If the industry is prosperous, the countryside will be prosperous, and if the countryside is prosperous, the country will be prosperous. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the 2022 Central Rural Work Conference that "industrial revitalization is the top priority of rural revitalization, and it is necessary to implement industrial assistance policies and do a good job in 'local specialties'". At present, the development of rural characteristic industries throughout the country, rooted in the "soil", embodied in the "special", the formation of "production", from the development of products to the development of industries, from the pursuit of quantity to the pursuit of quality, from the development of primary industry to the integration of primary, secondary and tertiary industries. Doing a good job in the "native products" article is rooted in the water and soil, in the farmers, and in the culture, which contains a beautiful picture of the revitalization of rural industries.
In late autumn, walking into the 10,000 acres of lemon base located in Baizi Town, Tongnan District, Chongqing, the tender yellow fruits are swaying with the wind, and bursts of lemon fragrance come to the nose. Inside the base, farmers are busy picking lemons. With the sound of noisy truck motors, golden lemons go out of Tongnan and go to the world from here.
Tongnan is recognized as one of the three major lemon producing areas in the world. Here, a small lemon has strung up a large industrial chain: from seedling detoxification to large-scale planting, and then to deep processing into more than 350 kinds of products, along the "Belt and Road" to the world, Tongnan lemon successfully "out of the circle".
In the 10,000 mu lemon base in Baizi Town, Tongnan District, Chongqing, lemons are hanging on branches Photo by Wang Huaqiao
From nursery sheds to plantations
Tongnan lemon achieves an annual output of 280,000 tons of fresh fruit
Zuo Longya, deputy director of the Lemon Industry Development Station of Tongnan District Science and Technology Promotion Center, introduced that the lemons in Tongnan are mainly "Yulik" varieties, which have a strong lemon aroma, many juices, and high citric acid content, and have good variety advantages. But "Yulik" has a fatal "natural enemy" - yellow vein disease. Once a lemon tree is infected with yellow vein disease, the yield and quality will be greatly reduced.
In order to "uproot" the virus, at the end of 2018, Chongqing's first lemon detoxification seedling center was completed and put into operation in Baizi Town. After two years of breeding, the first batch of detoxified lemon seedlings was cultivated in the lemon detoxification seedling center in 2020, which not only blocked the occurrence of yellow vein disease from the source, but also used the lemon seedlings to grow well and have strong disease resistance.
According to a technician of Tongnan Lemon Detoxification Seedling Center, at present, the lemon detoxification seedling center can provide nearly 600,000 robust and non-toxic lemon seedlings for Sichuan and Chongqing and even the whole country every year. The center has also introduced 15 new varieties such as Australian blood lemon, finger lemon and four seasons lemon for screening, cultivation and test demonstration, so as to reserve improved varieties for the development of Tongnan lemon industry. In addition, the center has also built a three-level breeding system to ensure the safety of the development of the lemon industry from the source.
The high-quality seedlings have laid a good foundation for the large-scale planting of Tongnan lemons. On this basis, Tongnan District has also formulated the standardized production technology of the lemon industry, strengthened the integration of technologies such as "water and fertilizer integration + Internet of Things" control, green prevention and control of the regional lemon industry, and the application of distinctive professional lemon agricultural machinery and equipment, vigorously developed smart agriculture, and strived to improve the standardization, scale, mechanization and intelligent planting level of lemons, and improved the yield and quality of lemons.
In order to ensure the quality of lemons, Tongnan District has also established a three-level supervision network system of districts, towns and villages to achieve remote monitoring and online diagnosis, and the branches of fresh fruits are tested by more than 200 international standards, with a pass rate of 100%.
Data show that up to now, the planting area of Tongnan lemon has reached 320,000 mu. In 2022, Tongnan will produce 280,000 tons of fresh lemon fruits, with a comprehensive output value of 6 billion yuan.
Finger lemon cultivated at Tongnan Lemon Detoxification Seedling Center Photo by Chen Yu
From the lab to the machine shop
A small lemon strings up a large industrial chain
In the production workshop of Chongqing Mengtai Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Mengtai Biotechnology) located in Tongnan High-tech Zone, a fully automatic production line is producing new pectin products. "This production line uses our self-developed lemon six separation and extraction technology." According to Sun Shiqiao, partner and technical director of Lemon Biotechnology, dozens of high value-added products can be extracted and processed from the oil capsule, outer skin layer, mesodermal layer, pulp and core of a lemon through this technology, so as to achieve 100% processing and utilization of lemons and multiply the value of lemons geometrically.
At present, this pectin production line can produce 2,000 tons of pectin a year, radiating the core lemon production area of Sichuan and Chongqing, and consuming 100,000 tons of fresh lemon fruits. "We have now reached cooperation agreements with more than 10 Sichuan enterprises, and plan to provide production materials for food companies such as Suining Xizhilang to achieve industrial complementarity and mutual excellence." Cui Hongyuan, general manager of Mengtai Biotechnology, said.
