Father of "Green Ridge" Walnut

On July 8, 2016, we drove to the planting base of Hebei Lvling Fruit Industry Co., Ltd.

Walnut trees overlap, stretching out into the distance along the rolling hills. Between the trees, strips of cloth dragged the branches to the ground. Under the trees, flocks of white geese are leisurely foraging, both weeds and pests. A black light lamp hung high on the tree, and pests falling into the bag under the lamp would become fodder for the white goose under the tree.

Land management, watering irrigation, planting methods, new variety selection, product deep processing, Li Baoguo left a complete set of innovative research achievements in Lvling. Among them,"Taihang Mountain High-quality Walnut Industrialization Technology and Deep Processing Series Product Development,""High-quality Walnut Standardization Production Technology Integration Demonstration" and other achievements have been recognized as international advanced; walnut labor-saving cultivation management technology system has become the key promotion technology of national spark industry;"Lvling Original Fragrant Walnut Milk Production Technology" has obtained the certificate of scientific and technological achievements in Hebei Province, and the achievement level has reached the domestic leading level.

In fact, before coming to Green Ridge in 1999, Li Baoguo had no contact with walnut planting.

At present, the thin-skinned walnut planting in Lincheng County has reached more than 220,000 mu, and 12,000 farmers in the county rely on planting thin-skinned walnut to get rich.

"I always feel that Baoguo teacher is like a business trip in other places. He will come back soon to plan the blueprint for the development of Luling thin-skinned walnut industry with us, so as to drive more villagers to get rid of poverty and become rich." Green Ridge Chairman Gao Shengfu said.

" Without Professor Li Baoguo, Green Ridge wouldn't be where it is today."

At the end of 1990s, Lincheng County was surging with the upsurge of developing barren hills.

Gao Shengfu, who contracted 3000 mu of barren hills in partnership with others, invited Li Baoguo, a famous apple tree management expert at that time, and also planned to plant apples. Li Baoguo, whose rubber shoes were half-worn, his beard unshaven, and his clothes did not look like a professor's, but after examining the local soil, he believed that this kind of soil with more gravel would not grow good apples. He suggested that Gao Shengfu plant walnut trees.

Gao Shengfu was confused. On the one hand, walnuts were worthless at that time; on the other hand, although Li Baoguo was a famous expert in apple management, he had never planted walnuts. Gao Shengfu really couldn't believe Li Baoguo's ability.

In fact, Li Baoguo had already begun to study walnuts as early as in Gangdi Village. "The teacher Bao Guo said,'Apples are indeed good, but not everywhere is suitable for planting.' Especially in the hilly areas in front of Taihang Mountain, the soil is poor, dry and water shortage, which is more suitable for planting walnut. Walnut in water and management technology than apple water saving labor, easy to promote. Especially good quality thin-skinned walnuts, the market prospects are very good. Gao Shengfu recalled.

Half-believing, Gao Shengfu began planting walnut trees.

In 1999, Lvling introduced new varieties of thin-skinned walnut with good quality from Shandong and planted 10,000 seedlings.

By 2002, the walnut trees were fruiting, but the varieties of fruit trees were found to be chaotic. In addition to the real new varieties, there are "Liao 1","Liao 7","Fenghui","Zhonglin 1" these old varieties called famous, but also some experts can not name.

"Teacher Li said that in order to have industrialization and scale benefits, we must realize variety and improved varieties, ensure the consistency of varieties and ensure the excellence of varieties." Zhang Kang, director of the office of Green Ridge Company, recalled.

Where does the seed come from? Li Baoguo began to study and cultivate new varieties of walnut. He tried to introduce 6 fine walnut varieties and 11 pecan varieties from the University of California, USA, and 13 fine walnut varieties from other provinces in China for hybrid tissue culture experiment. Finally, a new bud of gene variation was found on a walnut tree, and a new thin-skinned walnut variety "Lvling" with independent intellectual property rights was cultivated with it.

