Editor's note: "Wild cannibalization eats green mulberry, and spinning silk also becomes a cocoon. "The ancient Silk Road stretched for thousands of miles, leaving behind the eternal stories of exchanges between the East and the West. **In the past ten years since the General Secretary proposed the Belt and Road Initiative, this project that benefits the world has achieved fruitful results. In the final analysis, the Belt and Road Initiative is aimed at making life better for the people of all countries. Today's story of Guangtong silkworm seeds launched by this newspaper is small and beautiful, witnessing the people-to-people bond, mutual benefit and win-win, and writing a new story on the "Belt and Road". Stay tuned.
Reporter Zhao Feng and Yang Xueying.
Stone as wide. On the afternoon of December 24, Ikbor Odildyanovich Ergasev, chairman of the Uzbek Sericulture and Wool Industry Development Committee, and a group of 12 people came to Shandong Guangtong Silkworm Seed Co., Ltd. in Qingzhou, hereinafter referred to as "Guangtong Silkworm Seed Company"), to discuss the expansion of silkworm seed imports next year.
Mulberry silkworms, also known as silkworm babies, are native to China. On the ancient Silk Road, silk made of silk was the "messenger" of the world's leading circulation and cultural exchanges, and Central Asian countries also formed a tradition of planting mulberry and raising silkworms. Since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, China and the countries have been cooperating increasingly closely in the silkworm industry.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. **The general secretary stressed that the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" focuses on everyone picking up firewood and helping each other to go far, advocating that they live well and let others live well, practicing interconnection, mutual benefit and reciprocity, and seeking common development and win-win cooperation.
Small but beautiful projects have a direct impact on the people. "With the help of the New Silk Road, the silkworm seed has opened up a happy road that benefits the people at home and abroad, which not only brings more benefits to the countries and silkworm farmers co-built by the 'Belt and Road', but also drives the domestic people to get rid of poverty and become rich. Lian Haigang, chairman of Guangtong silkworm seed company, said that the company is the largest silkworm seed production enterprise in China, with an annual output of silkworm seeds accounting for about 20% of China's silkworm seed production, and an annual export volume of more than 80% of China's total silkworm seed exports. Since 2013, nearly 6 million silkworm seeds have been exported to more than 20 Belt and Road countries.
Cooperation. - Good silkworm seeds are guaranteed in quality and quantity.
490,000 sheets, about 92600 million silkworm seeds!
In March this year, Guangtong Silkworm Seed Company exported silkworm seeds to Uzbekistan, breaking its own record for the number of silkworm seeds exported in a single batch in China. Next year, that record is expected to be rewritten again.
One by one, silkworm seed orders from the "Belt and Road" countries made Lian Haigang both happy and feel a heavy responsibility.
Timely delivery of orders with quality and quantity is the 'lifeline' of the enterprise, and it is also the key to customer recognition of us. Especially for many countries along the Belt and Road, the silkworm industry is an important part of their national economy, and the small silkworm species are of great importance. Lian Haigang said that since the end of September, the company's employees have been busy making seeds, cutting cocoons from the breeding base, screening males and females, and cultivating hybrids after becoming moths. Starting from November 20, it took more than a month to sort out the silkworm seeds. There are strict standards in every link to ensure the quality of silkworm seeds.
Silkworm seed is the "chip" of the silkworm industry. Uzbekistan is a major country in silkworm breeding, and the production of silkworm cocoons is second only to China and India, ranking third in the world, but the local silkworm species have not been improved and updated.
China is the first country in the world to raise silkworms, reel silk and weave silk, and has cultivated a large number of high-quality silkworm varieties in recent years. Fang Dewen, the technical director of Guangtong silkworm seed company, said that when the company began to provide silkworm seeds to Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries, it had extensively screened domestic high-quality silkworm varieties, and in recent years, it has mainly provided two hybrid varieties of "Huakang No. 3" and "Liangguang No. 2". They are adapted to the hot, dry climate and are highly resistant to disease. The length of a cocoon's silk production is 1,200 meters, which is three or four hundred meters longer than the silk production of the original local varieties.
