Xianglian is one of the four traditional lotus seeds in China, and its annual output has reached 60% of the total output of lotus seeds in the country; Xiangtan County, as the core production area of Xianglian, has become a distribution center for lotus seeds in the country, distributing 60% or 70% of the domestic lotus seeds; the total output value of the whole industrial chain of lotus seeds in Xiangtan County has reached nearly 10 billion yuan. In the future, Xiangtan County will base itself on its advantages, seize opportunities, set benchmarks, and strive to move forward with the goal of doubling the output value of the whole industrial chain.
Based on advantages, consolidate the foundation for industrial development
Xianglian has been planted in Xiangtan County for more than 3,000 years and is one of the pillar industries of Xiangtan County. In 1995, the State Council awarded Xiangtan County the title of "Hometown of Xianglian in China". As of 2020, Xiangtan County has planted 100,000 mu of zilian, acquired and processed more than 100,000 tons of shell lotuses in the country, and the annual export volume of lotus seeds accounts for about 30% of the country, and the total output value of the whole industrial chain reaches 9.988 billion yuan, accounting for 19.94% of the county's annual GDP.
The birthplace of domestic lotus varieties. Xianglian originated from the original cultivation of single-petaled ancient lotus in China. Xiangtan County is the dominant production area of Xianglian and has the traditional advantageous variety "Inch Three Lotus". Since 1983, scientific researchers in Xiangtan County have used "inch three lotuses" to hybridize with Fujian Jianlian to cultivate "hibiscus lotus". In 1997, the Hunan Provincial Association for Science and Technology carried the "Inch Three Lotus" shell lotus on the Long March rocket for aerial breeding, and subsequently bred the "Space Lotus". In recent years, in order to cope with the decline in variety yield and the impact of the infestation of rot diseases, Xiangtan County has established a 400-acre "Inch Three Lotus" original seed farm, and through continuous selection and purification and rejuvenation, the "Inch Three Lotus No. 1" has been cultivated. At present, the optimized "Space Lotus 36" has a higher yield and has become the largest variety in China. At the same time, in order to strengthen the protection of high-quality germplasm resources in the province, Hunan is also continuing to promote the Xiangtan "Inch Three Lotus" and Hengyang "Wulian".
"Planted" in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River lake area. In order to improve the level of organic matter in the lotus field, the rotation mechanism was adopted, and the planting of Xianglian was gradually extended to the lake area in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Hu Yungeng, president of the Xiangtan County Xianglian Association, said that as a highland of Xianglian planting technology, a large number of Xiangtan people in Xiangtan County carry seed lotus to Hubei, Jiangxi and other lake areas to rent land to plant lotus every year, and after harvesting, they are transported back to processing and sales. According to the "Xiangtan County Xianglian Industry Development Plan (2019-2030)", in 2018, the Xianglian base established by the business entities in Xiangtan County exceeded 200,000 mu. Tong Gang, head of Heyilian Company, said that the cost of land circulation in the lake area is 200 to 300 yuan / mu, which is no different from Xiangtan County. In the future, enterprises will focus on cultivating professional agronomics and improving the scale and standardization level of planting in foreign lotuses in the province.
Domestic lotus seed trading distribution center. Xiangtan County Huashi Xianglian Market is the country's largest lotus trading and logistics center, with more than 800 shop facades, 30,000 tons of decentralized storage warehouses and so on. It is understood that in addition to the shell lotus planted by Xiangtan people in the leased land, from July to September every year, the processing entity in Xiangtan County sends procurement personnel to Hubei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to purchase shell lotus. Wen Jianping, head of Lianmei Food Company, said that in 2021, the shell lotus floating seed rate of Xiangtan Xianglian will be between 4 and 5%, and the purchase price will rise to more than 10 yuan / catty. According to data from the Xiangtan County Science and Industry Bureau, the processing of shell lotus by 19 regulated enterprises in Xiangtan County is expected to reach 84,000 tons in 2021. In addition, data from the General Administration of Customs shows that the export volume and price of Xianglian in Xiangtan County have increased steadily. From January to July 2021, the export volume of lotus seeds in Hunan Province reached 982.59 tons, up 13.41% year-on-year; the average export price of lotus seeds was 51.35 yuan / kg, 16.01% higher than the national average export price and up 11.37% year-on-year.
