(Photo by Lin Dongmei, Hunan Daily All Media Reporter Gu Pengbo)
Hunan Daily all-media reporter Su Li
With "fungi and grass", he traveled through thousands of mountains and rivers to help farmers plant hope and reap happiness in the vast African continent.
On June 29, Lin Dongmei was invited to give a keynote speech at the China-Africa Women's Forum to share her experience in the promotion and application of fungus technology in Africa.
African friends call her "Green Messenger" - she fully promotes China's fungus technology into Africa, thousands of miles away, so that this "small but beautiful" technology has helped countless poor farmers quickly get rid of poverty, helped local cultivation of a large number of fungus talents, and let the fungus technology take root in Africa.
(Lin Dongmei teaches local technicians in the Central African Republic.) ）
Follow in the footsteps of his father and devote himself to the fungus business
Invited to attend the China-Africa Women's Forum, Lin Dongmei stayed in Changsha for only 8 hours. Then he rushed to Shenzhen and began a journey of traveling to 9 cities in 6 days.
On July 4, Lin Dongmei met her father Lin Zhanxi in Beijing and rushed to Bole City, Xinjiang, to investigate the fungus ecological project.
Lin Dongmei is currently the deputy director of the National Engineering Research Center for Mycograss, the consultant of the United Nations Mycology Project, and the deputy director of the International Cooperation and Exchange Office of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University.
She bonded with the fungus and completely followed in her father's footsteps.
(Lin Dongmei, Lin Zhanxi and their scientific research team at the Alashan fungus grass wind and sand fixation scientific research demonstration base.) ）
In the 80s of last century, Lin Zhanxi introduced giant fungus native to North Africa to China, and after arduous exploration, successfully realized the cultivation of edible and medicinal mushrooms with grass instead of wood. As the inventor of Chinese fungus technology, Lin Zhanxi is known as the "father of fungi".
Since she was a child, Lin Dongmei knew how difficult her father's scientific research road was, and she did not want to follow her father's path for a while. After further studies at the National University of Singapore, she stayed in Singapore to work as a civil servant and made a good living.
In 2003, the father went to Papua New Guinea to carry out foreign aid work, and in Singapore he transited to meet his daughter. Lin Dongmei watched her father's back leave, and suddenly found that her father, who had been in the wind under his feet, had stumbled slightly.
"Father is old!" This made Lin Dongmei's heart tremble. Thinking that there were still too many difficulties to overcome in her father's long-cherished fungus business, Lin Dongmei could no longer stand idly by - that year, she resolutely quit her high-paying job in Singapore, said goodbye to a comfortable life, and returned to Fujian to devote herself to the fungus business.
Previously, Lin Zhanxi paid for research and development out of his own pocket, and the technology research and development and poverty alleviation promotion overdrew more than 200,000 yuan, and the laboratory could not even pay the salaries of employees.
Lin Dongmei's joining made up for the shortcomings of team management. Her multidisciplinary experience in chemistry, biology, education and other disciplines, as well as her international academic background, have given her a broad mind and vision. She put forward the development idea of taking the industrial application of fungus technology as the "hematopoietic" of scientific research, transferred the patented technology of fungus, and successfully solved the economic dilemma.
Over the past 20 years, Lin Dongmei and her father have worked side by side to expand the fungus technology from poverty alleviation to many fields such as ecological treatment of fungus grass and biomass energy development of fungus grass, and also promoted the fungus technology overseas, taking root in 106 countries and regions.
33 trips to Africa to promote fungus technology
In the height of summer, in South Africa, thousands of miles away from China, the rain is fierce, washing roofs and trees. In the fields, large expanses of tall giant fungi stretch their broad leaves, and the well-developed root system extends underground to drink enough rainwater.
In 2004, Lin Dongmei set foot on African soil for the first time, and came to the Kwagulu Natal province in South Africa. What she intuitively felt, in addition to the exotic beauty, was poverty.
"The audience for fungi aid is the poor of the poor." Lin Dongmei said they often have no land, no skills, no education, and struggle to survive.
