[Explanation] Located in Wangjinzhuang Village, Shexian County, Hebei Province, deep in the Taihang Mountains, there is a "seed bank" that stores "green wealth".
Old purple corn, old yellow corn, yellow valley, red valley, purple lentils... Walking into Wangjinzhuang Farmers Seed Bank, large and small bottles are filled with display racks, which are filled with various grains and vegetable seeds. Labels, varieties and codes are clear at a glance.
[Concurrent] Liu Yurong, head of Wangjinzhuang Farmers' Seed Bank
At present, our Wangjinzhuang "seed bank" has preserved a total of 77 species and 171 traditional farmer species.
Among them, there are more than 60 varieties of food crops and more than 60 varieties of vegetable crops, which are all old local varieties.
[Explanation] Wang Jinzhuang is located in the core area of the world's important agricultural cultural heritage - the dry farming Shiyan terrace system in Shexian County.
For hundreds of years, in order to survive, local villagers have chiseled stone weirs, covered soil to create fields, and built large-scale stone weir terraces.
In the terraced fields, not only millet, corn, soybeans and other crops are planted, but also economic crops such as pepper, walnut, and forsythia.
Seeds are the "chips" of agriculture and the key to ensuring food security.
Since 2018, the Shexian Dry Farming Terrace Protection and Utilization Association has established a volunteer team in Wangjinzhuang to investigate and collect old varieties planted in Wangjinzhuang.
In 2019, with the support of China Agricultural University, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences and other relevant units, Wangjinzhuang Farmers Seed Bank was officially established.
[Concurrent] Li Dongmei, a villager in Wangjinzhuang Village, She County, Hebei Province
There are many varieties of our "seed bank". What we need to plant in the terraced fields here can be borrowed from the "seed bank". After the harvest is obtained, it can be returned to others. Generally, we borrow a pound and return a pound and a half.
Since we have this "seed bank", we can't lose the old varieties and seeds of Wang Jinzhuang.
[Explanation] According to He Xianlin, senior agronomist of Shexian Agriculture and Rural Bureau, after the local "old seeds" enter the "seed bank", they still need to be identified, purified and rejuvenated, screened and kept, and updated every year to ensure the living protection of "old seeds" .
To this end, the Shexian Agriculture and Rural Bureau selected more than 200 mu of terraced fields in Daoyugou, Wangjinzhuang, as an experimental field for the purification and rejuvenation of old varieties.
[Concurrent] He Xianlin, Senior Agronomist, She County Agricultural and Rural Bureau, Hebei Province
Some farm varieties will be mixed and degraded after a long time of planting, so they need to be purified and rejuvenated. Now we select 30 varieties for planting in the experimental field every year to restore their species and improve their adaptability to climate change.
[Explanation] Wangjinzhuang Farmers' Seed Bank not only provides seeds to villagers, but also provides technical guidance, and cooperates with local e-commerce providers to provide sales channels to mobilize farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain.
In 2021, at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity held in Kunming, "Conservation and Utilization of Agricultural Biodiversity in She County's Dry Farming Terrace System" was rated as "Biodiversity 100+ Global Typical Cases" "one.
[Concurrent] He Xianlin, Senior Agronomist, She County Agricultural and Rural Bureau, Hebei Province
The "seed bank" has played a very positive role in protecting the diversity of crops. If we leave an old variety, we will leave the gene bank of the old variety. If we keep many old varieties, we will use it for future scientific research. Provides a wider space.
Ai Guangde and Yao Yanxia reported from Handan, Hebei.
Responsible editor: [Ji Xiang]