A green leaf creates an industry and brings wealth to the people. In Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hubei Province, in addition to tea, there is also a "gold leaf" that makes people rich - Ruo Ye.
Ruo Ye is the leaf of Ruo Bamboo. Its leaves are wide and can be used for packaging and garnishing food, and can also be used as medicine. Relying on a good ecological environment, after 30 years of development, the Ruoye industry in Enshi Prefecture has become a local industry worth 100 million yuan, driving more than 70,000 people to increase their income and become rich.
How is the development of Ruoye industry in Enshi Prefecture? What has this billion-yuan industry experienced in the past 30 years? What about the “money” prospects for future development? From the end of last year to the beginning of the year, reporters went deep into several Ruoye production bases in Enshi Prefecture to investigate the development of this ecological industry.
Little leaves and nostalgia
During the Dragon Boat Festival, rice dumplings are a must. A handful of glutinous fragrant rice, two pieces of green Ruo leaves, a few strings lightly wound... After boiling, the rice dumplings with a strong aroma of Ruo leaves are out of the pot. Half a month before the Dragon Boat Festival every year, every household in Enshi begins to pick or buy Ruo leaves to make rice dumplings.
"After working abroad for more than 10 years, I make rice dumplings every Dragon Boat Festival. Smelling the strong fragrance of rice dumpling leaves makes me feel as if I have returned to my hometown." Making rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival is an unforgettable habit of Xin Xiaohui, a native of Enshi who works abroad. In American supermarkets, Ruo leaves from China will be on the shelves before and after the Dragon Boat Festival.
A small leaf, one end is connected to nostalgia and the other end is connected to farmers.
"In winter, my wife and I work in the workshop and plant Ruo leaves at the base. Both incomes are good." On January 2, Wang Yumei, a villager in the third group of Zijing Village, Wuli Township, Hefeng County, Enshi Prefecture, Hubei Province, told reporters Chatting while sorting Ruo leaves skillfully. Wang Yumei, 63, is as good at work as any young person.
In this county with a registered population of more than 210,000, there are more than 30,000 "Wang Yumei" eating "Ruo Ye Rice", and the average annual net income of farmers is more than 10,000 yuan.
Hefeng County, located in the hinterland of Wuling Mountain, is the largest Ruo leaf producing area in the country. The Ruo leaves produced have broad leaves, strong flexibility, natural selenium content and a fragrant smell. They are known as the "Hometown of Chinese Ruo Leaves". The county's wild Ruo leaf resources cover an area of 840,000 acres, with a harvestable area of 300,000 acres, an annual output of 20,000 tons, and an output value of 500 million yuan.
Before 1993, Ruoye was still an unnoticed wild leaf growing in the mountains of Enshi. At that time, Yang Nianhua, an employee of Hefeng Forest Farm, learned that wild Ruo leaves were very popular in Hunan, Guangdong and other places, but "the market was short of leaves and the villagers were short of buyers." Yang Nianhua was determined to connect the two vacancies. Therefore, he established a family workshop and became one of the first experts in the Ruo leaf industry in the county to engage in Ruo leaf harvesting and persist to this day.
"Transportation was inconvenient at that time. You had to walk or take a sleeper bus when going out. When I went to run business outside the province, I often spent dozens of hours in the car. It was common to eat and sleep in the open." Yang Nianhua still remembers the hard work of those years. He told reporters that as the market gradually opens up, business is getting better and better, and now three Ruoye processing plants have been opened.
In recent years, the wild quick-frozen Ruo leaves processed by Yang Nianhua have been exported to Japan, Italy, Canada and other countries. He has also established stores in Tianjin, Guangdong, Zhejiang and other places to sell products online and offline simultaneously.
Small businesses boost income
As the reputation of Ruoye grows bigger and bigger, the money scene also gets better and better. Ruoye processing factories and cooperatives have sprung up in Enshi. The gifts of nature are beginning to benefit more and more people in Enshi.
Statistics show that as early as 2022, there were 48 Ruoye enterprises, processing plants, and professional cooperatives in Hefeng County, of which 10 were listed Ruoye enterprises, achieving tax revenue of 1.4438 million yuan and an industrial output value of nearly 500 million yuan. Foreign trade export volume is US$10 million.
