Plough in spring and plough in summer, harvest in autumn and hide in winter. Follow the footsteps of the four seasons, from a small seed being awakened, to taking root, sprouting, until it breaks through the ground and rises ...... with rich vitalityQuinoa has grown its own appearance, and it has also "drawn" the career map of Zhang Hong's struggle for more than ten years. As one of the pioneers of the quinoa industry in China, he has been fully involved in the enthusiastic blooming of the quinoa industry for more than ten years.
No pain, no gain
More than 10 years ago, Zhang Hong, who worked for a foreign-owned agricultural company, noticed this healthy food "quinoa", which was particularly respected in European and American fashion restaurants. "Quinoa is a typical high-altitude crop, hardy and drought-tolerant, an ancient food native to the Andes Mountains of South America, with high nutrition, complete nutrition, complete protein, and no blood sugar rise. Zhang Hong introduced.
Quinoa is similar to the growing environment of many grains in our 'small cereal kingdom' in Shanxi, and when I got to know quinoa, I felt that if I could grow quinoa in Shanxi, I believe that it would be more economical than growing other cereals. After a detailed understanding and exploration of the biological characteristics of quinoa, at the end of 2008, Zhang Hong finally made up his mind to start his own business and promote quinoa in his hometown, so he plunged into the fields and began to pursue his dream of the quinoa industry.
Rooting quinoa in the unfamiliar land of Shanxi is not a one-day effort. "First we tried to introduce many high-quality varieties from the place of origin, and then in Shanxi, from the south to the north, from Yuncheng to Datong, we started experimental planting. After 2-3 years of uninterrupted experiments, a lot of data were finally accumulated and summarized: the altitude is best above 1500 meters, the frost-free period should not be less than 120 days, there should be less rain in autumn, and the cohesive soil should not be ......And select the best row spacing, plant spacing, sowing depth, fertilization and cultivation management methods in the early, middle and late stages, plant protection methods, optimize some varieties suitable for the local climate, and also develop special seeding machines and threshing processing machinery, quinoa special fertilizer". At first, in Jingle, Qilan, Ningwu, Wutai in Xinzhou, and even Jinzhong, Shuozhou, and Datong have established experimental demonstration fields, and the varieties and cultivation techniques after the successful test are handed over to farmers and other planting companies for free, mobilizing everyone to develop quinoa planting together.
In order to let the public know more about quinoa and promote the consumption of quinoa, Zhang Hong invited experts to write an encyclopedia entry on quinoa and developed quinoa recipes with food bloggers. He took the lead in establishing the Shanxi Quinoa Society and the Quinoa Industry Technology Alliance with other quinoa planting companies and agricultural research institutions, so that more agricultural experts can pay attention to quinoa and promote quinoa. Around 2013, a quinoa boom quickly formed across the country, quinoa became an Internet celebrity food, and agricultural companies from Qinghai, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Yunnan and other places came to Shanxi to introduce seeds. "I remember that at that time, farmers could sell a pound of raw grain for more than 10 yuan or even 30 yuan, and the income of an acre of land was at least 3,000 yuan. Zhang Hong said.
After unremitting efforts, in the end, quinoa successfully took root in the land of Shanxi, from the field, to the consumer's table, Shanxi's small grain industry has added a "new star".
In order to breed better varieties, in 2015, Zhang Hong introduced more than 20 varieties from Bolivia, the place of origin, and specially established Shanxi Wutai Mountain Tianyu Agricultural Development ***, and set up a quinoa variety breeding and promotion base in Wutai Mountain.
One hand grasps the characteristics, the other hand grasps the quality
The industry should be 'distinctive', and the products should be 'high-quality'", talking about the healthy development of the quinoa industry, Zhang Hong said, "Around 2018, the development of quinoa planting has encountered a bottleneck, with the rapid expansion of the planting area in the country, the sales of raw grain are getting lower and lower, and the Shanxi region is mostly dry planting in small plots in mountainous areas, mechanization is difficult, the yield is low, and the labor is more, resulting in high costs. ”
Faced with this problem, Zhang Hong and his team found that quinoa, as a single plant, can meet all the basic nutritional needs of the human body, and its full nutritional characteristics are particularly suitable for deep processing. "It's an untapped blue ocean market," says Zhang.
Since then, Zhang Hong has led the team to consult nutritionists, food processing experts, packaging design experts, and marketing experts to develop quinoa deep-processed products. R&D, trial and error, after repeated experiments, finally developed the first quinoa protein drink with quinoa grown in Wutaishan base, and named it "Taiwan Quinoa Milk", successfully achieving zero additives, low sugar, low fat and light calories, and nutrition comparable to milk. Because "Taiwan Quinoa Milk" does not contain the lactose in milk, it has quickly become a new nutritional choice for lactose intolerant people and vegetarian people.
During this period, Zhang Hong also cooperated with the National Technology Center of Fenjiu Distillery to develop a healthy new liquor with good taste, healthy elements and cultural connotation, taking quinoa's rich beneficial trace elements as the direction of utilization, integrating the "fragrant and clean" of Fenjiu and the "pure cultivation and purifying heart" culture of Wutai Mountain. In addition, quinoa vinegar, quinoa sauce and other products have been launched one after another, the quinoa industry chain has been further extended and developed, and the deep processing industry of small grains has added special new products.
In addition to the good product, it is also necessary to combine it with local characteristics, and this industry is a reliable industry for rural revitalization. Zhang Hong introduced that quinoa, as a unique plant food, is known as the "mother of grain", "nutrition" and "king of vegetarians", its nutritional structure is perfect, and it is a rare food found that the protein quality of plants is equal to that of meat. According to this characteristic, Zhang Hong combined quinoa products with the vegetarian culture of Wutai Mountain, gave cultural attributes to the product connotation, and transformed it into the competitiveness of the product to form a unique brand.
In 2018, the relevant departments of the people of Wutai County launched the regional public brand of "Wutai Zhaixuan". "Wutai Mountain Tianyu Agriculture's quinoa products, as a product with obvious regional characteristics, are authorized to use 'Wutai Zhaixuan''This brand is not only conducive to our products to be excellent and good, but also boosts the quinoa products from Shanxi to the national market", Zhang Hong said happily.
Glory plus body, honor forward. In the more than 10 years of working with quinoa, Zhang Hong has always adhered to his original intention, worked diligently and innovated. Honors such as "2022 Shanxi's Top Ten 'Three Rural' News Figures", "Shanxi Province Farmers Becoming Rich Leaders", "Great Country Farmers of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs" and other honors have come and ......
In the future, we will continue to innovate in deep processing, develop new products, contribute to the revitalization of local villages, and promote the large-scale exhibition of Shanxi's quinoa industry," Zhang Hong said, "I have always believed that only by taking agriculture as my hobby and endowing it with feelings can I do it with taste." ”
In Zhang Hong's heart, he always remembered that the yellow earth was his "root".