Fruit Fragrance on Stone Mountain (Beautiful China)

Guizhou Guanling Buyi and Miao Autonomous County has accurately controlled rocky desertification and developed green industries

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Rocky desertification is one of the common types of desertification. The comprehensive management of rocky desertification in karst areas is an important part of the prevention and control of desertification in the mainland. Guanling Buyi and Miao Autonomous County, Anshun City, Guizhou Province, has persistently promoted rocky desertification control, and the rocky desertification area has been reduced by 412 square kilometers, so that barren mountains can be covered with green and industries can produce gold.

In the absence of water and soil, what can grow in the cracks of the stones? How can the common people who rely on the stone mountain live a good life? With questions, the reporter walked into Guanling Buyi and Miao Autonomous County, Anshun City, Guizhou Province.

Implement policies according to local conditions and precise governance

Zuo Luolian, 36, is a native of Taoyuan Village, Huajiang Town, Guanling County. His work is a bit strange to the villagers of Shili and Eight Townships.

After graduating from university, Zuo Luolian came to Guanling County as a monitor at the Grasshopper Field Soil and Water Conservation Monitoring Station. "Our site, if there's anything special about it, is that it's surrounded on all sides by natural slopes. We selected 6 sites as experimental plots, planted different vegetation and waited for the rain to come. Pointing to one of the test areas, Zuo Luolian said, "Each test slope is equipped with a collection groove, through which the rainwater flowing through the slope is collected into the collection tank, and then samples are collected one by one, and the relevant data are uploaded to the provincial database after testing and analysis." ”

The data was collected mainly to monitor the sediment loss of different samples. The establishment of the database is to make the control of rocky desertification more accurate.

"The Guizhou Provincial Department of Water Resources has set up a soil and water conservation monitoring station in Guanling County to compare the water and soil retention effects of various vegetation, and establish a database, so that rocky desertification control has more scientific guidance through cooperation with scientific research institutes inside and outside the province." Li Guangming, member of the Standing Committee of the Guanling County Party Committee and head of the Organization Department, said.

"From the data accumulated over the years, we found that grassland has the best effect of water retention and soil consolidation, followed by arbor forest and fruit forest." Zuo Luolian said that these data are not only used in rocky desertification control, but also open up ideas for the development of related ecological industries.

"In 2019, it can be said that we have a watershed in the treatment of rocky desertification, and we paid more attention to the reduction of 'quantity' before, and paid more attention to precise governance later, and explored a way to implement policies according to local conditions and industrial governance." Li Guangming said.

According to the technical plan for rocky desertification control proposed by Guizhou Province in 2022, in the rocky desertification land, the bare rate of stones is about 30%, which can be planted and afforested to develop the economy under the forest; About 50% is moderate, which can be planted to develop animal husbandry and moderately reduce human interference; More than 70% of them are severe, mainly closed mountains for afforestation and grass cultivation, and adhere to natural restoration.

Since 2005, Guizhou Province has been using satellite remote sensing technology for monitoring, and rocky desertification surveys are conducted every five years. From this year onwards, the base number of rocky desertification will be updated every year, and the positive and negative lists of grass species and tree species will be clarified one after another, so as to guide all localities to choose the most suitable methods, plant the most suitable vegetation, and promote the precise control of rocky desertification.

"At present, including Guanling, the vast majority of rocky desertification areas in Guizhou that have not been treated are 'hard bones'. Our forestry department will continue to increase cooperation with relevant scientific research institutes, and provide more talent, capital, technology and other support as much as possible. Fu Qiang, deputy director of the Guizhou Provincial Forestry Bureau, said.

Barren mountains increase greenery, retain water and consolidate soil

Behind precise governance is the accumulation of basic research and breakthroughs in technical level.

Historically, Guizhou has a large area, many types, deep degrees and serious hazards, and Guanling is one of the most serious areas of rocky desertification in Guizhou. The county has 1,468 square kilometers of land, and the rocky desertification rate was once as high as 42.5%. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the state's implementation of the key prevention and control project of soil and water conservation in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Guanling County seized the opportunity and began to explore.

"While planting cypress trees on the slopes, we are also renovating the rain-washed plots and river channels, and building ditches in areas with large slopes." Zhao Shouping, deputy director of the Guanling County Water Affairs Bureau, said that the first attempt in the local area was the model of "afforestation + small watershed management", which closely combined the goals of increasing the greenery of barren mountains with water retention and soil consolidation.

