a CPPCC member.