How Liu Yiping, a National Rural Youth Leader in Getting Rich, Built an Ecological "Golden Mountain"
Liu Yiping introducing the characteristics of notoginseng
He shares a name with a former prefectural Party secretary of Honghe Prefecture, and he once "escaped" because of the poverty of Daheishan. Liu Yiping, now 36 years old, was born in the Daheishan Miao village of Kafang Town, Gejiu City. Now he has changed his perspective, becoming a broker of ecological agriculture, and has once again thrown himself into the embrace of Daheishan. The mountain's green attire has not changed, yet the villagers' wallets are growing fuller by the day. Of the 13 companies and economic entities he has founded, 7 are related to local ecological development. Liu Yiping has a special affection for his ecological "golden mountain."
In June 2007, Liu Yiping organized and established the Gejiu City Organic Food Development Association and served as its president; in July 2008, he founded the Gejiu City Kafang Daheishan Potato Professional Cooperative and served as its chairman; in August 2009, he founded the Gejiu City Daheishan Yiping Breeding Professional Cooperative and served as its chairman; in July 2011, he founded the Gejiu City Daheishan Biological Medicinal Materials Professional Cooperative and served as its chairman; in May 2013, he founded the Gejiu City Pingguo Economic and Trade Co., Ltd. and served as its executive director; in 2014, he was awarded the honorary title of "Prefecture-Level Good Rural Youth"; in 2015, he was awarded the honorary title of the 9th "National Rural Youth Leader in Getting Rich" by the Communist Youth League Central Committee and the Ministry of Agriculture.
The "Longzhong" Strategy for Wild Bee Farming
On the afternoon of October 23 this year, in Huobachong Village, Kafang Town, Gejiu City, surrounded by green mountains, Liu Yiping and village committee director Yang Jianwen finally sat down together. The topic they discussed was how to integrate the local tradition of wild bee farming with modern processing, so that Liu Yiping's "company" + Yang Jianwen's village "wild bee farming base" + "villagers" model could generate better and more stable economic benefits.
"Our village's wild bee farming professional cooperative was established in September this year, and we have even registered the trademark," Yang Jianwen said. At present, the problem the cooperative needs to solve is the honey processing technique. "Relying on traditional methods is certainly not enough. Due to a lack of experience, people often cut the pupae to death when harvesting honey."
Liu Yiping said: "There is no need to worry about that. We will invite experts to provide guidance. You are also at a disadvantage when it comes to beehives. Traditional beehives do not retain heat. In winter, bees fly to the banks of the Red River to overwinter, and many of them may not necessarily come back. We can first advance funds to provide heat-retaining beehives for the villagers to use, and they can pay after there are benefits."
After reaching a preliminary agreement on the relevant cooperation intentions, Yang Jianwen said he would convene the cooperative members to discuss, and once a decision was made, he would "finalize it" with Liu Yiping.
At this point, Liu Yiping had completed yet another base inspection.
As a child, Liu Yiping, like other mountain children, also had the experience of being stung by wild bees and diving into the grass. But it was these tiny bees that led him to find a path of ecological development that could bring wealth without clearing or cutting down mountain forests. His "Yunnan Jixin Ecological Agriculture, Forestry and Tourism Development Co., Ltd." has already built a factory for processing ecological wild honey, just waiting for the wild bee farming bases to be developed.
"The places with the best ecology are often where the villagers are very poor. I want to develop ecological industries so that the villagers and we can become prosperous together," Liu Yiping said.
A Potato Dream Spreading Across Mountain Villages
As late autumn arrives, a large patch of notoginseng on the mountain of the Mile Village Group, Feijia Village Committee, Baohe Township, Gejiu City, has also reached harvest season. On the afternoon of October 23, fewer villagers than usual came from the Daheishan Village Committee of Kafang Town, Gejiu City, to work here harvesting notoginseng.
Wang Lianfen, a villager from the Xiaoqing Village Group of the Daheishan Village Committee, explained the reason: "Everyone has gone back to tend the cornfields to prepare for next year's potato planting. In a couple of days I also have to go back to tend the cornfields."
This year, Wang Lianfen's family earned a net income of more than 40,000 yuan from 30 mu of potatoes. The family added a tractor and also built a chicken coop. These changes at home made her very happy.
Plant potatoes in winter, then interplant corn in spring. In summer, the harvested potatoes turn into cash in their wallets, and in autumn they harvest a large amount of grain. This way of working, loved by the villagers of Daheishan, has continued for 12 years.
Achieving both money and grain harvests is Liu Yiping's pioneering achievement.
Liu Yiping once went to work outside the province because his hometown was poor. Many years later, firmly determined to return home and start a business, he went back to Daheishan. In 2003, he contracted 200 mu of land in the Miao village group of his hometown, introduced the cold-resistant and drought-tolerant potato "Hezuo 88" and organized villagers to plant it, carried out organic food certification, and leveraged his advantages as a broker to make Daheishan potatoes one of the main suppliers of processing raw materials for Yunnan Province's most famous "Zidi" potato chip company, even exporting them to Vietnam and turning them into "international potatoes." Several years passed, and he drove 20,000 mu of potato planting in Kafang Town, Gejiu City, making it a major local industry.
Xu Yongcai from the Qincaishan Village Group of the Daheishan Village Committee told the reporter: "Liu Yiping not only led the villagers to increase their income and become wealthier, but also cultivated the villagers' concept of scientific planting, for example, everyone can now scientifically select seeds, use interplanting techniques, plastic film mulching techniques..."
Liu Yiping demonstrating the harvest of notoginseng
The "losing money" philosophy of growing notoginseng
With the potato industry already developing steadily, Liu Yiping handed over the "Gejiu City Kafang Daheishan Potato Planting Professional Cooperative" that he had founded himself to the management of the Daheishan Village Committee. He then advanced toward his established ecological economic goals: ecological wild bee farming, and the biological medicinal material notoginseng.
3 years ago, he chose to plant 200 mu of green, pollution-free notoginseng demonstration land deep in the Kafang mountains at an altitude of 1,800 m.
According to his own practical experience and understanding, the higher the altitude at which notoginseng is planted, the fewer the pests and the less pesticide is used. This can create green, pollution-free conditions.
Recently, another patch of his notoginseng land reached harvest season, but he encountered a downturn in the notoginseng market price.
He made a decision: he would not sell the notoginseng, and moreover, as early as 3 months before harvest, he stopped applying pesticides.
He planned to use the notoginseng he grew to develop traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces. He said he could control the production management of these biological medicinal materials and achieve pollution-free standards.
But this brings with it a large amount of tied-up capital, and stopping pesticide application 3 months before harvesting notoginseng also directly affects the yield of notoginseng.
"Doing this is temporarily a loss, but once the deeply processed green, pollution-free traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces are made, there will be great added value. This kind of ecological economy has more long-term significance and broader prospects," Liu Yiping said.