Hundreds of billions of Industrial Dream of a "Fairy Grass"-- the Industrial status of Dendrobium candidum

"in other people's eyes, Dendrobium candidum is a grass, but in my eyes, it is my child." For many years, Yu Qiaoxian, chairman of Zhejiang Senyu holding Group (hereinafter referred to as "Senyu"), has been taking care of the industry like a child.

Short hair, capable, vigorous action, is the first impression of Yu Qiaoxian. With the continuous heating up of the Dendrobium candidum industry, the child in the eyes of Yu Qiaoxian has become a golden doll pursued by all kinds of capital.

"at that time, an expert said that Dendrobium candidum would be an industry worth hundreds of billions of yuan in the future. We didn't really believe it at the time. Now it seems that this is indeed a correct judgment. " Yu Qiaoxian told reporters.

With the heating up of Dendrobium candidum industry, Guangming, Kangnbei, Tianmu Mountain and other listed enterprises have set foot in the Dendrobium industry, and many places across the country have put forward the slogan of "building 10 billion Dendrobium industry".

The warming of the industry increases the atmosphere for Dendrobium candidum to go out of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but it also leads to chaos in the industry. With the intervention of more and more enterprises and individuals, hybrid technology has become popular and even rampant in the Dendrobium planting industry.

"however, this is an opportunity for us." Yu Qiaoxian, who experienced the storm of questioning the Dendrobium industry in 2006, is full of confidence in the development of Dendrobium industry in Yiwu. In her view, those who persist in the chaos must be enterprises that have mastered mature planting techniques and are good at saving costs and improving quality.

The past Life and present Life of "Xiancao"

In the past, when reporters interviewed, they often encountered some phenomena of "disobedience": in companies that had myopic glasses surgery, employees of 1x3 wore glasses; in enterprises that sold tea, their employees drank tea of other brands; and traffic experts who strongly opposed taxi-hailing software began to operate Didi Taxi immediately after work....

This interview broke the "disobedience": entrepreneurs such as Yu Qiaoxian and Wang Zhengrong, general manager of Hubei Pharmaceutical Industry Research Institute Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Hubei Medical Academy), or scholars such as Shi Jinping, professor of Forestry and Biotechnology College of Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, and Sun Daihua, director of the Research Center of Hubei Medical Institute, are all "fans" of Dendrobium candidum.

Sun Daihua likes fresh food, Wang Zhengrong likes to make wine, and Si Jinping likes to make tea with dried flowers of Dendrobium candidum. They not only take it themselves, but also recommend it to their friends and relatives.

The reason lies in the effect of Dendrobium candidum in nourishing yin, nourishing stomach and throat.

According to Si Jinping, there are 74 species and 2 varieties of Dendrobium in China, among which Dendrobium candidum is named because of its iron-green epidermis, which is also the most rare. From the Classic of Shennong Materia Medica in the Han Dynasty to the Compendium of Materia Medica written by Li Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty, there are records of the efficacy of Dendrobium candidum in strengthening yin and nourishing essence, tonifying internal deficiency and light weight.

"the ancestor's description has not changed for thousands of years, which is enough to prove the authenticity of its efficacy." Shi Jinping, who has been studying Dendrobium candidum since the mid-1990s, told reporters.

Modern pharmacological studies have found that Dendrobium polysaccharides in Dendrobium candidum is a kind of immune enhancer, which plays a significant role in improving white blood cells. Clinical experiments have also proved that Dendrobium polysaccharides play a significant role in regulating immunity.

However, the reporter found that although professionals are highly respected, many people, including some traditional Chinese medicine, have never heard of the name Dendrobium candidum.

Yang Mingzhi, director of the Dendrobium Professional Committee of the China traditional Chinese Medicine Association, told reporters that the success rate of pollination of wild Dendrobium candidum is low, so the yield is very low. "in ancient times, they were all 'imperial medicines' that ordinary people could not have access to at all."

Therefore, it was not until the late 1990s, when the technical bottleneck of artificial planting of Dendrobium candidum was solved, that the Yangtze River Delta region with strong consumption power "tasted fresh" and became the main area of consuming this product.

Yu Qiaoxian was the first entrepreneur to plant Dendrobium candidum in the country. In her early years, she sold preserved eggs and represented health products. Before operating Dendrobium candidum, she was already the largest health food agent in Yiwu. In 1997, on the recommendation of Shi Jinping, she invested 5 million yuan and began to plant Dendrobium candidum.

The difficulty of cultivation was beyond imagination: after 12 months, the roots were rotten, and after 15 months, they were polluted again. A disease and insect pest destroyed 10 mu of Dendrobium candidum. Finally, a heavy snow overwhelmed all the experimental sheds.

"people who don't have a certain industrial base really can't do Dendrobium candidum!" After spending a lot of painstaking efforts, Yu Qiaoxian finally had a harvest. In 2002, the sales of Dendrobium candidum and Dendrobium candidum (dry products processed by Dendrobium candidum) reached more than 50 million yuan, and in 2014, the sales reached more than 1 billion yuan.