Lemon pectin is one of the many lemon deep-processed products in Tongnan. In order to avoid the risk of fresh fruit market and improve the added value of products, in recent years, Tongnan has continuously developed new products around intensive processing to strengthen and expand the lemon industry. Lemon drinking water, lemon cake, lemon instant tablets, lemon freeze-dried tablets, lemon mask, lemon soap... Today, Tongnan Lemon has developed more than 350 kinds of products in five major systems, including beverages, green food, beauty and skin care products, biomedicine and health care products, and has cultivated a total of 35 lemon processing enterprises.
In Chongqing Huida Lemon Technology Group, a lemon can be turned into more than 300 products. "The pulp is made into lemon drink, the peel is made into lemon honey tea, and the peel can also be refined into lemon essential oil, which can be made into facial cleanser, mask and other daily chemical products, and even bitter lemon seeds can be made into flower and fruit tea. Compared with selling fresh lemon fruits, the value of these products has increased several times or even dozens of times. Xu Xiaoling, deputy general manager of the company, said.
Technology empowers the development of the lemon industry. Up to now, Tongnan has independently developed more than 300 lemon deep processing technologies, has more than 38 national invention patents, and built 10 digital production lines for the lemon industry. The annual processing capacity of lemons reaches 300,000 tons, and the processing output value is 3 billion yuan, which has led to the employment of more than 100,000 people.
Snow King Agriculture (Chongqing) Co., Ltd.'s automated fruit selection line Luo Lie photo
From "Alone" to "Integration"
Sichuan and Chongqing join hands to help the lemon industry go global
In the production workshop of Snow King Agriculture (Chongqing) Co., Ltd., baskets of lemons are poured into the fresh fruit sorting machine, and after they are cleaned, sterilized, bagged and other links, they will be sent to many beverage stores in Chongqing. "In addition to purchasing lemons from Tongnan, we will also go to the surrounding Sichuan Anyue, Suining and other places to purchase to ensure that there is enough fresh fruit supply for production." The person in charge of the company introduced.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Tongnan District Agricultural Committee, in Anyue, Suining and other places in Sichuan, the lemon industry has developed early, the base is large-scale, and the sales and primary processing system is relatively perfect, but the main planting body is mostly retail households, lack of deep processing enterprises, and the standardized management of plantations is uneven. As a rising star, Tongnan lemon is mostly planted by companies and cooperatives, and has achieved fruitful results in standardized management and scientific and technological innovation, but in terms of output and export market share, it needs more efforts. Therefore, there is no natural barrier in the Sichuan-Chongqing lemon producing area, which is a complete industrial map.
Taking the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle as an opportunity, in recent years, Sichuan and Chongqing have jointly formulated a unified standardized production technology for the lemon industry and jointly promoted the application of new technologies and equipment. Tongnan and Anyue County, Sichuan Province issued the Declaration of China Lemon Industry Science and Technology Innovation Alliance, and established the China Lemon Industry Science and Technology Innovation Alliance. Tongnan and Sichuan Ziyang jointly issued the "Technical Specifications for Lemon Planting in China's Lemon Producing Areas" to establish standardized technical standards for planting density, pesticide and fertilizer use, and green pest prevention and control. Tongnan also signed and issued the Declaration of the International Lemon Producing Area Alliance of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle with 8 neighboring districts and counties in Sichuan and Chongqing, which will jointly promote technological innovation, optimize industrial cooperation, open up the global market, and help the lemon industry "go global".
At present, Tongnan District is making every effort to build Chengdu-Chongqing (Tongnan) Central Kitchen Industrial Park. The industrial park is located in Tongnan High-tech Zone, with a total planning area of 5 square kilometers and a planned investment of about 40 billion yuan, focusing on the development of intelligent, full-chain, multi-functional central kitchen industrial clusters, so as to better integrate into and serve the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle. According to the plan, by 2025, the annual output value of the park will reach 10 billion yuan, which will effectively radiate the surrounding areas of Tongnan; By 2030, the annual output value of the park will reach 20 billion yuan, radiating and driving Sichuan and Chongqing, and building the largest intelligent central kitchen industrial park in Sichuan and Chongqing, and China (Chongqing) International Agricultural Products Processing Demonstration Park.
Tongnan lemon harvest photo by Jiang Kaijun
"In the next step, we will also implement the six major projects of Tongnan lemon quality, wisdom, strong chain, brand, best-selling, and common wealth, and join hands with Dazu, Ziyang (Anyue), Suining and other surrounding districts, cities and counties in China's lemon science and technology innovation highland, improved seed seedling breeding base, world high-quality lemon production base, deep processing cluster, etc., to build a 100-billion-level lemon industry cluster." Li Chengqun, deputy secretary of the Tongnan District Party Committee and head of the District People's Government, said.
According to the data, up to now, Tongnan lemons have been exported to more than 30 countries and regions such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, and Singapore. In 2022, Tongnan exported 39,800 tons of lemons, with an amount of 329 million yuan.
Source: Yu Nonghui
Editor: Yadea
Review: Bells