Tiny Sichuan Pepper Trees in Jiangjin, Chongqing Grow into a Big Industry for Prosperity

These past few days, Zhou Youhua of Xiuzhuang Village, Xianfeng Town, Jiangjin District, Chongqing, has been beaming with joy: "This year the Sichuan pepper harvest is high, and the purchase prices are good too. The Sichuan pepper from my 8 mu of land can earn me around 100,000 yuan."

This year, all 500,000 mu of Sichuan pepper across Jiangjin District has enjoyed a bumper harvest. Like Zhou Youhua, more than 100,000 Sichuan pepper farming households in Jiangjin have tasted the sweet rewards.

When it comes to the good harvest of Sichuan pepper, the growers are most grateful to one person: Chen Xiuqiang, president of the Jiangjin District Sichuan Pepper Industry Association.

More than a decade ago, Chen Xiuqiang developed a pruning and shaping technique for Sichuan pepper trees, first selecting 20 trees in Zhou Youhua's pepper orchard for an experimental demonstration. "Our thinking back then was that the taller and bigger the Sichuan pepper tree, the better. If all the branches were cut off, wouldn't the Sichuan pepper yield drop?" Zhou Youhua recalled. At the time, none of the growers agreed to take part in Chen Xiuqiang's experiment, afraid he would kill their Sichuan pepper trees. "But then the next year, the yield of those 20 trees was actually a big notch higher than in previous years!"

The growers came one after another to "learn from the master." While teaching the techniques, Chen Xiuqiang kept improving them through experiments to raise the quality and yield of Jiangjin Sichuan pepper. He successively explored and improved new techniques such as grafting, dwarfed close planting, pest and disease control, balanced fertilization, main-branch retraction and renovation of aging trees, shortening the fruiting period from the original three years to a year and a half, and raising the per-mu yield from the original 300 to 500 jin to 800-1,500 jin.

In order to spread these technical achievements, the Sichuan Pepper Association organized experts and technicians to go to the grassroots to hold technical lectures and on-site demonstrations, established 28 Sichuan pepper science popularization demonstration bases, and developed 5,100 science and technology demonstration households, driving more farmers to plant Sichuan pepper and plant it well. Now, the Sichuan pepper area in Jiangjin District has reached 500,000 mu, with an annual output of nearly 200,000 tons.

With such a large output of Sichuan pepper, how can it be turned into real income? With the support of the Jiangjin District Science and Technology Association, the Sichuan Pepper Association actively expanded its social service functions, acting as a bridge, bringing in buyers, organizing production-sales matchmaking, and helping the growers find sales channels.

"We joined forces with Sichuan pepper processing plants to carry out enzyme inactivation and vacuum cold storage on the fresh Sichuan pepper picked by farmers. This way, fresh Sichuan pepper, which originally was only available for about two months each year, can now be supplied year-round, not only extending the sales period but also increasing farmers' income," said Chen Xiuqiang. "We also set up an e-commerce platform to sell our products online. Now Jiangjin Sichuan pepper has no trouble finding buyers!"

Today, the annual output value of Jiangjin Sichuan pepper reaches more than 1 billion yuan. The tiny Sichuan pepper tree has been "grown" into a big industry for prosperity, and the growers' wallets have bulged. Zijing Village in Jiaping Town was formerly a municipal-level poverty-stricken village, and now, through planting Sichuan pepper, the whole village has shaken off poverty and become prosperous.

Zhou Youhua, who was the first to receive technical guidance back then, also used the money earned from growing Sichuan pepper to buy a house in the city. When busy, he lives in the countryside tending his Sichuan pepper trees; when free, he goes to the city for short stays, living an "amphibious" life. Years of planting experience and training have also made him a "local expert" in Sichuan pepper cultivation, and in recent years he has often been invited to various places to guide Sichuan pepper planting. "Last year alone I traveled to several provinces, and one trip could earn me three to five thousand yuan!" Having just sold the Sichuan pepper from his fields, Zhou Youhua has already bought a ticket and is ready to go share his "planting wisdom."

Chen Xiuqiang has not been idle either. He was elected a delegate to the Ninth National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology, and also received titles such as "Advanced Leader in Science Popularization Benefiting Farmers and Revitalizing Villages." "Jiangjin's current Sichuan pepper variety, 'Jiuyeqing,' has been planted for many years and is nearing its decline period. Through grafting and hybridization experiments, we have bred a new variety," said Chen Xiuqiang. The new variety has stronger disease resistance, simpler cultivation and management, and a per-mu yield 500 jin higher than the existing variety. "We plan to start promoting the new variety at the end of the year, making the growers' road to prosperity wider and wider!"