Seeds are the source of agricultural production and are known as the "chips" of agriculture.
Huanggang is a treasure trove of Chinese herbal medicine resources. Of the 1,892 kinds of medicinal materials recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medica, there are 1,186 kinds in Huanggang, but the cultivation of improved varieties has always been a shortcoming of Huanggang.
Since returning to his hometown in 2019 to establish Hubei Ono Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Chen Xiaoye and his team have worked hard to overcome the pain points of improved seed cultivation technology, and have made important breakthroughs in the cultivation of improved varieties of precious Chinese medicinal materials such as Baiji, Huangjing, Chonglou, Dendrobium nobilis, Golden Seven, Dendrobium Huoshan, Rhododendron and Dugarlic orchid, among which Dendrobium nobile and Rhododendron have been successfully domesticated and are in a leading position in China. With Chen Xiaoye's efforts, more than 20 kinds of authentic medicinal materials have taken root, blossomed and borne fruit in his hometown.
Firm Breeding Path -
No matter how hard it is, don't give up
After graduating from university, Chen Xiaoye entered a scientific research institute in Guangdong Province to engage in research on tissue cultivation seedlings, and cooperated with Chinese herbal medicine bases across the country for research and development. It can be said that working here, there is a platform, there is funding.
Why did Chen Xiaoye give up scientific research topics that were easier to produce results and instead return to his hometown to embark on the long cycle of breeding?
It was a chance encounter. In 2016, Chen Xiaoye met the villagers who purchased seedlings in Shaanxi, and then learned that although the traditional Chinese medicine resources in his hometown are so rich, there is a lack of improved seed breeding technology, and many local rare wild medicinal materials and seedlings can only be relocated to other places for cultivation.
"Although the medicinal resources are abundant, due to the long-term neglect of seedling research, the degradation of local varieties is serious, and the authenticity of medicinal materials continues to weaken, so we can only rely on the introduction of foreign seedlings for planting, which makes it difficult to cultivate the varieties and brands of authentic medicinal materials in Dabie Mountain, and has been in a weak position in the industrial chain for a long time." Chen Xiaoye has been engaged in the research of Chinese herbal medicine seedlings for many years, and has his own views on the development of the Chinese herbal medicine industry in his hometown.
"Later, a leader in my hometown came to persuade me to return to my hometown to start a business. I didn't hesitate to quit my high-paying job in Guangzhou and return to Xishui to found Hubei Ono Biotechnology Company. Since then, Chen Xiaoye has returned to Xishui and rented the abandoned board house of the former Mayang Expressway Project Department in Jinbaoshan Village, Qingquan Town, for R&D and production.
Through the investigation, Chen Xiaoye decided to start with Baiji. Baiji, a common ingredient of local medicinal materials and stomach medicine in eastern Hubei Province, has good planting benefits. Due to over-exploitation, wild resources are already very scarce. In that year, the company undertook a number of seedling orders inside and outside the province.
Unexpectedly, in 2020, the outbreak of the epidemic blocked logistics, and the seedlings ordered from other places could not be shipped. Chen Xiaozhi was anxious.
At the critical moment, the Qingquan town government stepped in in time to help him sell seedlings locally and mobilize willing farmers in the surrounding villages to plant Baiji.
In the past few years, high temperatures, droughts, snow disasters, freezing rain - frequent extreme weather have made Chen Xiaoye's "board house" breeding road more difficult.
"Last year's heavy snowfall, 30 acres of greenhouses were razed to the ground overnight, and 80% of the seedlings that could be delivered in the spring were pressed into the ground, and the losses were serious." Speaking of the scene at that time, Chen Xiaoye was heartbroken.
But Chen Xiaoye never forgot his goal.
