With watermelons on gourd vines, he led ten thousand farmers on the road of "watermelons out of poverty"

30 years devoted to the study of watermelon, starting with the initial watermelon grafting to solve watermelon Fusarium wilt and other problems, grafting technology was praised by the professor of Henan Agricultural University. Through technology promotion, nearly ten thousand farmers will be led to grow watermelons to get rid of poverty. He is Dai Zixing who is praised as the "watermelon king" by Zhengyang people.

Obsessed with watermelon for 30 years

CCTV Henan Branch News on July 2, the reporter in Zhengyang Daixing planting farmers professional cooperative, saw not tall, slightly dark skin of the "watermelon king" Dai Zixing.

The 53-year-old lives in Leizhai Township, Zhengyang County. In 1981, Dai Zixing was selected by Professor Ding Liping, the "Father of Pepper Hybridization in the World", to work as an assistant in Nanjing Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

During that time, Dai Zixing was diligent and studious and was soon appreciated by Professor Ding. Professor Ding often explains some hybrid principles to him. Dai Zixing has been infatuated with grafting technology ever since.

In 1986, after returning to his hometown, Dai Zixing repeatedly explored the grafting technique. In order to solve the problem of Fusarium wilt and low yield benefit of watermelon in continuous cropping, Dai Zixing selected watermelon seedlings grafted with gourd, towel gourd, pumpkin and wax gourd as rootstocks, and selected watermelon seedlings with gourd and wax gourd as rootstocks.

Grafting watermelons on gourd seedlings, the watermelons are large and high-yielding, with sugar content as high as 13%, good appearance, disease resistance, good moisture resistance, resistance to stubble and other characteristics, and are famous for a time.

In 2005, Dai Zixing invested 300000 yuan in "marriage" with Nanjing Academy of Agricultural Sciences to establish Zhengxing vegetable Research Institute in Leizhai Township, and then registered and established Daixing Farmers' planting Cooperative, which led thousands of nearby farmers to learn technology through training and other forms.

Technology drives farmers to be well-off

"if you are rich, you will not be rich, but if you are rich, you will be rich." Dai Zixing said that he has become rich by science and technology, but the people around him have not yet become rich, so they have an obligation to help them get rich together.

Lei Jianwei in Houzhai Village, Leizhai Township, due to congenital muscle atrophy, his family is extremely poor and does not have a family in his 30s. Lao Dai took the initiative to teach him watermelon seedling techniques and provided free agricultural materials such as seedlings and chemical fertilizers. Through learning to help, Lei Jianwei gradually achieved poverty alleviation, married and started a family, and is now able to guide and manage more than 10 mu of watermelons.

"Brother Dai helped me, taught me skills, and made me full of hope for life. My brother is a great benefactor of my life!" Whenever it is mentioned, Lei Jianwei is full of gratitude.

In recent years, Dai Zixing has successively helped poor households to develop cash crop planting families, and nearly 100 families have become rich.

The government of Dai Zixing's fellow villagers jointly invested 130000 yuan to establish a demonstration base for grafting watermelon seedlings in Leizhai Township, and set up 10 watermelon grafting sites in the township, which helped at least 100 poor families to become professional watermelon households every year.

In addition, Lao Dai and Nanjing Academy of Agricultural Sciences jointly introduced 36 new varieties of watermelons and peppers, covering an area of 4.5 million mu, leading nearly 10,000 farmers across the country to take the road of "watermelons out of poverty."

"I have taken detours in the grafting of watermelons. I hope that farmers will take fewer detours on the way to get rich, invest less and achieve more results, so that they will be well-off as soon as possible." Lao Dai said. Reporter Liu Hongtao

(original title: 30 years of dedicated research on watermelons "Watermelon King" to make watermelons on gourd vines)