Gansu Maiji District's little red pearls light up farmers' path to prosperity
Little red pearl is the nickname of the traditional Chinese medicine Schisandra chinensis, but now it has become the name of the planting farmers' professional cooperative in Longfeng Village, Dongcha Town.
Longfeng Village, Dongcha Town, Maiji District, is located deep in the vast Qinling Mountains, within the jurisdiction of the Liyuan Forest Farm of the Xiaolongshan Forestry Experimental Bureau. The altitude here ranges from 800 m to 1300 m, and the area has a north temperate climate. The warm and pleasant climate allows the primitive forests to grow luxuriantly while also providing unique conditions for the growth of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. From ancient times to the present, the entire Qinling mountain range has been covered with Schisandra chinensis, Paris polyphylla, Polyporus umbellatus, Gastrodia elata, Bupleurum chinense, and Bletilla striata, making it a paradise for the growth of various traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. The residents here have had the habit of gathering, processing, and trading medicinal herbs since ancient times. Today's transportation conditions are far better than before: National Highway 310, Tianbao Expressway, the Baoji-Lanzhou Passenger Dedicated Line, and the Dongcha-to-Tianshui county and township roads extend in all directions, providing convenient conditions for the cultivation, processing, and trade of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs.
The Little Red Pearl Planting Professional Farmers' Cooperative aims to rely on this unique advantageous resource to give new luster in the new era to Longfeng Village's tradition of dealing in traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, and to contribute to the villagers' efforts to escape poverty and become prosperous.
The cooperative is mainly engaged in the cultivation, purchasing, processing, and sales of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. At present, the cooperative has more than 2000 mu of medicinal herb planting area, and a processing plant and warehouse of 230 sq m. It mainly cultivates local wild Schisandra chinensis, Paris polyphylla, Polyporus umbellatus, Bupleurum chinense, Bletilla striata, and various other traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. The annual output is 45,000 jin, the output value is 2.7 million yuan, and the net income is 600,000 yuan. Through the industrialized operation model of "cooperative + base + farmers," it effectively promotes the development of modern efficient agriculture. In their view, the unique color, aroma, and flavor of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, the visual impression of large contiguous areas, and the scenery of the vast forest region complement one another, also providing convenience for developing modern sightseeing agriculture. If this can be tapped and utilized, it will also be a source of income for the cooperative and can promote the development of local tourism.
Liu Cunfu, legal representative of the Little Red Pearl Cooperative, is the village Party branch secretary of Longfeng Village. He looks refined and gentle, and is a person with experience, stories, and foresight. Before 2003, he was the village head of Longfeng Village. Starting in 1996, he and the team members led the villagers in building more than 200 mu of pepper orchards and more than 100 mu of apricot orchards. He also ran his own sand mining plant, but a heavy rain in 2002 destroyed the plant, and his livelihood ran into trouble. This made him think of a problem: to lead the villagers to prosperity, he first had to have the ability to become prosperous himself. In 2003, he submitted a resignation application to the township Party committee, saying: "I am sorry, fellow villagers, I am going out to work."
That departure lasted 10 years. During those 10 years, he kept migrating for the sake of making a living, leaving his footprints in Shanxi, Hangzhou, and Xi'an. He did decoration work and also did management work in enterprises. Speaking of the opportunity that led him into the traditional Chinese medicinal herb business, Liu Cunfu said that in 2012 he was working at a steel structure company in Xi'an. At that time, the company was building a building for a pharmaceutical company in Baoji, and the manager of the pharmaceutical company often spoke of being troubled by shortages of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs such as Polyporus umbellatus and Paris polyphylla. This reminded him of his hometown's tradition of cultivating traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. Encouraged by that manager, he strengthened his confidence in cultivating traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, so he resigned and began traveling around for the sake of cultivating them. He went to the Yangling Agricultural Demonstration Zone, the Taibai Mountain Schisandra chinensis planting base, and the China Gastrodia Research Institute for inspections, and also went to Liaoning to inspect Polyporus umbellatus cultivation, learning experience, learning management, and looking at products, making full preparations. In April 2013, carrying his dream and the villagers' hopes for prosperity, the Little Red Pearl Planting Farmers' Professional Cooperative was established. In 2014, the city carried out activities to strengthen the building of grassroots Party organizations. The Longfeng Village team was reorganized, and with the unanimous recommendation of the village branch Party members, Liu Cunfu became branch secretary again.
Liu Cunfu told the reporter that the Little Red Pearl Cooperative adopts measures of unified standards, unified planting, unified purchasing, and unified services, continuously improving work efficiency. It absolutely does not use any chemical fertilizers or pesticides, improves the quality and safety of the herbs, has established good business relationships with multiple medicinal herb companies and pharmaceutical companies, and sells products only after screening and grading them.
Speaking about the cooperative's future, Liu Cunfu said with full confidence that as the industry grows and expands, the cooperative plans to achieve by 2020 a target output value of 20 million yuan for traditional Chinese medicinal herbs such as Polyporus umbellatus, Gastrodia elata, Paris polyphylla, Bletilla striata, and Bupleurum chinense. By then, the tourism and sightseeing business of the green natural traditional Chinese medicinal herb planting base will also develop vigorously, its influence and reputation will continue to expand, the level of information management will be raised to a new height, and the contribution rate of agricultural science and technology to agricultural production will be even higher.
At the end of the interview, the reporter learned that Liu Cunfu had been honorably elected as a 2015 Maiji District model worker, and a commendation meeting would be held the next day. At noon the next day, Liu Cunfu posted a photo on his WeChat of himself wearing a big red flower and receiving the commendation, with the following sentence written below: "As long as you put in effort, there will always be a return."