Seize the opportunity to enhance the momentum of industrial development
The development of the Lotus Seed industry in Xiangtan is ushering in better opportunities. The consumption demand for lotus seed products is more diversified, and consumers pay more attention to food safety; the policy dividends benefiting the agricultural industry continue to be released, and the development measures of the agricultural industry of financial services are more mature; the construction of Hunan's opening up platform continues to accelerate, and the level of foreign trade has steadily improved.
"Consumer demand" promotes "complementary chain" and "strong chain". The protein content of Xiangtan "Inch Three Lotus" lotus seeds is higher than 18.70%, which occupies a dominant position in domestic lotus seeds. In 2021, Xianglian was successfully shortlisted for the construction of the "Xiangjiuwei" Chinese herbal medicine advantage industrial cluster. It is understood that Xiangtan County is stepping up the protection of the original species of "inch three lotuses", which can provide 400,000 seeds of lotus every year, and will open up differentiated sales channels in the follow-up to enhance the recognition of "high quality and good price". "Internet +" technology has accelerated the process of market segmentation of lotus seeds, especially fresh lotus puffs rich in amino acids and polysaccharides are very popular. According to the data of the Xiangtan County Agriculture and Rural Bureau, the sales of Xiangtan Xianglian on the online platform reached 240 million yuan in 2020, of which the frozen lotus was sold for more than 10 million yuan for two consecutive years. At the same time, the xiangtan county xianglian deep processing industrial chain is being extended. Guangzhou restaurant in Xiangtan County set up a factory using "inch three lotus" to produce lotus paste, and began to develop lotus sugar water drinks, Xinghong Yun Xianglian Company, and Yilian Industry Company and other enterprises launched pure pulp lotus wine, Hongmao Xianglian Company plans to extract anthocyanins through lotus skin or lotus shell, launch health care products.
"Financial instruments" enhance resilience. Xianglian is one of the targets of agricultural insurance subsidized by the provincial government, and growers bear more than 50% of the premiums. In view of the fact that the yield of Xianglian is more affected by the microclimate of the plot, the traditional disaster insurance has a limited role, and the enthusiasm of growers to participate in insurance is not high, covering only 30% of the area. It is understood that Xiangtan County Xianglian planting insurance focuses on natural disasters and other insurance cost insurance types, and the proportion of growers facing price cycle risks and sharing industrial appreciation benefits needs to be improved. There is a four- to five-year cycle of domestic shell lotus market prices. He Haixiang, head of Hongmao Xianglian Company, said that the purchase price of Shell Lotus dropped from 12 yuan per kilogram in 2016 to about 6 yuan in 2019, and now it has risen to more than 10 yuan. "If the purchase price of shell lotus is less than 8 yuan per catty, the grower will lose money," added Zhao Yongguang, executive deputy director of the Xiangtan County Party Committee. In the long run, agricultural product price index insurance is very necessary for the development of the Lotus Seed Industry in Xiangtan, especially for stabilizing the income of growers. In addition, lotus seeds have a long shelf life, with certain futures attributes, coupled with apples, dates, peanuts, pigs and other agricultural futures have been launched in recent years, the future will also have potatoes, peppers, sunflower seeds and other agricultural futures listed. If it is carried on the development express train of agricultural futures, on the one hand, it will help hedge price risks, on the other hand, it will help the circulation of lotus seeds, and then promote the rapid expansion and strengthening of the Xiangtan Xianglian industry.