At the end of November, in the silkworm seed storage warehouse that Guangtong Silkworm Seed Company had not yet sorted out, black-brown silkworm seeds were spread all over the trays, and they felt like fine sand. Gently flip through it with your hands, and you will notice individual yellow particles. Follow-up finishing, that is, through the comparison of salt water, the yellow particles and other bad silkworm seeds are screened out to ensure the one-day hatching rate of silkworm seeds. The company sets the one-day hatching rate of silkworm seeds at 98%, and the export silkworm seeds have good growth consistency after hatching, which is convenient for management.
The sorted silkworm seeds are only 'semi-finished products', which should be stored in a cold storage at a specific temperature first, so that the silkworm seeds can enter the diapause period. In these years, silkworm seeds are generally airlifted to Uzbekistan and other countries in March. At the end of February, we take the silkworm seed out of the cold storage and 'wake it up' by maceration or temperature sensing, telling it that it's time to get up and work. Fang Dewen said that the temperature on the export plane should be controlled at 5 to 10 to ensure the quality of silkworm seeds.
Exported silkworm seeds are treated as live organisms and must be inspected and quarantined by relevant departments before export. In the past, this process was more complicated, but after the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, the relevant departments opened up a "green channel" for the export of silkworm seeds, and the process was greatly simplified.
Lian Haigang said that driven by the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative, the company's silkworm seeds are exported to more than 20 countries and regions such as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan, and the export volume has increased from the initial 780,000 to about 600,000 per year, and the company has become the official designated importer of Central Asian countries.
According to Ikbol Odildjanovich Ergasev, all the silkworm seeds imported from Uzbekistan come from China, and mainly from the Guangtong silkworm seed company. The quality of the company's silkworm seeds is very good, and many cooperative enterprises have experienced it. Recently, Uzbekistan has determined a plan to increase the production of silkworm cocoons, and it is necessary to increase the import of silkworm seeds a lot, and I hope that Chinese silkworm seed enterprises can fully support it.
The company is the largest silkworm seed manufacturer in China, with an annual production capacity of 2.4 million pieces of hybrid silkworm seeds. The expansion of silkworm cocoon production in Uzbekistan is also good for the company's development. Lian Haigang said that in order to improve the ability to ensure the supply of orders, the company invests four or five million yuan in research and development every year to accelerate the cultivation of new varieties. At the same time, we have paid attention to improving the level of mechanization, and developed equipment such as silkworm pupal male and female identification machine, cocoon cutting machine, egg loading machine, etc., which greatly improved the production efficiency of silkworm seeds and ensured that silkworm seed orders were delivered on time.
Nexus. - Technical guidance "picks" the details.
In May this year, Huang Haiye, deputy general manager in charge of foreign trade of Guangtong Silkworm Seed Company, made a special trip to four or five major export countries such as Uzbekistan to communicate face-to-face with partners.
Uzbekistan raises one season of silkworms a year, and when I went, the silkworms had reached 5 years of age and were about to spin silk and form cocoons. I am proud to see that our silkworm seeds are doing well abroad. Huang Haiye said that previously, the company also received a letter of thanks from the Ukrainian side, on the one hand, thanks for providing high-quality silkworm seeds, and on the other hand, thanks for its technical guidance and personnel training in sericulture.
Although Uzbekistan has a long history of sericulture, relatively speaking, the local people's sericulture skills need to be improved. Every silkworm breeding season, Guangtong silkworm seed company specially sent Li Qiliang and other three or four technicians to the local area for technical guidance.
Silkworms are fragile and more delicate than humans. Silkworm raising is a technical job, and the key is to 'pick out the details'. Each of us is responsible for several areas, and one person and one car run from morning to night, going to farms and silkworm farmers to guide them to give mulberry and expand seats. Silkworms grow from 1 instar to 5 instars, the requirements for the growth environment are very different, small silkworms like warm and humid, large silkworms love dryness, guidance must be a detail by detail 'picking'. Li Qiliang said.
