Text: "Xiaokang", reporter of China's Xiaokang Network, Li Huijun.
Increase income and get richWith the rapid development momentum of the oat industry, Wuchuan County highlights the brand building of agricultural and livestock products with characteristics of the Wuchuan Plateau, promotes the upgrading of the whole chain of rural industries, and drives the masses to increase their income and get rich in the industrial chain.
Wuchuan County is located in the central part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, at the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain, and north of Hohhot, and is known as the back garden of the capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Oats are a traditional crop in Wuchuan County, and in 2020, Wuchuan County won the reputation of "the hometown of oats"; In December 2021, the Wuchuan oat traditional dry farming system was included in the sixth batch of China's important agricultural cultural heritage list.
In recent years, with the transformation of people's health awareness, whole grain products such as oats are becoming the new favorite of Chinese people's health food. With the rapid development momentum of the oat industry, Wuchuan County highlights the brand building of agricultural and livestock products with characteristics of the Wuchuan Plateau, promotes the upgrading of the whole chain of rural industries, and drives the masses to increase their income and get rich in the industrial chain.
The shady land of the plateau creates the "land of oats".
The mountainous area of Wuchuan County is 22967 square kilometers, accounting for 47% of the total area; The hilly area is 25883 square kilometers, accounting for 53% of the total area. The highest altitude is 2327 meters, and the average altitude is 1500 2000 meters. It belongs to the continental seasonal climate of the middle temperate zone, and the climate is characterized by abundant sunshine, large temperature difference between day and night, winter and summer, long winter and short summer. The county has more than 2 million mu of cultivated land, more than 1.4 million mu of forest land, and 3.73 million mu of grassland.
Wuchuan oats are located in the "three belts in one", that is, the first growth zone, the geographical transition zone, and the ecological land of the agriculture and animal husbandry ecotone. Wuchuan County is located at 41°-43°N, in the central part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, at the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain, and in the north of Hohhot, and is known as the back garden of the capital of the autonomous region. In the "Compendium of Materia Medica", oats are called finch wheat and wild wheat. Wuchuan oats have rich and diverse nutritional advantages, Wuchuan is located in the plateau area, the temperature difference between day and night is large, sandy soil, sufficient light, perennial little rain, oats are of good quality, is an important production area and production area of oats in China.
In the north, especially in the alpine and arid regions, oats grow in a special environment, and the common species of oats grown here are called wheat by the locals, also known as naked oats, and there are common names such as "oil wheat", "jade wheat" and "bell wheat" in different regions. Wheat is a herbaceous plant of the genus Poaceae oats, and the earliest wheat was used as a forage for livestock, and later people began to eat it, and found it delicious and nutritious and hungry. Because Wuchuan belongs to the plateau area, the temperature difference between day and night is large, the sandy soil, sufficient sunlight, and little rain all year round are very suitable for the growth of wheat and the product quality is very good, Wuchuan has also become an important production area and production area of wheat.
Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, the people of Wuchuan have a history of cultivating edible noodles. Due to the constraints of geographical environment and resource endowment, Wuchuan County has been in a state of poverty for a long time. Before the reform and opening up, the people here relied on "two wheat and one potato" to survive the most difficult days. During the Anti-Japanese War, the guerrillas in the Daqingshan anti-Japanese base area fought bravely against the enemy in Wuchuan. The soldiers drank mountain springs when they were thirsty, and ate potatoes and noodles when they were hungry. Potatoes and noodles are the staple foods of Inner Mongolians. Because the noodles are nutritious and hungry-tolerant, the amiable and respectable people of Wuchuan provided the most "hard" food for the anti-Japanese war. Entering the new era, oats have gone from a niche food in the north to the whole country, gradually occupying the dining table and becoming a favorite food for many health enthusiasts.
In the central and western parts of Inner Mongolia and the Hetao region, there is a tradition of eating noodles. Because of the short frost period, strong wind and sand, and arid climate in Wuchuan, the wheat has gone through three deaths from planting to eating: killing by wind and sand, freezing to death in cold weather, dying of drought without rain, and three ripening: fried, blanched, and steamed. This environment has created the excellent quality of Wuchuan noodles, which are more nutritious than those found in other places. The production techniques of the noodles are also varied, the common ones are wowo, fish, shaved folds, yam caviar, yam cake, dumplings, dumplings, yam strips, boiled caviar, pills, blocks and so on. All of these noodle foods can be steamed and served with a variety of cold or hot soups, with a unique flavor and endless aftertaste. Wuchuan noodles bring together the production technology of immigrants from all over Shanxi and combine with other special products in the region, such as mutton and potatoes, to form a noodle making technique with Wuchuan characteristics, and therefore become famous all over the world.