Synchronized with the development of Senyu, the total output value of artificially cultivated Dendrobium candidum has reached nearly 10 billion yuan in 2014. Among them, the output value of Zhejiang alone exceeds 3 billion yuan.

Genuine is not equal to "local"

The ups and downs of the business sea in the early years made Yu Qiaoxian develop first-class marketing ability.

At present, there are two enterprises in China whose output value of Dendrobium candidum has exceeded 1 billion yuan, one is Emperor Pharmaceutical in Hangzhou, the other is Senyu. The former basically depends on word-of-mouth, and the market is mainly concentrated in Hangzhou. The latter takes part in the most authoritative brand selection activities in China's health care industry almost every year.

Yu Qiaoxian has a sense of responsibility that many grassroots private entrepreneurs do not have, which is embodied in the persistence of "authentic".

Traditional Chinese medicine pays attention to authentic medicinal material producing areas and native seedlings. According to ancient records, 30 degrees north latitude, including Yiwu, belongs to the producing area of Dendrobium candidum, and the cultivation base of Dendrobium candidum under Senyu is located here.

Since 1997, Sen Yu experts have carried out aseptic propagation of the collected wild plants in the base, and then carried out a variety of tests such as comparison, stress resistance and disease resistance.

This seedling, which was entrusted with an important task by the Senyu people, was eventually named "Senshan No.1". In 2008, the non-major crop Variety Identification Committee of Zhejiang Province determined that the shape, polysaccharide content and active ingredients of Dendrobium candidum No. 1 were rated as "similar excellent".

"however, authentic medicinal materials are not equal to 'local medicinal materials', and the grasp of the quality of Dendrobium candidum can not stay in the varieties and regions, but a comprehensive consideration of varieties, producing areas and cultivation methods." Yu Qiaoxian said.

Therefore, when someone came up with various planting methods from various aspects of "high mountain area" or "jungle dense forest" for the simple pursuit of characteristic gimmicks, Yu Qiaoxian insisted on restoring the growth environment of wild Dendrobium candidum to the maximum extent.

In the base, the timing irrigation sprinkler system simulates the cloud-shrouded wild humidity environment; the mixed matrix structure of pebble and pine bark simulates wild soil; and semi-shading simulates the towering shading effect of ancient trees. At the same time, no artificial fertilizers or pesticides are added.

Today, Shi Jinping, who is also the technical director of Sen Yu, has jointly developed a new technology for planting Dendrobium candidum on trees-the original ecological cultivation model of epiphytic living trees.

"We wound a straw rope around a tree with a diameter of more than 10 cm, and tied the seedlings of Dendrobium candidum between the straw rope and the big tree for cultivation." According to Si Jinping, Dendrobium candidum grown on this tree has strong stress resistance, and it does not need additional matrix and nutrition, and it can grow well by absorbing the nutrition of bark and big trees.

This planting method competes neither with agriculture for farmland nor with forestry for woodland, and can produce huge economic benefits: the fresh Dendrobium candidum harvested in a tree with a diameter of 25 cm last year can be more than 2.5kg, calculated as fresh strips of 2400 yuan / kg. The highest income of a big tree is nearly 10,000 yuan a year.

"this method is called the 'most profitable' channel by many people, and it has been promoted in Wenzhou and Lishui." Skimping said.

The rampant "Li Ghost" has become a good opportunity for development.

Around 2005, the income of one mu of Dendrobium can even reach 200000 yuan. Under the stimulation of high income, all kinds of capital has entered the Dendrobium industry, making the Dendrobium industry advance by leaps and bounds.

Statistics from the Dendrobium Professional Committee of the China Association of traditional Chinese Medicine show that as of July 2013, the planting area of all kinds of Dendrobium in China is 125600 mu, and that of Yunnan Province has exceeded 80, 000 mu.

However, the overall market price is going down. In 2009, the market price of Yunnan Dendrobium candidum was about 1200 yuan / kg. In recent years, however, there is only a fraction of what was left when the price was high, and the growers suffered heavy losses.

The reason is that "Li Ghost" disturbs the market order, and many products with unclear origin, unauthentic origin, unclear quality, impure quality and uneven content fill the market, which has become the biggest obstacle to the development of the industry.

The normal height of Dendrobium candidum should be about 5-30 cm, while in some places the hybrid Dendrobium is thick and long, the longest even more than 1 meter. "this is not a kind of Dendrobium, it is clearly a vegetable!" Si Jinping sighed.

Although the domestic Dendrobium candidum market has mixed brands and low concentration, Si Jinping does not have much concern: after the survival of the fittest, small and medium-sized enterprises and "retail investors" in the Dendrobium candidum industry will be eliminated, leaving behind enterprises that have mastered mature planting techniques and are good at saving costs and improving quality.

As early as 2006, CCTV's "Weekly quality report" column, entitled "the riddle of Fairy Grass", disclosed the suspected fake Dendrobium candidum and Maple Dendrobium in Hangzhou, Yueqing, Jiashan and other places in Zhejiang Province. it directly led to the closure of some enterprises operating Dendrobium candidum.