For example, in the past, local silkworm farmers fed silkworms to mulberry once a day, like "covering a thick quilt" for silkworms, and they fed too much at once, and the silkworms could not eat thoroughly. Mulberry leaves are slowly not fresh, and the water content decreases, resulting in silkworms not being able to get enough water, and their metabolism is prone to problems, and they will get sick. The immunity of silkworms is very poor, and it is difficult to be effective after getting sick**.
If you eat deliciously, the silkworms will be less sick. Li Qiliang said that they instructed silkworm farmers to give mulberry from once a day to three times a day, and did not "cover the silkworms with thick quilts", but "covered with thin quilts" to make the silkworms eat more finely.
Considering the local hot and dry climate in Uzbekistan, in the past two years, Guangtong Silkworm Seed Company has also promoted the local breeding method of covering plastic film to prevent dry breeding. That is, during the period from the 1st to the 3rd instar of the silkworm, the plastic film is covered on the silkworm plaque to maintain the humidity on the silkworm plaque, and a small hole is tied in the film to maintain air circulation. This approach has worked well and has been widely replicated in the local area.
Before coming to Uzbekistan, Li Qiliang went to study Russian, and after a long time abroad, he also learned other common languages there, and he communicated with the locals very smoothly. While running around, Li Qiliang and his colleagues also specially produced breeding materials and promoted them through local communication software. Sericulture farmers can also ask them questions at any time through the local sericulture industry's communication group.
At the request of the relevant departments of Uzbekistan, Guangtong Silkworm Seed Company also undertook the work of training technical personnel for it. "For three consecutive years, they sent forty or fifty people to the company for training every year, two months at a time. Lian Haigang said that the company has also established a joint venture silkworm seed factory in Uzbekistan, producing 50,000 or 60,000 silkworm seeds every year. In addition to retaining the original workers, more than 300 seasonal workers are used every year, which brings tangible benefits to the local people.
Continuous cooperation and exchanges, technical support, so that Uzbekistan silkworm industry has been significantly improved: the highest quality of silk is 6A, the local steadily improved from 3A, and many well-raised households can reach 5A;In terms of yield, the amount of cocoons per silkworm seed has also increased by about 10 kg on average.
These changes have made the relevant departments in Uzbekistan more aware of the importance of "technical sericulture". During this visit, Ikbor Odildjanovich Ergasev specially proposed that he hoped that Guangtong Silkworm Seed Company would continue to send more technical personnel to help silkworm farmers improve their sericulture skills.
In the future, we can go directly to Uzbekistan to hold technical training courses, hoping that China's silkworm seeds and technology can bring more benefits to the people of Uzbekistan. Huang Haiye said.
Cooperation across borders has also deepened the friendship between the two countries. Every time he went, Li Qiliang had to stay in Uzbekistan for two or three months. In mid-December, he was still busy sorting silkworm seeds in the local area. "It's hard to be in a foreign country, but I've made a lot of friends. Whenever Uzbekistan celebrates a traditional holiday, they invite me to dinner and entertainment. Li Qiliang said.
Win-win. - Domestic sericulture households built small western-style buildings.
There are also many domestic people who have benefited from silkworm seeds. The silkworm seeds exported to the "Belt and Road" countries are made from silkworm cocoons provided by domestic silkworm farmers such as Qin Guangxin.
This year is the 11th year that Qin Guangxin, a villager of Qinjiazhuang Village, Dasheng Town, Anqiu City, has raised silkworms. "I have been cooperating with Guangtong Silkworm Seed Company, and the company sent silkworm seeds for me to raise silkworms. When the silkworms have formed cocoons, the company will send people to buy them. When you send me money, you deduct the money from the money you paid for silkworm seeds. Qin Guangxin said that the local area can raise two seasons of silkworms a year, he has 8 acres of mulberry trees, and raises 8 silkworms per season, each producing more than 120 catties of cocoons. This year, the purchase price of cocoons per catty is about 36 yuan, and the annual income can reach about 80,000 yuan.
