Through exploring the cultivation of Chinese medicinal herbs, the town of Zhongwang, in Tianjin's Jinghai district, has embarked on a distinctive path of "green, prosperous, and beautiful" development.
With industries tailored to local conditions, it has taken effective measures to promote common prosperity and drive rural revitalization. Zhongwang leverages its unique geographical advantages and abundant resources, committed to excelling in the development of the Chinese medicinal herb radix isatidis (banlangen in Chinese).
Zhongwang is located in the southeast of Tianjin. For a long time, the serious problem of land salinization has severely impeded the development of local agriculture.
Seeking a new development path, Zhongwang, after extensive research, found that although the local soil is unsuitable for planting traditional crops, it is very suitable for cultivating the salt-tolerant medicinal herb radix isatidis. Meanwhile, the demand for authentic medicinal herbs in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei market has been increasing.
Zhongwang started to transform its agricultural production, aiming for high yields from the land and benefits from the specialty.
The local government has invited experts in traditional Chinese medicinal herb planting to conduct a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the climate, soil, water resources and other conditions in the village. A trial planting of 220 mu of radix isatidis was conducted first.
With the experts guiding the process of planting, irrigating and harvesting the crop, the village established procedures and means of increasing local famers´income.
The once saline-alkali land has been transformed into a "treasure".
"This year, our village plans to further expand the planting scale, preparing to plant 830 mu of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, with an estimated total investment of 4.26 million yuan ($585,822). At the same time, we will prepare and establish stable long-term sales channels. Our goal is to ensure the sustainable and stable development of this green industry, getting better and better," said Zhang Guilong, head of Bangaozhuang village in Zhongwang.