Chinese medicinal herb industry helps the people of Haixing Development Zone increase their incomes and achieve prosperity
According to a report in Zhongwei Daily, whenever she enters the workroom, the distinctive fragrance of Chinese medicinal herbs that greets her puts Li Cunmei in a good mood and fills her with energy. From a rural woman who spent all day bustling around the stove and children to an industrial worker, Li Cunmei of Siying Village, Sanhe Town, said this was something she had never imagined.
In the small and micro enterprise incubation park of Haixing Development Zone, the processing workshops of Ningxia Huizheng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Ningxia Hongxia Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. are bustling with activity, and there are already more than 40 rural women like Li Cunmei who earn a salary right at their doorstep. In the slicing and packaging workshop of Ningxia Huizheng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Li Cunmei is mainly responsible for bottling the sliced Astragalus membranaceus (milkvetch root). "This job is very easy for people like us who are used to farm work. Now my monthly salary is equivalent to the income from growing 2 mu of corn for 1 year. It's wonderful!" Li Cunmei is not only satisfied with her current job, but has also begun to plan to plant several mu of her family's land with Chinese medicinal herbs of higher economic value, such as Codonopsis pilosula (dang shen) or Astragalus membranaceus.
Where there is a dream, there is a future and motivation. Like Li Cunmei, Yu Zhengfu of Qiuling Village, Sanhe Town, also wants to shake off the "poverty cap" as soon as possible and live a prosperous life. This year, under the guidance and encouragement of the Party committee and government of Sanhe Town, he planted all of his family's more than 10 mu of land with Isatis indigotica (woad root).
"Although this year has been very dry and the medicinal herbs in the field have not grown very 'beautifully,' compared with growing corn and wheat, it is still better. If we planted wheat, this kind of dry land would definitely have no harvest at all..." Speaking of Chinese medicinal herb cultivation, Yu Zhengfu is full of confidence. He believes that with the support policies introduced by Haixing Development Zone and so many pharmaceutical enterprises recruited right at the doorstep, as long as the weather is favorable, planting medicinal herbs will have "money prospects."
Guo Jiwu, deputy secretary of the Party Working Committee and director of the Management Committee of Haixing Development Zone, told reporters that in terms of industrial policy, the state has listed the pharmaceutical industry, as an important component of the biological economy, as a major strategy for breakthrough development, and issued the "Several Opinions of the State Council on Supporting and Promoting the Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine," which clearly states the need to actively promote the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine and vigorously develop Chinese patent medicines and ethnic medicines. Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Zhongwei City have also issued corresponding opinions and plans, and Sanhe Town has a traditional history of Chinese medicinal herb cultivation as well as suitable climatic conditions. For this reason, after careful study and scientific analysis, the Party Working Committee and Management Committee of the development zone clearly identified the Chinese medicinal herb industry as an advantageous leading industry to cultivate in order to adjust and optimize the planting structure, improve agricultural efficiency, increase farmers' incomes, and strengthen the regional economy.
In accordance with the requirements of diversified varieties, regionalized layout, standardized cultivation, and standardized processing, Haixing Development Zone closely relies on the small and micro enterprise incubation park, vigorously attracts investment, actively introduces Chinese medicinal herb processing enterprises, and firmly grasps key links such as the construction of planting bases and the cultivation of leading enterprises, enabling the Chinese medicinal herb industry to rise rapidly in Haixing Development Zone. According to statistics, the small and micro enterprise incubation park has currently introduced 20 primary processing enterprises for Chinese medicinal herbs, driving farmers in villages such as Qiuling, Xueliang, and Hongcheng in Sanhe Town to plant 11,600 mu of Chinese medicinal herbs such as woad and Astragalus membranaceus.
In order to solidly promote the development and growth of the Chinese medicinal herb industry, the Party Working Committee and Management Committee of Haixing Development Zone also initiated the establishment of a Chinese medicinal herb industry cooperative. On October 23 this year, Haixing Development Zone held the founding meeting of the Ningxia Huacaoyuan Chinese Medicinal Herb Planting Professional Cooperative and the promotion meeting for the development of the Chinese medicinal herb industry. The main persons in charge of Sanhe Town, the persons in charge of the 20 introduced Chinese medicinal herb processing enterprises, members of the Huacaoyuan cooperative, and persons in charge of Qiyang Town, Liwang Town, and Zhengqi Township in Haiyuan County gathered together to seek major development plans and join forces to pave a road to prosperity for the people.
It is often said that "everything is difficult at the beginning." However, Haixing Development Zone, enjoying favorable timing, geographical advantages, and popular support, has already made a good start and taken a big step in the development of the Chinese medicinal herb industry. Next, Haixing Development Zone still has a lot to do, but as long as it persists in combining the development of the Chinese medicinal herb industry with agricultural development, comprehensively accelerates the pace of standardized cultivation and quality standardization, and continuously improves the level of deep processing and industrial intensification, the Chinese medicinal herb industry will certainly become a new engine for local farmers to increase their incomes and achieve prosperity. The fragrance of medicinal herbs wafting along the road to prosperity will be the most beautiful and vivid scene in the overall layout of industrial development in Haixing Development Zone.