In 2007,"Lvling" passed the "early fruit thin-skinned high-quality walnut new variety breeding identification" organized by Hebei Province Forestry Department. The expert group unanimously believed that the comprehensive characters and various technical indicators of Lvling walnut were "domestic leading." At that time, there were many famous thin-skinned walnut varieties in China, but some varieties had thin skin as paper, easy to crack, easy to cause pulp pollution; some varieties had too thick skin, hard to break open with hands. Lvling walnut skin thickness is moderate, comprehensive properties are the best, won the "Third China International Agricultural Products Fair Best Selling Products Award","Seventh China International Agricultural Products Fair Gold Award","First China Walnut Festival Gold Award".

In the undulating wasteland of Lincheng County, the new varieties cultivated by Li Baoguo are planted, and the new planting methods initiated by Li Baoguo are copied.

Walnut trees are traditionally planted sparsely to facilitate ventilation as they grow older. However, such planting, walnut yield has the size of the year, and the high yield period is limited. Li Baoguo, contrary to tradition, pioneered the dwarfing and dense planting technology of walnut. Through dense planting of walnut trees and flattening of branches, he realized strong branches bearing fruit and stable production year after year. He carried out the "green ridge thin walnut dwarfing close planting technology" by the academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Beijing Forestry University President Professor Yin Weilun identified as the first in China.

Once, the company invited domestic walnut experts to visit and guide. See walnut tree planting density, an expert was very dissatisfied, said: "nonsense." When the walnut tree grows, there is no wind between the trees. I bet it will die in a few years. Three years from now, I'll be back."

Three years later, experts came as promised and saw the still lush walnut forest in front of them, leaving only admiration in their hearts.

From land management, planting methods, new varieties breeding, to the deep processing of products. Li Baoguo left behind a complete set of research results in Green Ridge. Gao Shengfu, chairman of Lvling Fruit Industry Co., Ltd., said: "Without Professor Li Baoguo, there would be no Lvling company today, and there would be no famous Lvling walnut brand in China. Teacher Li is the veritable father of Lvling walnut."

For more than ten years, Li Baoguo has left the people of Lvling with the deepest feeling.

"The walnut variety we bred ourselves should be loved like a child."

In the Green Ridge Company's planting base called Taoyuan outside the city, there is a temporary Li Baoguo Memorial Hall.

In addition to pictures and text descriptions, there are also shoes and clothes worn by Li Baoguo before his death. There were cuts cut by branches on his clothes, and the patterns on the soles of his rubber shoes and sneakers had been worn flat.

Looking at a pair of rubber shoes, Wang Suxin talked about such a thing.

Once, a technician of the company dressed in leather shoes on the tree pruning branches, Li Baoguo saw. Li Baoguo said: "We cultivate a new variety of walnut, it is like our own biological children, you wear leather shoes on the tree, so hard soles step on the bark, like damage to the child's skin, you do not heartache?"

Li Baoguo wears rubber shoes or sneakers most often, and few people see him wearing leather shoes. Before this incident, the technicians and employees of Green Ridge Company only thought that Teacher Li was untidy and did not pay attention to clothes. After this incident, people understood Li Baoguo more.

In Li Baoguo, strictness and cherishing are two sides of the same coin. Love is deep and responsibility is severe.

Jia Zhihua and Chen Liying were Li Baoguo's students at Hebei Agricultural University. In life, Li Baoguo regards two students as relatives. In the planting base, Li Baoguo saw that the students were negligent in their operations, and no matter how many people were present, they were all scolded.

For Li Baoguo's love and responsibility, Gao Shengfu has a deep memory of one thing so far.

In the development of walnut milk products, Lvling technicians after many experiments, the results of walnut powder alone emulsification effect is always not good, they want to use walnut essence and other additives in walnut milk, in order to increase the appearance and taste of walnut milk. Li Baoguo firmly disagreed, saying: "The use of essence is blending, that is, cutting corners." We do food processing enterprises, to treat consumers as their relatives, we must put food quality first, quality is 1, the rest are 0, quality is done, the latter has value."