How can they quickly master the technology, grow mushrooms well, and be able to sell them for money? This is a very big challenge for Lin Dongmei.
Lin Dongmei introduced the concept of standardized management into the promotion of the project, and together with the expert team, established a "10 square meter mushroom farm" model for local small farmers, disassembled the entire mushroom production link step by step, and standardized the operation with the simplest method suitable for the local area, so that the local people can "understand it when you see it, learn it and do it".
In the village of Quadidin, 28-year-old Nomhosia Ndolovos manages 5 square metres of land. Under the guidance of Chinese experts, she harvests fungi, chops, stirs, bags, makes culture media, sows strains, digs ditches into fungus bags, covers with plastic wrap, and regularly sprays water to moisturize...
In less than a month, Nomhosia Ndolovos harvested 4 oyster mushrooms, a total of 47 kilograms, and made a profit of 940 rand (about 1035 yuan). This is a huge amount of money for her, enough to support her old mother, three older sisters and a child.
"Thank you to the agricultural experts from China who taught us to grow mushrooms and bring us the gospel!" Nomhosiya Ndolovos said sincerely.
In the past 19 years, Lin Dongmei has flown to Africa 33 times to promote fungus technology. From deserts to tidal flats, from high altitudes to saline-alkali lands, she has measured many barren lands with her steps, and used her wisdom to bring hope to the poor and poor people to get rid of poverty and become rich. Therefore, fungus grass is also affectionately called "Chinese grass" and "happiness grass" by African people.
(Lin Dongmei conducts technical training in Rwanda.) ）
In the future, we will promote the technology of fungus to the world
Like a "spark", it ignites the light of hope and friendship. In Papua New Guinea, the local people expressed their gratitude by giving Chinese experts a local name, which they gave Lin Dongmei as Altimé.
"Altimé is a local plant that means to live and prosper." Lin Dongmei loves this name very much, and cherishes this friendship across mountains and seas.
Papua New Guinea is the first stop for fungus aid to Africa. On May 3 this year, Fereda Korarom, an ordinary farmer from Pakistan, received an invitation from the United Nations to attend the 8th United Nations Science and Technology Innovation Forum to tell her personal experience of getting rich with fungi.
In the keynote speech of the China-Africa Women's Forum, Lin Dongmei shared Fereda's story.
Fei Lei, who learned fungus techniques, earned money to buy houses and cars, and employed 25 people. She also cooperated with Chinese experts to provide more than 1,500 training sessions to 10 surrounding rural areas. Speaking of this magical story, Lin Dongmei was particularly touched, "In my personal participation in assisting developing countries, I have met many Fereda. ”
Through the empowerment of fungus technology, these single mothers in South Africa, unemployed female university students in Soletto, and disabled women in Fiji have become female presidents, female entrepreneurs, and female scientific and technological personnel.
"In the past 20 years, I have been able to devote myself to my work tirelessly and tirelessly precisely because I have seen that fungus technology can truly change the fate of ordinary people at the bottom." Lin Dongmei hopes to promote the fungus technology to the world and create more such miracles.
"Develop fungi for the benefit of mankind. There is so much that needs to be done to achieve this goal. Lin Dongmei smiled and said that she started a life of double speed, "I speak very fast now, and it will never take two minutes to finish speaking in one minute." ”
(The National Engineering Research Centre for Mycograss cooperated with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture of Madagascar to organize the United Nations Mycobacterium Project Country Seminar)
"You will be tired, but this kind of tiredness, you know that you are tired and you will still be willing to do it." When the reporter asked her if she would feel tired, Lin Dongmei said firmly.
Originally, Lin Dongmei planned to wait for her father to retire, return to her original life trajectory, and regain her hobbies.
"Who knew that Mr. Lin was still working on the front line at the age of 80, so my plan was ruined! Now my life is simple, just work. Because the work is already complicated. After that, Lin Dongmei laughed like a child.
Her laughter, like a quilt sun-dried in winter, was clean, fluffy and warm.