Qinjiazhuang Village originally had a tradition of raising silkworms, but it has not formed a scale. After cooperating with Guangtong Silkworm Seed Company, there have been more and more silkworm farmers in recent years, and now one-third of the farmers in the village are raising silkworms. There are more than a dozen villages in the surrounding area, which have also become professional sericulture villages.
In addition to the relatively stable acquisition**, the technical guidance of Guangtong Silkworm Seed Company also makes silkworm farmers more assured.
At the beginning of each year, the technicians of Guangtong Silkworm Seed Company go to the village to guide. When silkworms are not raised, there are also people who come to guide how to prune mulberry trees. Qin Guangxin said that with professional guidance, the mortality rate of silkworms has decreased, the cocoon setting rate has increased, and the income is more secure.
Lian Haigang introduced, mulberry, silkworm baby to the surrounding environment is very high, for this reason Guangtong silkworm seed company attaches great importance to the construction of breeding base, the implementation of the "leading enterprise + base + sericulture professional households" model, with the lowest protective price purchase, order production and other mechanisms, and sericulture households to establish long-term and stable cooperation. In addition to the Anqiu breeding base, it has also built bases in many places across the country, and has long-term and stable cooperation with about 1,000 silkworm farmers.
In the past 12 years of cooperating with Guangtong Silkworm Seed Company to raise silkworms, Han Shixin's family, a villager of Yuliang Group, Shijiao Village, Shuanglang Town, Dali City, Dali Prefecture, Yunnan Province, has also undergone great changes in their lives.
Before raising silkworms, he relied on odd jobs and growing crops in the mountains, and his family only had a few adobe houses. Within a few years of raising silkworms, my family spent 300,000 yuan to build a three-story small house. Han Shixin said.
As one of the first sericulture farmers in the village to cooperate with Guangtong Silkworm Seed Company, the changes in Han Shixin's family have also stimulated the enthusiasm of villagers to raise silkworms. From the initial 4 households to the current 50 households, only 4 households in the whole village do not raise silkworms. Han Shixin has also changed from a "little white" who raises silkworms to a "technician" who is convinced by the villagers.
We have never raised silkworms here before, but the environment is good, it is very suitable for silkworm raising, we can raise five seasons a year, and we can earn a lot. At the beginning, there were few silkworms in the village, and the technicians of Guangtong Silkworm Seed Company lived in the village and guided several of our households to raise silkworms throughout the process. Han Shixin said that after several years of study, he has become more and more experienced in raising silkworms, and the villagers who are new to raising silkworms in the village have asked him for guidance.
Han Gaolian, a former poor household in the village, is one of them. "My family has been lifted out of poverty for several years, and a two-story small western-style building has also been built, relying on silkworm raising. Han Gaolian said that she didn't dare to raise it at first, but later Han Shixin encouraged her and taught her how to raise it, so she tried to raise it. In the past few years, 5 silkworms have been raised each time, and the annual income of 100,000 yuan can be obtained after removing the labor expenditure of raising silkworms.
It is understood that in Shuanglang Town alone, more than 100 poor households have successfully lifted themselves out of poverty by cooperating with Guangtong Silkworm Seed Company to raise silkworms in the past few years.
The village is very varied, and small multi-storey western-style houses are common. Relying on silkworm raising, our family bought a car in the past two years. Han Shixin said.
With the attention to the silkworm industry at home and abroad, there are more and more orders from Guangtong silkworm seed company. Not long ago, the person in charge of the company visited many places and identified several new breeding bases, which were ready for the subsequent expansion of production capacity.
Taking advantage of the 'Belt and Road' east wind, small silkworm seeds can play a big role. We will continue to strengthen the supply of high-quality silkworm seeds and technical support, contribute to the development of the silkworm industry in the countries jointly built by the Belt and Road, and make the lives of more silkworm farmers at home and abroad sweeter." Lian Haigang said.
A small silkworm has witnessed the "Belt and Road" for ten years.