The industrial development is booming
Wuchuan County has always attached importance to the development and revitalization of Wuchuan oat brand, and has successively introduced leading enterprises such as Yangufang and Xibei Catering Group, established a modern noodle production line, and carried out in-depth research on the development and processing of oats. In addition, Wuchuan County also actively establishes the integrated development of the three industries of the oat industry, promotes the development of the whole oat industry chain, continuously develops new oat products, and continuously improves the quality of high-quality oats in Wuchuan County, develops varieties, improves yield, and promotes the transformation of achievements, adding new momentum to advantageous industries.
In 2022, the construction of Wuchuan Oat Science and Technology Institute in Inner Mongolia was approved, the construction unit is Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, the co-construction unit is China Agricultural University and the Inner Mongolia Academy of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Sciences, and the supporting unit is Yangufang Group. The research focus of the small institute is the selection and breeding of high-quality oat varieties, the research of green cultivation technology and nutritional functional products, and the improvement of oat seed industry safety and planting efficiency. Focusing on the development needs of the oat whole grain industry, Wuchuan Oat Science and Technology Academy explores a new model to drive local farmers to increase production and income, enhance the value of the oat industry chain, and promote the high-quality development of the oat whole grain industry. Under the guidance of the Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Wuchuan Oat Science and Technology Institute has built a new mechanism of "government, industry, academia, research and application" close integration, actively carried out in-depth integration of industry, university and research with domestic universities, and provided more employment opportunities and ways to increase income for local farmers by promoting the development model of "enterprise + scientific research unit + base + farmer", and promoted the development of rural economy.
In order to expand the scale of the wheat industry and enhance the overall competitiveness of the industry, Wuchuan County focuses on the introduction and construction of agriculture-related enterprises with wheat as raw materials in the development of industry, and pays attention to the establishment of a mechanism for linking the interests of enterprises and farmers, giving full play to the leading role of enterprises, and driving poor households to get rid of poverty. A number of enterprises such as Xibei and Xingnong Huatai have landed in the Golden Triangle Industrial Park in Wuchuan County, and have joined the noodle industry chain to drive farmers to standardize the planting of oats and ensure that farmers generate income.
According to Wuchuan, Wuchuan County takes farmers as the main body, focuses on the dryland oat planting system, develops dryland benefit agriculture, and improves the comprehensive benefits and modernization level of agriculture. Wuchuan County promotes the cultivation of organic oats in the whole village with natural villages as the unit, and the purchase price of organic oats is 5 in the first year2 yuan kg, 5 in the second year6 yuan kg, 6 yuan kg in the third year. Poverty alleviation households were given a planting subsidy of 60 yuan, a harvesting subsidy of 90 yuan, and a hauling subsidy of 20 yuan, and the planting income of the village poverty alleviation households increased by more than 50 percent, and the average household income increased by more than 6,000 yuan. In terms of oat deep processing, Wuchuan County has built 8 oat deep processing production lines with a production capacity of 100,000 tons, and has developed hundreds of oat series products in 6 categories, such as oat freeze-dried porridge, oatmeal flake, oat flour, oat germ rice, wheat flour, lightning bran, golden bud rice, oat black vinegar, oat whole grain biscuits, cold-pressed flaxseed oil, oat beauty soap, oat-glucose toothpaste, etc. Advanced extraction, separation and preparation technology enables oat by-products and their processing by-products to achieve comprehensive recycling, full-value utilization and cascade utilization. In terms of cultural tourism, with the help of local grassland cultural resources, Wuchuan County has built a "Prairie Gate" experiential modern smart cultural tourism center, including the oat factory visiting hall, oatmeal modern art museum, oat science and technology museum, "The Belt and Road" Wanli Tea Ceremony Cultural Corridor, oat tasting hut, Kezhen Northern Wei Dynasty style food street, original Wuchuan brand hall, Cocoa Li bookstore, etc., to show the public the local unique oat culture and industrial innovation and development brought by modern technology.
As the "hometown of oats", Wuchuan has a unique and rich history in the field of plateau agriculture such as growing oats. Based on the farming culture of wheat, Wuchuan County has launched a local cultural festival with the theme of wheat-"Inner Mongolia Wuchuan Oatmeal Cultural Festival". In July and August every year, it meets the world, and local cultural performances such as noodle making skills, noodle food exhibitions, mountain climbing, and two-person platforms attract a large number of tourists from inside and outside the district to come to taste local food, enjoy the pastoral scenery, and add vitality to the development of the county's economy.
In today's Wuchuan County, the oat industry has developed from a simple planting industry to a comprehensive industrial chain integrating food, health care products and cultural tourism industries, and has become an important engine to boost the economic development of the local county!
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This article was published in the early February 2024 issue of Xiaokang.