Feature industries fuel rural revitalization in Nujiang

Aerial photo taken on Nov. 5, 2020 shows a view of a relocation site of Daxingdi Township of Lushui City, Lisu Autonomous Prefecture of Nujiang, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)

At the Yingpo Chunling planting base in Lushui city, northwest Yunnan’s Nujiang Lisu autonomous prefecture, traditional Chinese medicinal herbs are thriving, while folks of the Lisu ethnic group are weeding and nurturing the medicinal seedlings.

Geng Jieshan, a 68-year-old Lisu woman, faced challenges due to her illiteracy and lack of Mandarin proficiency when she was relocated to the city's Hexie/harmony community. However, the community staff assisted her in getting a job at the planting base.

"The base offers me a lodge, meals, and a daily income of 80 yuan. I find joy both in my work and personal life," said Geng. Technicians at the base helped her acquire the skills in caring for medicinal herbs, and she even learned to speak Mandarin herself.

The Yingpo planting base is one of Nujiang's top ten economic estates. Xiao Zhijun, the base's director, noted they prefer to hire villagers who live or have just resettled nearby.

"Growers here learns new skills, gets a good salary, and make friends with colleagues," Xiao said. The base has become a public area to learn technical skills and Mandarin, to dance and sing, and to make money.

"Industrial development is crucial in poverty alleviation and rural revitalization," said Shi Yuntian, deputy head of the Rural Revitalization Bureau of Nujiang.

Nujiang launched a three-year plan to increase the income of rural residents and impoverished individuals. This plan aimed to create 10 industrial plantations for coffee, Amomum tsao-ko, tea, and more.

Among them, the tsaoko industry generated an output of 1.32 billion yuan, benefiting 165,000 villagers in 43,100 families.

Honey, once daily food for locals, has gradually evolved into a thriving industry.

Yu Jiansheng is a villager from Nujiang’s Gongshan county. With honey-collecting instruments in hand, he just arrived at the prefecture’s Nongken bee breeding base to harvest his share of honey.

"With the favorable weather this year, I anticipate collecting 1,000 kilograms of honey," Yu said. Yu harvested 800 kg of honey last year, earning 80,000 yuan. It’s bulk of his family's income.

"We've established four demonstration bases to breed eastern honey bees, managing over 1,000 bee colonies and developing 20 honey varieties, such as multi-flower honey and winter honey," said Luo Chunliang, general manager of the Nujiang Bee Industry Company.

The company has built honey processing line and product testing laboratories with high standards. They’ve spent over 2.8 million yuan to procure nearly 40,000 kg of honey from some 600 beekeepers around the prefecture.

After poverty reduction, Nujiang's continuous commitment is to strengthen infrastructure development.

The Dulongjiang township in Gongshan county used to be troubled by its unreliable power supply. In May, a 35kV power network was set up in the town ship by China Southern Power Grid, resulting sufficient power supply.

To help the poverty-alleviation workshops in resettlement areas, the Yunnan branch of China Southern Power Grid has a dedicated team to analyze the electricity needs of these industries, ensuring a stable power supply.

Source: Economic Information Daily; trans-editing by Guo Yao