Ruoye industry is also booming in other counties and cities in Enshi. At present, Xuanen County has about 300,000 acres of wild Ruo leaves, about 20,000 acres of planting bases, 12 cooperatives, and 2 processing companies, with an annual output value of more than 40 million yuan.
"From the initial adventure of going into the mountains to pick wild Ruo leaves to the development of the Ruo Ye production base, every step has been difficult but very practical," said Huang Fengzhi, head of Tenghui Ruo Ye Company in Xiaoguan Dong Township, Xuan'en County. Leaf by leaf, she spent 16 years creating an enterprise with an annual output value of more than 20 million yuan, driving the relocated people in the Ruoye production area and more than 1,000 surrounding farmers to steadily increase their income.
Tiechangxi Village, Zhongbao Town, Xianfeng County has more than 7,000 acres of wild Ruo leaves resources, making it the village with the largest area of wild Ruo leaves in the county. Yang Zhimin, a talented entrepreneur who returned to his hometown from the village, opened a Ruo leaf processing factory next to the wild Ruo leaf community. The wild Ruo leaves all over the mountains and plains are processed and sold to other places. The annual output value is 660,000 yuan, which has increased the employment and income of more than 200 people.
Small industry forging chain
As an industry that enriches the people of Enshi, how to increase the added value of Ruo Ye? Ruoye Company in Enshi has been groping forward.
Take two Ruo leaves, roll them into a cone shape, add glutinous rice, roll down the top of the Ruo leaves, and quickly tie them tightly with a thread. In less than half a minute, a rice dumpling will be wrapped. On January 15, at Chuxingtang Food Co., Ltd. in Hefeng Industrial Park, workers skillfully wrapped rice dumplings and rushed to make online orders to supply new year's goods for the festival market.
"As the Spring Festival approaches, the order volume has increased. Now the monthly sales volume is 20,000 kilograms, and the daily consumption of Ruo leaves is nearly 10,000 pieces." said Tu Xianmin, administrative director of Chuxingtang Food Co., Ltd.
Chuxingtang Food Co., Ltd. is the first rice dumpling production enterprise introduced by Hefeng. It has the largest and most advanced rice dumpling production line in Enshi Prefecture. The company's first-phase production line will be put into operation in April 2023. So far, sales have reached 30 million yuan.
In addition to traditional rice dumplings, as the two leaf brands of "organic tea" and "Ruo Ye" have become more and more famous in recent years, Hefeng County pioneered the organic integration of the two and launched a beautiful and delicious "Zongzi Tea" ”, with its compact appearance, fragrant taste and convenient eating, it has successfully “out of the circle” and become the “new favorite” of consumers, with an annual output value of nearly 10 million yuan.
In the rice dumpling tea processing factory of Zichen Forestry Professional Cooperative in Sanchakou Village, Taiping Town, Hefeng County, workers are busy making "rice dumplings". This kind of "Zongcha", which has the aroma of both Ruo leaves and tea, is made with tea as filling and wrapped in Ruo leaves. It is unique and creative.
Zhang Yingzhao, the head of the cooperative, said that the tea of "Zongcha" is made from centuries-old tea trees in the mountains. It is based on the traditional tea making technology and uses wilderness tea as the "filling". It is made using the traditional method of making rice dumplings. , a total of 46 processes are required, and the last process of fragrant extraction alone takes about 130 hours.
Planting, picking, processing, production and sales, now this once unknown wild leaf has grown into a Ruoye industry chain and a farmer's wealth chain.
"We are applying for the Hefeng Ruoye geographical indication trademark to further enhance market influence and competitiveness, and strive to achieve a comprehensive output value of more than 1 billion yuan by 2025." Peng Yuanhong, secretary of the Hefeng County Party Committee, said that in the next step, Enshi Prefecture will also We will cooperate with scientific research institutes and universities to develop Ruo leaf deep processing products and further expand and strengthen this characteristic industry. (Reporter Dong Qingsen and Liu Jie)