Interviewee: Lv Huaqiang
Position: Director of Gaozhou Agricultural Science and Technology Affairs Center, Senior Agronomist
The rain is coming, the weather is getting warmer, and the season for crops to thrive has arrived. On both sides of Township Road 608 leading to Baiqiao Village, lychee trees stretch endlessly, and the young green fruits have already sprouted branches. On an ordinary morning, Lu Huaqiang, director of the Gaozhou Agricultural Science and Technology Affairs Center and senior agronomist, led his team members to drive an old pickup truck from the unit to a lychee mountain.
Lv Huaqiang (third from left) and his colleagues observe the situation of lychee trees in the experimental field.
"Guangdong's Top Ten Most Beautiful Agricultural Technicians"
Turning from the smooth road into the bumpy path, the car finally stopped in front of a hill that seemed to have no road. Lv Huaqiang and his colleagues from the scientific research department of the unit got out of the car, took the test sign, and went up the mountain wearing straw hats. They were going to observe the effect of the lychee flowering thinning test, which began on March 4, and technicians from the scientific research department came here every three days to observe. Lv Huaqiang and his colleagues from the scientific research department discussed while recording, carefully observing the flowering and fruit setting of each lychee tree.
In 1993, Lv Huaqiang officially became a technician of a grassroots agricultural technology station, and he has been rooted in Genzi Town for 19 years. In 2007, Lv Huaqiang obtained the title of senior agronomist, becoming the only technician who obtained the senior title at the grassroots agricultural station of Gaozhou City at that time. In 2012, he was transferred to work at the Gaozhou Agricultural Products Testing Station, and the scope of work was expanded from Genzi Town to Gaozhou City. In 2017, Lv Hua emphasized moving to work at the Gaozhou Agricultural Technology Extension Center and served as the first leader. In 2020, Gaozhou Agricultural Technology Extension Center, Agricultural Science Research Institute, Fruit Tree Technology Extension Station, and Gaocheng Agricultural Station merged to establish Gaozhou Agricultural Science and Technology Affairs Center, with Lv Huaqiang as the director of the center.
"In a job like ours, only farmers with excellent skills can trust you. The words came from the mouth of the "technical bull" Lu Huaqiang, which is not only an experience talk, but also a sense of pride. As a grassroots agricultural technician, only by going deep into the field can we find real problems and effectively serve the people. Every time he goes to the countryside, Lv Huaqiang not only observes the results of the experiment, but also pays attention to the growth of lychees from nearby farmers, and reminds farmers to pay attention to agricultural management such as pests and diseases.
Lu Huaqiang took out his mobile phone casually to record the growth of the farmers' lychees.
Under the fields during the day and soaking in the sea of books at night, the growth of grassroots agricultural technicians is inseparable from the soil and grounding. Class training, on-site observation, telephone consultation, and data printing and distribution have become the "axes" of grassroots agricultural technology promotion, and the training courses in the field are especially popular with fruit farmers. Not long ago, in the Gaozhou Jianhe Fruit and Vegetable Professional Cooperative, a lychee management technology training attracted more than 100 surrounding fruit farmers. The "resident guest" of the training, Lv Huaqiang, used the authentic vernacular of western Guangdong to explain the current important management techniques one by one, and accompanied by Lv Huaqiang's work experience, he has made more and more farmer friends. He Jianhe, president of the Gaozhou City Jianhe Fruit and Vegetable Professional Cooperative, said that such training should be carried out every six months on average, and it will be more intensive during the critical period of lychee management.
Training farmers in the fields is Lu Huaqiang's daily routine.
In addition to lychee, Lv Huaqiang also mastered the planting techniques of almost all important crops in Gaozhou, such as longan, rice, and Beiyun vegetables. When it comes to Lu Huaqiang, farmers praise him for his hard skills and good character. In October last year, Lv Huaqiang was awarded the "Top Ten Most Beautiful Agricultural Technicians in Guangdong" in 2023, and he is the only one in Maoming.
The most popular grafted variety is Senjinbong
Where the agricultural technology work is done, Lu Huaqiang's phone will be left. While eating lunch, Lu Huaqiang's mobile phone rang suddenly, and an unfamiliar number belonging to Maoming kept flashing on the screen. On the other end of the phone, a lychee fruit farmer asked Lv Huaqiang a series of technical questions about Xianjin Feng's grafting, and Lv Huaqiang patiently answered them one by one.
As early as more than 10 years ago, many lychee forests in Gaozhou were closed and covered, which seriously affected the yield and quality of orchards. Resisting the farmers' incomprehension and doubts about cutting down and pruning the big lychee trees, Lv Huaqiang led people to take the lead in thinning and retraction, starting from the demonstration gardens everywhere, reversing the management concept of fruit farmers through practical results, and promoting the high yield and quality of lychees.
Baiqiao Village has a long history of lychee cultivation, but some lychee varieties have large kernels and less meat, and the market price is low. With the popularity of new varieties of lychee, in recent years, Baiqiao has risen a lychee replanting boom. Lv Huaqiang told reporters that in the Gaozhou Agricultural Science and Technology Affairs Center such a grass-roots agricultural technology guidance unit, grafting and replanting such popular technology is a compulsory course for agricultural technology extension personnel, "everyone can get started with the operation, and theoretically can explain it to farmers."
