The Wealth Sutra of the King of Jujube in Northern Shaanxi

In the ravines of northern Shaanxi, in the hometown of the folk song "East is Red" in Yulin City, Jiaxian, Wu Zisheng, who has the reputation of "King of Jujube in Northern Shaanxi", is a famous local soil expert. Wu Zisheng, who lives in Wujiazhuang village on the bank of the Yellow River, is the party branch secretary of the village. 1600 mu of arable land in this village is completely covered by jujube forest. In normal years, the per capita income of red jujube in the village can reach more than 5000 yuan. It is a famous local jujube village.

"Wu Zi-sheng is willing to bear hardships and is easy to study, and he is our 'soil expert'. He leads farmers to innovate red jujube production technology, so that the red jujube production in Wujiazhuang and surrounding villages can stand out and have a good harvest. He took the lead in establishing a jujube cooperative to help us jujube farmers increase their income and become rich." Speaking of Wu Zi Sheng, the villagers commented like this.

Jiaxian is a major jujube production county in Shaanxi Province, and it is also one of the five major jujube producing areas in China. Red jujube has been planted for more than 3000 years. Jiaxian red jujube is known as "woody grain", "iron crops" and "live vitamin pills" because of its large meat and rich nutrition. In May 2001, Jiaxian was awarded the title of "famous Township of Chinese Red Jujube" by the State Forestry Administration. Jiaxian Red Jujube obtained the green food certification in August 2003 and the registration certificate of geographical indications of agricultural products issued by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2009.

Jiaxian County is located on the bank of the Yellow River, and the humid climate is suitable for the growth of high-quality jujube, but it is also an area where insect pests are rampant and jujube is prone to disease in spring and summer. This makes jujube farmers who rely on dates to get rich are racking their brains.

In the face of all kinds of diseases and insect pests, Wu Zisheng tried repeatedly, chose suitable pesticides and spraying methods for timely prevention and control, and taught the masses prevention and control techniques door to door. One spring and summer weather was abnormal, diseases and insect pests were rampant, a large area of jujube production in Jiaxian County was reduced, and Wu Zisheng crouched day and night in the jujube garden, dealing with diseases and insect pests with original pruning, pest control, and fertilization techniques, and finally defeated all kinds of diseases and insect pests. The fruit cracking rate of red jujube in Wujiazhuang and its surrounding villages is also much lower than that in other areas, with an average yield of more than 1200 jin per mu.

"in 2015, Wu Zisheng research innovated the high-yield management technology of red jujube to reduce tree shape, sparse branches, measure yield and prune, and transform the old jujube orchard, so that the excellent fruit rate of red jujube was increased from 30% to 70%, and the output value was tripled." The staff of Jiaxian Science and Technology Bureau said that the technology was named "strong lowering and shaping" and won the 2015 Yulin City Science and Technology Achievement Award. Jiaxian Jujube District vigorously promoted the technology, transforming 40,000 mu of Zaoyuan throughout the year.

The decentralized management model based on households restricts the quality and efficiency of jujube industry. In 2007, Wu Zisheng took the lead in establishing Jiaxian Millennium Jujube Garden Jujube Industry Cooperative and registered the brand "Millennium Oil Jujube". The cooperative is composed of more than 240 jujube farmers in this village and neighboring villages to carry out unified management and comprehensive services for all aspects of jujube production, processing and sales, and to carry out experiments such as "strong lowering and shaping" and greenhouse red jujube. unified packaging and standards for red jujube products, registration and brand, unified guidance price, organic jujube, and the establishment of e-commerce service platform to help jujube farmers sell red jujube. The cooperative has also invested in the construction of large-scale ovens and refrigeration equipment, using unique technology to produce more than a dozen varieties of red jujube products, which are widely favored by the market, with an annual processing of 3 million kilograms of red dates.

"with the promotion and service of the cooperative, the red dates produced by Wujiazhuang and the surrounding villages can not only sell at a good price, but also the jujube farmers have mastered the high-yield technology, helping more than 30 poor households in the cooperative to get rid of poverty." Wu Tzu-sheng was particularly happy to lift farmers out of poverty. In the autumn of 2015, the cooperative held the Jiaxian Red Jujube picking Festival in Wujiazhuang Village and signed a number of purchase and sales agreements. The Millennium Jujube Garden Jujube Industry Cooperative has become a modern jujube demonstration base integrating scientific and technological demonstration, technical training, processing and sales, and tourism.

Wu Zisheng also took the initiative to serve as a technical service instructor for red dates in Jiaxian County, trained tens of thousands of cadres and masses, participated in various jujube research activities, and worked tirelessly back and forth. Wu Zisheng said: "it is my dream to let more jujube 'red' rise and let the vast number of jujube farmers along the Yellow River embark on the road of prosperity."