Sex changes from the land, quality and material migration. "In the Chinese herbal medicine industry, the significance of improved varieties is greater." Chen Xiaoye said that a good variety can promote the development of the entire industry, otherwise there is no core competitiveness in industrial development, "As a Huanggang person, I hope to make a contribution to the development of the Chinese herbal medicine industry in my hometown." ”
The support of the local government also strengthened Chen Xiaoye's confidence - to assist in the transfer of land, rebuild the greenhouse base, apply for 2 million yuan of rural revitalization project funds for him, and transform and upgrade the idle Yanhe Primary School into a new office for the company.
On June 20, the company officially moved out of the board house and moved into a new location. Constant temperature and humidity of the cultivation room, well-equipped laboratory, spacious and bright operation room, "new environment, new starting point, new hope." Chen Xiaoye is full of confidence.
Overcome the pain points of the industry
——Fabricating "chips" of Chinese medicinal materials in rural laboratories
"This is Shennongjia's dendrobium, it is a high-end rare and endangered species, when it began to cultivate, there were only a few seedlings in a bottle, and now the technology is very mature, hundreds of seedlings can be bred in a bottle, and it is currently being stocked in the wild in Shennongjia." In the laboratory with controllable temperature, humidity and light, there are thousands of culture flasks, looking at the tissue culture seedlings such as Dendrobium and Culmatis that are growing gratifyingly in the bottles, Chen Xiaoye's eyes are bright.
In the long-term planting process, the seeds and seedlings of Chinese herbal medicines are affected by soil, climate and other factors, and their ability to resist stress and disease is constantly decreasing, which affects the growth and quality of Chinese herbal medicines. Tissue culture is mainly aimed at the difficulty of seed germination and some rare and precious varieties, through the cultivation of detoxified seedlings, the seedlings can be multiplied quickly, and transplanted to the field or suitable environment after seedling adaptation.
The traditional planting method of Baiqi is inefficient, and the small wild creatures have been detoxified, tissue culture, domesticated and multiplied, and have cultivated a high-quality seedling with their own exclusive name, which is superior to other varieties in terms of resistance, yield and quality.
"Through the cutting section of the rhizome of Baiji, you can judge whether it is our company's seedling." Chen Xiaoye confidently said that the company's Baiqi (dry) is 20 to 30 yuan higher per kilogram than other varieties of Baiji, and has carried out large-scale planting in Xishui and Qichun, with a planting area of 3,000 mu.
Rhododendron orchid, a rare anti-tumor medicinal species, is a national second-class protected plant. Due to the scarcity of wild resources, the traditional breeding method of wild transfer is far from being able to meet the market demand, and the price is rising year by year.
The scientific research team composed of 6 doctors of Ono Company has found a new way, through more than 4 years of technical research, using the germination fungus cultivation method, only half a year to achieve the field planting of rhododendron. This year, 30 acres of base has been built in Qinling for trial planting, and rhododendron orchid is expected to become a rookie variety in the Chinese herbal medicine industry in Dabie Mountain, Huanggang.
Breeding is a long road. "The core technology cannot be imitated, and we can only rely on ourselves to continue to explore, innovate, try and make mistakes in small steps, iterate quickly, and go down step by step." Chen Xiaoye said frankly.
At present, the company has formed technical cooperation with Li Shizhen College of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Huanggang Normal University, Huanggang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hubei Provincial Forestry Department, Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Shennongjia Forestry Institute and many other units, providing seedlings and technical guidance for Luotian, Qichun, Hubei Shiyan, Anhui Jinzhai, Sichuan Yibin, Chongqing Youyang, Shaanxi and other places of Chinese herbal medicine planting bases.
Play a leading role
——I hope that the fertile field will show new green
On June 26, in the Baiji seedling cultivation demonstration base in Chitupo Village, Qingquan Town, Xishui County, Zheng Yueying and other six villagers were busy weeding.
"When it rains, the grass grows rapidly, and it is not good to shovel it quickly and affect the growth of seedlings." Zheng Yueying's movements were swift, and the grass was quickly cut.
"This base has 30 acres and a total of 15 million seedlings. The company was selected as the Shennongjia National Reserve Forest Economic Medicinal Materials Project, and these seedlings are prepared for this project. Chen Xiaoye introduced.