But Sen Yu took the storm as an opportunity. In April 2006, an expert team headed by academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences checked and accepted the key scientific and technological projects undertaken by Senyu. The five indexes of Dendrobium candidum, such as pest control, breeding, results and fresh-keeping, optimal matching and picking, all reached the international advanced level.

In May 2012, the State Forestry Administration commissioned Sen Yu and Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University to jointly formulate the Technical regulations for the cultivation of Dendrobium candidum, which is the first national industry standard for the cultivation of Dendrobium candidum.

The standard took two years to produce and was officially released in November 2014. It is a milestone for Dendrobium candidum.

An expert in the Chinese medicine industry told the reporter that there are three types of standards for traditional Chinese medicine: the minimum standard is the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" standard; the second is the industry standard, which is applicable to industry associations, industrial alliances, and medicine markets; again, the standards set by local governments for locally circulated medicinal materials.

"the industry standards formulated by Sen Yu are not only conducive to the development of the overall industry, but also form a threshold to isolate some secondary products in the market, which is conducive to the further development of Sen Yu." The above-mentioned experts said.

Give advice to Hubei

Shi Jinping has a habit of copying PPT materials including introduction and planting techniques of Dendrobium candidum to the audience whenever he finishes a lecture on Dendrobium candidum.

"the national scale of 10 billion yuan is still far from enough. Only enterprises in more regions participate in accordance with industry norms, can more people eat high-quality and affordable Dendrobium candidum." When the reporter told him that Hubei had begun to develop Dendrobium candidum industry, he was also very happy.

Yingshan County, Hubei Province, which is located at 30 degrees north latitude with Yiwu, is one of the few places in the country to find wild Dendrobium candidum.

Yingshan County is the counterpart of Hongtai State-owned assets Management Company in Hubei Province. as the holding unit of Hongtai Company, Hubei Medical College inspected the local planting of Dendrobium in late October last year. At the foot of the main peak of the Dabie Mountains in Wujiashan, Yingshan County, a group of experts led by Wang Zhengrong found the 70-year-old medicine farmer Liu Zhengyan in an ordinary farmyard.

After the old medicine farmer knew that the expert group came to inspect the purpose of the wild Dendrobium candidum, he readily agreed to take the expert group into the mountain. On the shady side of an inconspicuous century-old poplar, Liu Zhengyan found a cluster of wild Dendrobium that he had guarded for 30 years. He discovered this in 1983 and now has more than a dozen branches.

This discovery makes Wang Zhengrong very happy-the output value per mu of Dendrobium candidum is much higher than that of Poria cocos, which is widely planted locally, and can greatly increase the income of ordinary people. However, at that time, the planting scale of Dendrobium candidum in Yingshan was only more than 20 mu, and the planting was scattered sporadically, and the product development was still in the initial processing state, almost all of which depended on the procurement of pharmaceutical manufacturers.

"this has a lot to do with the high investment cost and long output time of Dendrobium candidum. The investment of intensive cultivation of Dendrobium is nearly 100000 yuan per mu, which individual farmers cannot afford. " Wang Zhengrong said.

After returning to Wuhan, Wang Zhengrong began to inspect the industry all over the country, and Zhejiang and Yunnan were his key areas. Finally, the Hubei Institute of Medical Engineering provided technical support and introduced investment from Wuhan Haite Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd., with an initial investment of 10 million yuan and a planting area of 115mu.

In the interview, a number of experts provided advice for Yingshan County.

According to Yang Mingzhi, the consumption of traditional Chinese medicine can be divided into three categories: the first is homologous to medicine and food, the second is that it can only be used in health food, and the third is banned in food. Dendrobium candidum belongs to the second category, so it can not enter Shang Chao in the form of fresh products, but can only be sold through pharmacies. "only after it is made as a health product can it be widely promoted."

However, each health product (such as capsules, granules, medicinal wine, toothpaste, eye cream) needs to invest about 500000 yuan in research and development, and it will take two to three years of approval time before it can be officially put on the market.

This is precisely the strength of Hubei Medical and Industrial Institute: its predecessor is the Hubei Pharmaceutical Industry Research Institute, which was established in 1958. It has accumulated many years of experience in drug research and development, and can "develop health food with the ideas, techniques and means of making drugs."

"if an enterprise only develops the planting link of Dendrobium candidum, it will be restricted by the purchaser: if the purchaser reduces the price to buy the enterprise, it will lose money, and if the crop is not harvested, it may be wasted. However, if Hubei can build a complete industrial chain of breeding, planting, deep processing and sales of Dendrobium candidum, it will greatly strengthen the anti-risk ability of enterprises. " Shi Jinping gave an example. Senyu Group, which has the advantage of the whole industry chain, the price of Dendrobium candidum fresh strips has been stable at about 2400 yuan / kg in three years, ensuring the interests of growers.

In addition, Si Jinping also gave advice from a marketing perspective: "the purchasing power of consumers in central China and their product awareness of Dendrobium candidum are weaker than those in coastal areas." After reasonable and effective promotion, word-of-mouth of Dendrobium candidum will form the best marketing. "