Vitalizing China’s Rural Areas

The Role of Science and Technology

Traditional agricultural products can only earn farmers little profits. Therefore, raising the value added of agricultural produce via science and technology becomes an important way to increase farmers’ income.

General Manager of Hainan Wanzhong Co., Ltd. Li Yusheng has been in the agricultural field for 21 years. Aware of the fact that above 95 percent of pineapples planted in China were the Bali species eight years ago, Li decided to develop a more profitable variety. After years of efforts, Li’s team, by cooperating with colleges, has developed a whole set of “golden pineapple” planting techniques covering all cultivation steps from irrigation, fertilizing, to seedling nursing.

A worker screens the disqualified seedlings of dendrobium officinale (a species of orchid, often used in traditional Chinese medicine) at the tissue culture plant of Dongbei Village in Xinghua City of Jiangsu Province on December 22, 2017.

Spearheaded by Li’s golden pineapple base, Hainan’s golden pineapple industrial cluster has been formed with standardized plantations. An industrial chain featuring high quality and sustainable development is taking shape. Li’s golden pineapple base hires more than 1,000 workers for plantation.

Now, Li is trying to connect his plantation base with the nearby expressway, a move to improve the overall facility of the base and promote its development. In addition, he also plans to set up a pineapple deep processing plant so as to advance the vertical integration of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in the pineapple business of Hainan’s Ledong County, along with increasing profits of agricultural products.

“To give a boon to the pineapple industry, it’s necessary to go beyond the boundary of agriculture, realizing the integrative development of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries. This will make farming more lucrative, ensure the steady increase of farmers’ income, enhance the cohesion of rural grass-roots organizations, and turn the countryside into a beautiful place, thus achieving rural modernization in the new era,” said Kong Xiangzhi, a professor with the School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development under Renmin University of China.