Reporter Luo Chen
"A grain of rice", "a fish" and "a city", these three words are combined to make Qingtian, an ancient city in southwest Zhejiang, play a golden sign of agriculture. Qingtian, a famous hometown of overseas Chinese in Zhejiang, has 381,000 overseas Chinese in 146 countries and regions around the world, and the local "rice-fish symbiosis system" with a history of more than 1,300 years was listed as the first batch of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 2005. "The large number of overseas Chinese has given Qingtian a larger vision pattern and a more sensitive sense of market, which also gives Qingtian greater development opportunities. At the 8th China International Food and Ingredients Expo and the 2nd China International Prefabricated Food Industry Expo (hereinafter referred to as the "Expo") held in Dongguan, Guangdong Province a few days ago, Yang Junwei, deputy county magistrate of Qingtian County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, and Huang Mingjun, secretary of the party group and director of the Qingtian County Agriculture and Rural Bureau, accepted an exclusive interview with this reporter.
Qingtian exhibition area of the expo
Yang Junwei introduced that at this expo, Qingtian County focused on building "the world's Qingtian", bringing 6 agricultural enterprises and more than 50 agricultural products to the exhibition, and showing local characteristics such as "rice-fish symbiosis system", "agricultural heritage products" and "Qingtian life" in the Qingtian exhibition area. At present, the grain sowing area of Qingtian County is 146,700 mu, of which 22,000 mu are grain production functional areas. There are three leading industries in the county, namely rice and fish industry, bayberry industry and camellia industry. In terms of rice and fish industry, the county's rice-fish symbiosis system covers an area of 65,400 mu, including 7,000 mu of the "five unifications" demonstration base (the "five unifications" production and marketing model refers to the mode of unified planning, unified varieties, unified planting standards, unified processing and unified packaging after the growers sign an agreement with the county agricultural tourism investment company). The average yield of rice per mu is 480 kilograms, the average yield of field fish per mu is 29 kilograms, and the total output value of the county's rice and fish industry reaches 265 million yuan. Focusing on the rice and fish industry, the county has developed four kinds of prefabricated dishes, including Qingtian fish, fish gelatin, bird's nest, and hoof, which are welcomed by consumers.
In terms of bayberry industry, the county's bayberry cultivation area is 112,000 mu, of which 500 mu are cultivated in facilities, and the current production area is 93,000 mu, with an output of 55,000 tons and an output value of 500 million yuan. "Qingtian bayberry" is a national agricultural product registered and protected by geographical indications, and Qingtian County has also won the titles of "Hometown of Chinese Bayberry" and "National Bayberry Standardization Demonstration County".
In terms of camellia industry, the county has an area of 306,700 mu of Camellia oleifera forests, including 92,700 mu of newly created and improved varieties of Camellia oleifera and 214,000 mu of old Camellia oleifera forests, with an average oil yield of 20 kg per mu of old Camellia oleifera and 40 kg of oil per mu of new Camellia oleifera, with an output of 5,507 tons and an output value of nearly 800 million yuan. The planting area of Qingtian Camellia oleifera ranks first in Zhejiang Province, and is known as the "South Zhejiang Oil Depot", and it has also won the title of "Camellia oleifera Characteristic Industry Demonstration County". "Qingtian County Camellia Oil Product R&D and Testing Center Project has completed the construction of Camellia Fruit Pretreatment Center, Camellia Oil Production Line Setting, Food Testing Equipment and Plant Transformation, etc., which can achieve an annual fine processing of 180 tons of Camellia Oil. Yang Junwei said.
In addition, Qingtian County's tea industry, Chinese herbal medicine industry, animal husbandry and special snacks have also developed very well. In this expo, we also brought Qingtian Xuande Huang Chrysanthemum, Qingtian Imperial Tea, Beishan Suo Noodles, Qingtian Sugar Cake, Haixi Dried Powder and other products, and recommended Qingtian characteristics to consumers in South China and even the whole country through the expo platform. Yang Junwei introduced that in terms of food trade, because it is a famous hometown of overseas Chinese, Qingtian County sells about 15,000 cups of coffee per day on average, and consumes more than 80 tons of coffee beans per year. "At present, Qingtian County takes 'the first Chinese coffee culture town' as the construction goal, and is committed to building 'a Chinese image display place for Italian coffee, an important distribution center for the exchange of coffee raw materials and utensils, an important training place for coffee talents, and the best destination for coffee experience'. ”
It is understood that Qingtian is also an important distribution center for Spanish imported ham in the mainland. Yang Junwei told reporters that at present, there are a large number of Qingtian merchants in Shanghai, Ningbo, Yiwu and other markets who independently import Spanish ham, which occupy nearly eighty percent of the current domestic market sales share. There are 39 Spanish ham import trade business units in the county, with an annual sales volume of more than 100,000 pieces and a sales volume of about 200 million yuan. In June last year, the Qingtian County Imported Meat (Ham) Association was established, and in July, Qingtian issued the country's first imported ready-to-eat fermented ham products production license. After the company obtains the certificate, the Spanish ham produced can no longer be limited to the whole sale, but sliced as a pre-packaged food, in supermarkets, shopping malls, live broadcast rooms and other channels legal shelves, so that more consumers can experience the delicious taste of Spanish Iberian ham; in October, the country's first "Hamon" slicing factory was officially put into operation.
The audience visited and consulted at the Qingtian booth
"Rice-fish symbiosis system" is the main feature of Qingtian's booth at this expo. Huang Mingjun introduced that the system is an organic combination of planting and aquaculture production mode, with rice to protect fish, fish to raise rice, rice for fish to provide high-quality living environment and food, fish for rice to loosen the soil, to provide natural fertilizer. Two very different species, through primitive collaboration, self-improvement and balance, are interdependent to form a scientific ecosystem. This system greatly reduces the dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, increases the biodiversity of the system, ensures the ecological balance of farmland, raises fish with rice, promotes rice with fish, and achieves a double harvest of rice and fish - the safe, green, fragrant and glutinous Qingtian rice and fish rice was selected as the designated rice by the United Nations World Geographic Information Conference, and won the title of "China's Good Rice"; Smoked and other processes are made into dried fish, which has a unique taste and is easy to preserve. At present, "Qingtian Fish" has become a national agricultural product registered and protected by geographical indications, and the most representative folk dance in Qingtian County, Qingtian Fish Lantern Dance, has not only participated in the 50th anniversary celebration of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Beijing Olympic Games, the Shanghai World Expo, the 40th anniversary celebration of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Italy and other domestic and foreign cultural exchange activities, but also was included in the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2008.
"In recent years, our county has vigorously developed agricultural characteristic industries and actively built high-quality agricultural demonstration belts and modern agricultural parks. Promote the development of the two advantageous industries of rice, fish and bayberry, hold the Qingtian Agricultural Heritage Products Exhibition, plan the 'June Qingtian Bayberry Red' theme consumption season, and create an immersive scene of the bayberry metaverse, etc., to display the new achievements and new atmosphere of the development of agricultural heritage in the hometown of overseas Chinese, and stimulate the vitality of consumption. Yang Junwei said that in the next step, Qingtian County will make good use of local characteristic resources, vigorously develop advantageous industries, and promote more local high-quality agricultural products and special foods to "go out", so that Qingtian will truly become "the world's Qingtian".