"Open Highlands" broadens product sales channels. Since last year, China's bilateral trade with ASEAN has grown against the trend, and ASEAN has become China's largest trading partner for the first time. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, the volume of China's lotus seed exports to ASEAN in 2020 increased by 113.42% year-on-year. Among them, Hunan Xianglian's annual export volume accounts for about 30% of the country, mainly exported to Hong Kong and Malaysia, China, and the proportion of production and marketing scale in its domestic market is significantly higher than that of overseas markets, and overseas markets have great potential for expansion in the future. Hu Yungeng, president of the Xiangtan County Xianglian Association, said that Xianglian's export trade is affected by exchange rate fluctuations, and business entities are more inclined to do the domestic market. As Hunan accelerates the construction of a highland for reform and opening up in inland areas, accelerates the construction of the China (Hunan) Pilot Free Trade Zone and the construction of the China-Africa In-depth Economic and Trade Cooperation Pilot Zone, the Xiangtan lotus seed industry will usher in important opportunities to better move towards overseas markets. Some experts suggest that the Xiangtan lotus seed industry can explore and expand new markets with RMB as the trading currency, strengthen cooperation with the Xiangzhou Chamber of Commerce, focus on expanding key markets such as Taiwan and Singapore, and at the same time vigorously develop organic products to expand the European market through China-Europe express trains.
Set a benchmark and lead the industrial transformation and upgrading
The key is to embrace the opportunities of industrial development and accelerate the transformation and upgrading of our own industries. The Central Rural Work Conference pointed out that it is necessary to further promote the structural reform of the agricultural supply side, and promote the cultivation of varieties, quality improvement, brand building and standardized production.
Standardization is the foundation. The improvement of the grading system of agricultural products is conducive to the standardization of planting and processing links, which in turn drives the standardization of upstream and downstream industries, increases industry transparency, reduces transaction costs, attracts industrial investment, and realizes large-scale industrial development. It is understood that Xiangtan County is responsible for drafting and improving industry standards (NY/T1504-2007 Lotus Seeds), and in 2019 formulated local standards (DB43/T439-2019 Geographical Indication Products: Xianglian). From a nationwide perspective, the index of the floating seed rate of shell lotus varies greatly from each production area and each year, and there is no unified shell lotus acquisition standard. The visit found that the development level of Xiangtan County's business entities varies greatly, and the division of the thousand grain weight index is not the same. In order to accelerate the formation of a unified standard market, Xiangtan County is promoting the establishment of a standard implementation supervision mechanism of "government + association + large business entity", allowing enterprises to exceed, but not lower than landmarks. According to Zhao Yongguang, executive deputy director of the Xiangtan County Party Committee, large business entities in Xiangtan County are gradually building the standard warehouse of Lotus.
Digitalization is the engine. The national "14th Five-Year Plan" clearly points out that the development of smart agriculture should be accelerated and the digital transformation of agricultural production, operation and management services should be promoted. The improvement of agricultural informatization and digitalization level will help to give full play to its advantages of precise policy implementation and efficient layout. Among them, the core target of digitalization is an indicator that can objectively reflect the market situation, that is, the price of standard products. It is understood that the current transactions of Xianglian business entities in Xiangtan County are concentrated offline. In the future, with the rapid development of the Xiangtan lotus industry, the construction of digital trading platforms will be more necessary, which can not only improve the transparency of market transactions, promote the efficiency of government supervision, but also ensure that the upstream and downstream transactions of the industry are more smooth.
Branding is key. The improvement of industrial value depends on the construction of regional public brands, through the cultivation of varieties, quality improvement, brand building, cohesion of industry and market consensus, enhance the market's awareness of lotus seeds, and continue to create a brand influence that matches product quality. Hu Yungeng, president of the Xiangtan County Xianglian Association, said that Xiangtan County is carrying out the unified identification of Xiangtan Xianglian; the follow-up will also formulate the "Xiangtan Xianglian Quality Inspection and Supervision Regulations" with government departments to unify product quality; at the same time, it will also standardize the price range of lotus products through the joint crackdown of counterfeiting by the government and social forces. According to reports, Xiangtan Liangyuan Co., Ltd., And Yilian Industry Company and other enterprises pay more attention to brand building, and explore ways to enhance brand influence through animation and other forms. (Analyst Zhang Baohe)