"The Father of Juncao Technology in the World": Creating a New Way to Reduce Poverty in Developing Countries

　　China News Service, Fuzhou, February 25th, Title: "The Father of Juncao Technology in the World": Creating a New Way for Poverty Alleviation in Developing Countries

　　China News Service reporter Long Min

　　February 24th coincided with the traditional Lantern Festival, and Lin Zhanxi, the "father of the world's Juncao technology", had a special "reunion".

In Nadi, Fiji, he spent the holiday with his colleagues at the China-Pacific Island Countries Juncao Technology Demonstration Center, "setting off fireworks, eating glutinous rice balls, and chatting about home affairs."

　　In March 2023, the China-Pacific Island Countries Juncao Technology Demonstration Center was opened in Fiji, driving the development of the Juncao industry in surrounding South Pacific island countries.

On the afternoon of February 21, local time, Lin Zhanxi (third from right) guided the development of the local Juncao industry in Fiji.

(Photo courtesy of China National Juncao Engineering Technology Research Center)

　　"Seeing the Juncao industry benefiting local people and seeing the health of foreign aid workers is also a kind of reunion." As the chief scientist of China's National Juncao Engineering Technology Research Center, an academician of the United Nations International Academy of Ecological Security, and a researcher at Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Lin Zhanxi told a reporter from China News Service on the phone.

　　Lin Zhanxi, who is over eighty years old, is full of ambition and is still busy in the New Year of the Dragon. "The Juncao industry has finally ushered in spring, and we must seize it."

Lin Zhanxi said, "Although the Juncao industry has made some achievements, there are still many poor people in the world, and the pressure of ecological environment degradation is still huge. How can we not fight?"

　　Juncao poverty alleviation is the original intention of Lin Zhanxi, who has been engaged in research, promotion and teaching of Juncao technology for a long time.

In previous interviews, he recalled many times that in 1983, he accompanied the Fujian Provincial Science and Technology Poverty Alleviation Investigation Team to Changting County, Longyan, Fujian Province. The scene there shocked him - the "hanging river" was one or two meters higher than the cultivated land on both sides. The surrounding hills are barren and the cultivated land is desertified.

After returning from Changting, 40-year-old Lin Zhanxi resigned from his administrative position and began to concentrate on studying the technology of "replacing trees with grass" for cultivating edible fungi.

　　It is precisely with this original intention that Lin Zhanxi does not look far away from mountains and seas, from Fujian to Ningxia, from China to all over the world.

As of 2007, 17,500 households in Ningxia participated in the production of Juncao and built 17,500 mushroom sheds, creating an output value of nearly 100 million yuan (RMB, the same below). The average annual income of mushroom farmers increased by more than 5,000 yuan.

Today, Juncao technology has spread to 106 countries around the world, and is also listed as an important project of the "China-United Nations Peace and Development Fund".

　　In 2023, the Juncao industry has achieved many new achievements.

Lin Zhanxi said that after the epidemic prevention and control has stabilized, Juncao has ushered in new opportunities for "going global".

China's National Juncao Engineering Technology Research Center dispatched a total of 59 experts to 16 countries in 2023 to promote Juncao technology and trained more than 2,000 students from 35 countries.

　　Just after the Spring Festival, Lin Zhanxi flew to Nadi, Fiji to participate in the international seminar on "Application of Juncao Technology and its Contribution to Poverty Alleviation, Employment Promotion and Environmental Protection".

　　In Lin Zhanxi's view, poverty eradication remains the biggest global challenge facing the world today and is also the common mission of mankind.

"There are many things waiting for us to do. The development of the Juncao industry is like a boat. If we don't advance, we will retreat. We can't wait or be slow."

　　Lin Zhanxi believes that Juncao technology can be applied to "replacing grass with wood" to cultivate edible fungi, "replacing grass with grain" to develop the livestock and poultry industry, "replacing grass with wood" to produce fiber, fiberboard, and pulp, and "replacing grass with coal" to generate electricity. , producing bio-organic fertilizers, ecological management and other 6 major fields and 12 industries, serving 13 of the 17 sustainable development goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

　　"Using Juncao technology to develop the Juncao industry has the advantages of being able to participate in and develop thousands of households, saving investment, quick results, high economic benefits, good ecological benefits, and wide adaptability." Lin Zhanxi sticks to the front line of the Juncao industry, " We hope that Juncao can open up a new path for poverty reduction and sustainable agricultural development in developing countries."

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