In recent years, driven by the company, 24 villages in Huanggang have planted Chinese medicinal materials such as baiji, which has driven more than 400 farmers around to increase their income and become rich. The company has also developed into a Xishui technology-based "seed enterprise", with an annual tissue culture capacity of more than 30 million plants.
"Last year, the sales of baiji were relatively good, and the village got 80,000 yuan in dividends, and the villagers have about 10 people working in the base every year, with an annual income of 1-20,000 yuan per person." Zhang Zhiguo, secretary of the Party branch and director of Yanhe Village, Qingquan Town, Xishui County, said that the village cooperated with the company to establish a professional cooperative for planting Chinese medicinal materials in Vauban County, Xishui County, and 80 acres of land have been transferred to plant Baiji.
With its advanced technical strength, Ono Biotech has received more than 50 million seedling orders from all over the country. Xishui County introduced Shi'an Decoction Pieces, Hongjian Pharmaceutical, Fusheng Pharmaceutical, and Anshi Food to settle in Pang'anshi Health Industrial Park.
"After the cooperation between Shi'an Pharmaceutical and Ono Company, not only the quality of medicinal materials has been guaranteed, but also many medicinal materials no longer have to travel to other places to buy, saving 30% of the cost." Dun Xixian, deputy general manager of Hubei Shi'an Decoction Pieces Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., said. He introduced that he plans to cooperate with Xiaoye in the planting of seedlings and seedlings, planting 8,000 acres of raw medicinal materials.
Good seedlings produce good seedlings, and good seedlings produce good medicines.
"Grasping the cultivation of improved varieties is equivalent to seizing the leader of the Chinese herbal medicine industry, in order to take the lead in the market, in order to drive the development of upstream and downstream industries, and promote the city's Chinese herbal medicine industry to become bigger and stronger." Chen Xiaoye said that the company will pay close attention to the development strategy of the traditional Chinese medicine industry of the municipal party committee and the municipal government, create a good "chip" for the Chinese herbal medicine industry, improve the quality of local authentic Chinese herbal medicines, promote the cultivation of improved varieties, supplement and strengthen the chain, and contribute to the high-quality development of the Huanggang Chinese herbal medicine industry.
"It's a tough road, but someone has to walk it." Chen Xiaoye said that he was willing to go on forever.
【Expert's Perspective】
Scientific and technological innovation brings together the source of new quality productivity
Sun Muhua, director of the Grassroots Governance Research Center of the Party School of the Municipal Party Committee
The new quality productivity is the leading role of innovation, getting rid of the traditional economic growth mode and productivity development path driven by low-cost labor and resource factors, and has the characteristics of high technology, high efficiency and high quality, and is in line with the new development concept of advanced productivity quality. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that the development of new quality productivity is an inherent requirement and an important focus to promote high-quality development, and we must continue to do a good job in innovation to accelerate the development of new quality productivity.
Innovation leads the future. Only by playing the first move of scientific and technological innovation can we take the initiative in industrial development. As the hometown of medicine saints and the hometown of materia medica, Huanggang has unique advantages in developing the authentic medicinal materials industry. Ono Biotechnology Co., Ltd. adapts measures to local conditions, focuses on nuclear "core" technology, overcomes the problem of seedling cultivation, breaks through the blockage point of the development of the authentic medicinal materials industry, and successfully reduces the cost and improves the quality of local medicinal materials. Through scientific and technological innovation, we will gather the source of new quality productivity and transform natural advantages into development momentum.
Technology changes lives. Only by strengthening the transformation and application of achievements can scientific and technological achievements be transformed into real productivity, scientific and technological innovation can radiate to a wider range of regions and more people, and let people share the development results of new quality productivity. The development of seedling cultivation has led to the development of upstream and downstream industries, and has also driven the villagers to increase their income and become rich, and enhanced social vitality. We must actively embrace the new quality of productive forces and create favorable social conditions for the development of new quality of productive forces.