New shoots after grafting.
In the past year, the center has guided and demonstrated the area of nearly 10,000 acres of orchards for grafting and replanting, of which Lv Huaqiang has participated in more than 2,000 acres. "Not only grafted branches, but also after replanting, we should strengthen the relevant planting management, and continue to observe for two to three years. Lu Huaqiang said. In recent years, the Gaozhou Agricultural Extension Department has been learning about other new lychee varieties from scientific research institutes and introducing them to Gaozhou for updating and improving. Under the leadership of agricultural technicians, more and more orchards have changed to new varieties, and the local lychee market has been extended and staggered, bringing significant economic benefits. "In recent years, the annual income of fruit farmers has generally reached 50,000 to 80,000 yuan, and the annual income of large planters has exceeded 100,000 yuan. Lv Huaqiang said.
Lv Huaqiang gave fruit farmers training on high-level replanting techniques.
"The hottest grafted variety this year is Xianjinfeng. Lv Huaqiang introduced. He Jianhe said that last year, the price of local Xianjin Feng was as high as 30-35 yuan per catty. Today, He Jianhe's cooperative has more than 20 new varieties of lychee with good quality and high efficiency, such as Xianjin Feng, Lingfeng Nuo, Jinggang Hongnuo, etc., which has set off a replanting fever in the cooperative, and also driven the planting enthusiasm of more surrounding farmers.
After grafting, it enters the harvest period.
It is understood that Gaozhou has accelerated the transformation of low-efficiency varieties to change the crown, with high-quality lychee varieties accounting for more than 55%, and the rate of high-quality varieties in Genzi Town, the core production area, has increased from 68% to 89%, achieving an increase of about 4 yuan per kilogram of lychee. Gaozhou has become the best lychee producing area in the country and won the title of "National Lychee Green Prevention and Control Demonstration County". The lychee planting base in Genzi Town has become the "three products and one standard" base of the national planting industry.
In the past three years, Lv Huaqiang has established 30 scientific and technological demonstration sites, carried out more than 10 experimental studies every year, introduced more than 20 new varieties such as fruits and rice, and 30 new materials such as water-soluble fertilizer and foliar fertilizer, and continued to promote 10 new technologies such as high grafting and replacement technology, Feizixiao lychee drug thinning technology, water and fertilizer integration technology, and high-quality and efficient manure returning to the field, and 15 new varieties, 4 new technologies, and 6 new materials have been demonstrated and promoted in production, covering an area of more than 300,000 mu. The conversion rate of "three new" scientific and technological achievements such as new machinery and tools has reached more than 80%, which has effectively driven the progress of agricultural science and technology in the city.
This year, we plan to recruit 3 new people
In Baiqiao Village, every household not only grows lychees, but also does e-commerce, and more than half of the lychees in the village are sold through e-commerce. "In recent years, the amount of lychee sold through e-commerce has become larger and larger, and the technical demand for cold chain preservation has become more urgent. Lu Huaqiang said.
In April last year, Lv Huaqiang followed the delegation of the Gaozhou Municipal People's Government to Zhuhai Gree to communicate the research and development of the lychee preservation technology system. In June, Gree's self-developed lychee special fresh-keeping mobile equipment was donated to Maoming, and data showed that the good fruit rate of lychees stored with the equipment was still as high as 99.8% after 20 days. In January this year, Lv Huaqiang and Zhu Yanzong, a young lychee farmer in Gaozhou, were invited to participate in the Gree 2024 Global Dream Festival. Facing tens of thousands of spectators, Lv Huaqiang said excitedly: "Now that Gaozhou lychees have been sold to the world, the lives of litchi farmers are getting better and sweeter!"
Lv Huaqiang (third from left) was invited to attend the Gree annual meeting.
In the local area, the technical research on lychee preservation has been further accelerated. "This year, there are many experts who came to Gaozhou to study the preservation of lychees. He Jianhe told reporters. In the past two years, more and more small stations have been built in Baiqiao Village. The small station has functions such as cleaning, pre-selection and cooling, and the lychee can enter the preservation process as soon as it gets off the tree. The harvested lychee is "pre-cooled" in the field and then re-entered the cold chain car, and the freshness period can be extended by another 2-3 days, and the excellent fruit can generally be sold for 2-3 yuan more per catty.
A small station in the field surrounded by lychee forests.
Lv Huaqiang believes that there is no end to how to make the realization of "litchi freedom" go further, including the satisfaction of fruit farmers and consumers, and how to improve quality. The agricultural technicians of the Gaozhou Agricultural Science and Technology Affairs Center run in the fields every day, and more than 10 lychee-related technology promotion projects continue to be carried out, and there are 20 or 30 technical guidance materials issued to fruit farmers every year.
After 30 years in the industry, Lv Huaqiang is now more concerned about how to introduce fresh blood to grassroots agricultural technology work and how to let the technology be passed on to future generations. "We plan to recruit 3 new people this year. He said.
【Planning】Mai Qianming, Dong Yu
【Reporter】Zhang Yudan
【Editor】Chen Huiling
Source: Southern Rural Daily