"Crop Doctor" Liang Jiujie Invents High-Efficiency Agricultural Technology, Achieves Nationwide Promotion
Liang Jiujie
When people in Tougou Town, Chengde County mention Liang Jiujie, the head of the town's comprehensive regional agricultural technology extension station, there is no one who does not give him a thumbs-up. In their eyes, this "crop doctor" who grew up locally has long since become the "guardian deity" who protects their path to prosperity.
After graduating from junior high school in 1990, Liang Jiujie went to work as a temporary worker at the Chengde County Agriculture Bureau. In 1991, he was assigned to the Tougou Town agricultural extension station as a technician, and thus began his agricultural technology extension career spanning more than twenty years.
Over more than twenty years, Liang Jiujie has traveled almost every mountain and river in Chengde County. Long-term practical work made him a widely known "crop doctor." Whether crops or vegetables fell ill, were infested by pests, or suffered any difficult and complicated disease, the first person the villagers thought of was Liang Jiujie.
"Over all these years, we have owed so much to Station Head Liang," Old Gao, who is in charge of production, told the reporter earnestly in front of the strawberry greenhouses at the agricultural science and technology experimental demonstration base in Yangzhazi Village, Gangzi Township. "A few years ago we planted cucumbers, and we did not know what disease they had, so we quickly asked Station Head Liang to come and take a look. After careful diagnosis, he helped us cure the cucumbers' disease. Later, on his suggestion, we switched to growing high-efficiency cash crops such as strawberries and grapes, and the returns have been very good."
Over the years, Liang Jiujie not only participated in the experimental demonstration and promotion of more than forty new varieties and new technologies, but also took part in the construction and implementation of more than ten national and provincial agricultural benefit projects. Among them, three cultivation technologies he invented - "High-Efficiency Cultivation Technology for Three Crops a Year of Greenhouse Lettuce, Firm-Fruited Tomato, and Celery," "Annual Large-Crop, Large-Ridge, Single-Row, Double-Stem Cultivation Technology for Peppers in Solar Greenhouses," and "High-Yield Cultivation Technology for Summer Ginger in Solar Greenhouses" - have been promoted cumulatively across 13,000 mu in the county, increasing net agricultural income by more than 150 million yuan, and have also been promoted and applied in many provinces and cities across the country.
From 2006 to 2008, Liang Jiujie was sent to Shangbancheng Town in Chengde County to take charge of a 480-mu colored pepper demonstration project. Because these colored peppers were all supplied to Hong Kong, China, the buyers had very strict requirements for the shape and quality of the peppers, selecting them one by one during acceptance inspection, and rejecting all those whose shape did not meet the standard. In order to persuade the farmers, Liang Jiujie demonstrated the techniques himself, especially the "pepper twisting" technique: twist too hard and the pepper breaks off; twist too gently and it does not twist into place; moreover, the young colored pepper fruit must not touch the stem, otherwise it would affect the appearance... During that period, Liang Jiujie entered a greenhouse every two days, soaking in the work with the farmers day after day.
Within the jurisdiction for which Liang Jiujie is responsible, there are five large cooperatives, including "Beiqiang, Shuangcheng, Yanglin, Hong Kong, China Vegetable Supply, and Jinsangtian." He not only actively participated in the production and management of the cooperatives, but also offered suggestions and strategies for their development. In 2014, when he was conducting an inspection in Guyuan, Zhangjiakou, he found that the local broccoli planting returns were very good, so he suggested that the Beiqiang Cooperative grow broccoli. In order to achieve good returns, from planting season to seedling raising in cold sheds, from watering to shading, there was not a single technique for which Liang Jiujie failed to be on site and strictly check. In recent years, in response to the management of the Beiqiang Cooperative, he also helped them establish 6 direct-sale vegetable stores. At present, the two vegetable planting cooperatives "Beiqiang" and "Deneng" within Liang Jiujie's jurisdiction have been certified as national-level standard demonstration parks.
Over the years, Liang Jiujie's work has been recognized by the broad community of farmers and governments at all levels. In 2007, he received one "First Prize of the Harvest Award" from the Hebei Provincial Department of Agriculture; in 2010, he was rated as an advanced individual in vegetable promotion and production in Hebei Province; in 2015, he received the honorary title of "Skilled Craftsman" from Chengde County, as well as multiple honors including the Hebei Provincial Department of Agriculture's "First Prize for Entrepreneurship in Research and Application of Safe and Efficient Production Technology for Facility-Grown Cash Crops in Mountainous Areas."