With its low altitude and abundant rainfall, the Beipan River basin may be a breakthrough in rocky desertification control in the eyes of locals, but it has encountered a "hard nail".

"In the first year of planting cypresses, the survival rate was only 30%; In the second year, it was replanted, but it was still not more than half; After 7 years of replanting, the survival rate exceeded 85%. Pan Wencheng, director of the Guanling County Forestry Bureau, said, "It is difficult to plant trees in rocky desertification areas, so we must not only ensure the survival rate, but also consider the preservation rate." Some species lived, but grew and withered. ”

Although it is difficult, relying on the momentum of insisting on Qingshan not relaxing, Guanling is striving to move forward towards the goal of controlling rocky desertification with a treatment rate of at least one percentage point per year. From 2015 to 2022, the area of rocky desertification in Guanling County decreased by 412 square kilometers, a decrease of 61.86%. The forest coverage rate of Guanling County has increased from 45.42% in 2015 to 59.12% today, and it has been rated as the province's "Demonstration Area for Comprehensive Treatment of Rocky Desertification".

Green industry drives income growth

Can rocky mountains and barren slopes be resources?

Wang Zeping, from Yichang, Hubei Province, remembers that when he first came to Jinlong Village, Xinpu Town, Guanling County, and saw the continuous stone mountains, the villagers shook their heads, but he was pleasantly surprised.

"Xinpu Town is located between 25 and 35 degrees north latitude, and the climatic conditions are very suitable for fruit growth. The land in the rocky desertified mountainous area has almost never been developed, there is no pollution, it is rich in minerals, and the quality of the fruits grown must be high! Later, agricultural experts made on-the-spot inspections, which also confirmed Wang Zeping's judgment. In July 2018, he established a company to transfer the stone mountains of Jinlong Village and Xinlong Village to grow citrus, grapefruit and other fruits.

Repair of cisterns, construction of water supply pipes, and improvement of steep slopes...... After nearly one year and an investment of more than 100 million yuan, the fruit trees finally took root and went green. "Barren mountains are changed to terraces, and the stones are sifted out first. When planting fruit trees, in order to find a way to remove the small stones, you have to carefully cover the last bit of soil on the roots of the tree. "At the beginning of last year, there were 150,000 catties, and this year it is expected to double, and the output value will exceed 10 million yuan, Wang Zeping is full of expectations.

The transformation of stone mountains into orchards is a story of struggle written by local cadres and masses.

In 2017, after long-term observation and repeated experiments, the Forestry Bureau of Guanling County found that Huangzhu grass has strong adaptability, obvious rocky desertification control effect and high yield, and can be harvested for at least seven or eight years after planting, and can harvest 4 to 5 stubbles a year in middle and low altitude areas, which is a forage grass with high economic benefits. Therefore, the local government vigorously promoted the planting of imperial bamboo grass on barren hills and slopes, explored the green industrial development model of "Guanling cattle + forage", and implemented specific measures such as large-scale grass planting, "farmers planting grass + moderate cattle raising", and guaranteed purchase by forage companies to ensure that farmers maximize the income of grass planting.

At present, Guanling County has implemented artificial planting of pasture grass up to 155,500 mu, with an output value of 3,000 yuan per mu, and 100,000 mu of grass planting on improved barren hills and slopes.

The benefits of planting grass and treating stones are significant, but what about the trees and stones?

For more than ten years, Yang Zhiwei, who lives in Longtan Village, Lily Street, the county seat, has been fighting against this matter.

The first time he planted Tibetan cypress in his own wasteland, only half of them survived, and he was not annoyed or angry, making up for what he lacked, until he figured out how to lay a film and retain water. Seeing that he had found confidence in planting ecological forests, Yang Zhiwei tried to plant loquat on the stone mountain. Looking at the branches jumping high, the heart is happy to bloom, who knows that the hanging fruit is small, the quality is different, and the heart is half cold; After studying, I realized the importance of scientific stewardship. Now, Yang Zhiwei earns more than 50,000 yuan a year just by planting loquats, and he also actively participates in many rocky desertification control projects. ”

Governing stones and increasing greenery, industry producing gold, for a long time, Guanling has been on the road.

Originally published in People's Daily (2024-07-09 14th edition)

Source: People's Daily Online