An Lichun, the Chestnut God of getting Rich

An Lichun teaches chestnut grafting techniques to chestnut farmers.

In early winter, it is cold in the depths of Yanshan. In the chestnut forest in the second village of Huangshishao, Luanyang Town, Qianxi County, Hebei Province, a gray-haired and tall man, holding a trumpet in one hand and fruit tree shears in the other, was passionately explaining chestnut overwintering management techniques to chestnut farmers who came to learn from the classics. not afraid of the cold. His dedication to his career deeply infected many people who learned from the experience, and the exchange scene was very hot.

The lecturer is an Lichun. Because of his outstanding contribution to the cultivation of chestnut trees in Qianxi and even in China, the local people gave him a resounding title-"Chestnut God to get Rich".

Persistent pursuit

After 40 years of unremitting pursuit, 6 national invention patents have led to a four-fold increase in the average yield of chestnut per mu.

Qianxi County, located at the southern foot of Yanshan, is a pure mountain county with "seven mountains, two rivers and half divided fields, half roads and manors". The unique climatic conditions and gneiss geological environment make it particularly suitable for the growth of Chinese chestnut since ancient times. Chinese chestnut has been cultivated for more than 2000 years. However, limited by the traditional technical management, the growth cycle of Chinese chestnut here is long, and the yield per mu is only dozens of jin, so that the chestnut farmers of all ages want to give up and get rich.

In 1975, 20-year-old an Lichun became an agricultural technician in his hometown Luanyang town. On his first day at work, he made up his mind to change the status quo and began an obsessive quest for chestnut technological innovation: paying homage to teachers, buying books, checking materials, and doing experiments.

In 1976, when he learned that China's top chestnut technical experts were conducting chestnut scientific research in Hanerzhuang Township, he pedaled his bicycle and ran dozens of miles of mountain roads every day to the area to humbly ask for advice on chestnut cultivation techniques. For several days, as soon as it was dawn, he arrived on the ground; when the sun went down, he refused to leave; even if he was black and blue, he did not give up his studies. The old expert was moved and passed on his decades-old chestnut technology to him without reservation.

In 1986, an Lichun selected 100 mu of chestnut orchard as the experimental area. From then on, he took Chestnut Forest as his home, and spent almost all his time in Chestnut Forest except for eating and sleeping. On a cold winter night of minus 20 or 30 degrees Celsius, he persisted in observing the overwintering condition of chestnut trees, often with frostbite on his feet and chapped hands; in the midsummer of more than 30 degrees Celsius, he patiently observed the hanging fruit of chestnut trees, and his exposed skin was burned and peeled by the scorching sun again and again, but his pace of exploration never stopped. In order to explore the production process of "Yanshan Zaofeng", he carefully recorded every data in the whole process of chestnut growth throughout the year. At important production nodes, he even stayed in the chestnut forest all day. In order to solve the problem of preterm delivery of Chinese chestnut, he creatively learned from the method of opening branches and carving sprouts of apples, groping year by year, like caring for a baby in swaddling clothes, guarding the experiment day and night.

With tireless and painstaking study and indomitable bold innovation, an Lichun has become a veritable chestnut technical expert. Six new chestnut planting and management technologies, such as "happy, pulling branches, carving buds" and "three promotion and two control management", created by him, have won the national invention patent.

Under the guidance of his systematic planting technique of "prematurity and high efficiency," the long growth cycle of "planting trees in one year, bearing fruit in 15 years, and fruitful fruit in 20 years" has been changed to "planting in one year, strong in two years, grafting in three years, high yield in four years, and full fruit in five years." the yield per mu has also increased from dozens of jin to 200 kg. An Lichun, which is close to the creation of mythology, caused a sensation in the fruit planting community and brought him the title of "Chestnut God".

Resolute action

Tens of thousands of visits and guidance and 100000 technical training have led to an annual increase of 100 million yuan in benefits for chestnut farmers.

