Traditional Chinese medicinal herb cultivation helps Liwa Village in Nanwu Town open up a new path to prosperity

To the west of Liwa Village, Nanwu Town, Jizhou City, a large stretch of vibrant green crops catches people's attention. It is understood that this is more than 500 mu of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs introduced and planted by the village as it transformed its planting concepts - Atractylodes macrocephala and Polygonum multiflorum.

Liwa Village in Nanwu Town is a typical agricultural village, where farmers mainly grow traditional crops such as wheat, corn and cotton. In recent years, as grain prices have continued to decline, farmers have seen increased output without increased income, and the drawbacks of the traditional planting model have begun to emerge. Many farmers were confused about which direction to take in planting. Seeing this situation, the village party branch secretary Zhang Yixing conceived the idea of finding a new path to prosperity for the farmers. He actively changed his approach and, with the help of technicians from the agricultural department, set his sights on the path of traditional Chinese medicinal herb cultivation.

Although he was born a farmer, traditional Chinese medicinal herb cultivation was still relatively unfamiliar to Zhang Yixing. In order to understand the market, he went alone to Bozhou in Anhui, one of China's four great medicine capitals, and stayed for more than half a month, following large herb-growing households into the fields and around the markets every day to learn about cultivation techniques and market conditions. After some investigation, he became even more determined and confident about growing traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. At the end of 2015, he purchased Polygonum multiflorum seedlings from Bozhou and Atractylodes macrocephala rhizomes from Anguo, consolidated the land of several of his brothers, and also transferred and contracted more than 300 mu of land, planting it all with traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, becoming the first person in the village to eat crab.

Because he did not fully grasp the cultivation techniques and management essentials, problems kept arising in the first year of planting. At the time of planting, the temperature was low, resulting in a low survival rate for the Polygonum multiflorum seedlings. After the Atractylodes macrocephala sprouted, the herbicide was applied too early, which in turn caused problems with the growth of the seedlings... One problem after another left him somewhat overwhelmed. Whenever his brothers sighed, he always comforted them, saying, "Don't worry, this is our first year. Just think of it as exploring experience for the ordinary people, so that when they plant in the future they won't make the same mistakes we did."

Remedying the problems one by one and mastering the techniques bit by bit, Zhang Yixing persevered. He wanted to blaze a new trail, a new trail that could increase income and bring prosperity to the ordinary people. Under their careful tending, the herbs grew better day by day, and they also established the Changhe Traditional Chinese Medicinal Herb Cultivation Professional Cooperative. Recently, through the connection of the city's Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau, several expert professors from Hebei Agricultural University came to Liwa Village to learn about and inspect the growth of the traditional Chinese medicinal herbs and provide on-site technical guidance. They gave detailed explanations on key links such as planting spacing, pest and disease control, heat preservation and humidity control, and deep loosening and fertilization, and brought a full-process video of Atractylodes macrocephala cultivation techniques from Guizhou. They also plan to make Liwa Village a traditional Chinese medicinal herb cultivation practice base for Hebei Agricultural University. On the basis of experimentally planting more traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, they will provide technical support for traditional Chinese medicinal herb cultivation in Liwa Village, drive more farmers to grow traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, and build a traditional Chinese medicinal herb cultivation base.