A single flower does not make a spring. An Lichun has long made up his mind to let the new technology benefit the vast number of chestnut farmers. He invented and summed up, and popularized it when he matured. With the support of the county, in 1986, an Lichun joined with four chestnut farmers to contract 200 mu of barren mountains in the village and built a high-yield demonstration garden for new technology of Chinese chestnut. Carrying the luggage roll, an Lichun went up the mountain: burying water conservancy facilities, digging "around the mountain", and planting 5000 chestnut trees. He does everything himself. Due to the adoption of grafting, pruning and other new techniques, five years later, the annual output of these 5000 Chinese chestnuts reached 5000 kg, causing a sensation in the county.

Hearing that Anlichun Chestnut Garden is so productive, there is an endless stream of visitors and learners. "at that time, dozens of times a year, thousands of people came to watch." Li Guoqi, an old man in the village and former secretary of the village party branch, recalled.

An Lichun not only spread his technology out of his pocket, but also compiled the new technology into a "three-character classics" for chestnut management, compiled it into a practical pamphlet and sent it to chestnut farmers for free. It is even more common for him to give public lectures on television. He also "dragged down" his wife, son, and daughter, so that they all became "local experts" and taught new skills to the villagers.

In 1991, an Lichun was promoted to the post of deputy township head as an exception. From then on, he held more than a dozen study classes and more than three on-the-spot meetings every year, and was too busy to touch the ground. There was a chestnut marketing giant who wanted to hire him with a high salary, which was politely declined by him. "he felt that this would work best." Zhang Jianjun, former secretary of the party committee of Hanerzhuang Township, commented like this.

Sweat in exchange for golden autumn joy. The output of Castanea mollissima in Luanyang Town, Saheqiao Town and Hanerzhuang Township, which is the first to adopt the new technology of planting and management of Chinese chestnut in AnLichun, has risen rapidly. Among them, during the four years of working in Hanerzhuang Township, the output of Chinese chestnut in Hanerzhuang Township has increased from 1500 tons to 6000 tons, and the per capita income of the whole township has reached more than 2500 yuan. Now, the output of Chinese chestnut in these three townships has reached half of the total output of the county, and they are all Yanshan Zaofeng and other varieties of "how much output", forming a unique single variety market marketing in the country.

New technology spreads wherever people go. Today, an Lichun, as simple as a chestnut tree, has trained a total of 100000 chestnut farmers. Every year, he also receives more than 3000 visitors from all over the country.

Selfless feelings

Selfless self-forgetting home, selfless dedication, only for the villagers can live a good life.

"for the sake of Chinese chestnut, an Lichun can do anything. He is really selfless and selfless." This is the most accurate evaluation of him by the people of Qianxi.

In 1979, his wife was in labor, just in time for the critical period of planting Chinese chestnut. An Lichun is responsible for the technical guidance and runs up the mountain every day. After his wife was in labor, his family went all over the country to call him, but he didn't hear a word. In the evening, when he dragged his tired body home, his son had already been born. In 1991, when an Lichun was engaged in a mountain chestnut pot experiment, he accidentally suffered third-degree scalds and 10% of the skin graft area of the whole body. The elderly mother felt sorry for her son: "Don't make chestnuts any more, your life is almost up to date!" But half a year later, an Lichun drilled into the familiar chestnut forest.

After years of work, an Lichun suffers from severe diabetes and needs to be injected with more than 100 milligrams of insulin every day. Once, he was invited to give a lecture in Shangdong Village, Xinji Town. After class, he was so tired that he fell asleep on the hot adobe Kang. When he woke up, he found that one foot was scalded. It took him more than 4 months to recover. Even so, as long as there are arrangements in the county, he will give lectures, and most of them are free of charge, and he is never delayed with a limp.

After retreating to the second line in 2007, an Lichun's new technology transmission, help, and belt did not stop. "Chestnut is my life-like career. As long as I stay in the chestnut forest, I will feel comfortable." He did not care about the low salary, so he did not hesitate to take over the post of chestnut production technical consultant of the Revolutionary Old Base Promotion Association in the county. Holding a pair of scissors, he went through 37 key supporting villages in the county, built 10 science and technology demonstration parks, trained 100 demonstration households, and trained nearly 1,000 key chestnut technical personnel, thus increasing the per capita income of the villagers in these supporting villages by 2400 yuan.