The Touching Song of Technology in the Fields - A Record of 20 Years of Practice of the Technology Commissioner System in Zhejiang Province, Listening to Taishun County | Technology | Commissioner

Over the past 20 years, 39000 technology envoys have left classrooms and laboratories to travel to mountainous areas;

Over the past 20 years, more than 4700 technological projects have been implemented, promoting an increase in farmers' income of over 6.3 billion yuan and an increase in enterprise efficiency of over 4.5 billion yuan;

Over the past 20 years, 13.16 million trainees have been trained, and a group of local science and technology talents who understand technology and are good at management have grown vigorously

Over the past 20 years, this system has taken root and sprouted in the land of Zhejiang. Groups of data and achievements have demonstrated the foresight and wisdom of implementing this system that year. It has also laid a solid foundation for further deepening the implementation of this system and making unique contributions to promoting rural revitalization and common prosperity.

Technology envoys assist in strengthening and revitalizing agriculture

Entering Xiajiang Village, Fengshuling Town, Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province, in a hundred acre understory base, various Chinese medicinal herbs such as Huangjing, Sanyeqing, and Shaoyao are growing happily.

"It was Teacher Yu who made us realize for the first time that planting good land can also lead to prosperity," said Jiang Yinxiang, the secretary of the original village party branch in Xiajiang Village.

The "Teacher Yu" referred to by Jiang Yinxiang is Yu Xuping, a senior engineer at Zhejiang Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine Co., Ltd. He has previously served as a special envoy for science and technology in Xiajiang Village.

Xiajiang Village, Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province, surrounded by green mountains and clear waters. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

Xiajiang Village, surrounded by mountains, has a per capita arable land area of less than one acre. 20 years ago, there was a shortage of funds and talents here, and the villagers had little confidence in farming: "Can this kind of land grow 'golden lumps'?"

In 2003, Xi Jinping, then secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, came to the village to inquire about the situation in detail and discuss countermeasures together: "The province will study it and send a science and technology commissioner to your village."

At that time, the first batch of 100 science and technology special envoys in Zhejiang Province had completed training and held an expedition ceremony. Yu Xuping was dispatched to the province and became the 101st science and technology special envoy.

Yu Xuping has arrived, and he has been wandering in the village for a month, planting 500 acres of yellow gardenia. Two years later, every farmer in Xiajiang Village can earn over 4000 yuan through the cultivation of medicinal herbs.

Later on, Yu Xuping successively introduced dozens of medicinal herbs such as peppermint, front Hu, and yellow essence to Fengshuling Town, where Xiajiang Village is located. He used medicinal plants such as white peony, chrysanthemum, and fruit based Chinese medicinal herbs such as raspberry to support rural tourism projects such as sightseeing and picking tours.

Assembly photo: The above picture shows Yu Xuping, a senior engineer of Zhejiang Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine Co., Ltd., imparting traditional Chinese medicine planting skills to villagers in Xiajiang Village, Chun'an County; The following picture shows the growth of traditional Chinese medicine cuttings observed by villagers at a planting base in Xiajiang Village, Chun'an County on July 3rd. Shen Jizhong

Fengshuling Town, once a barren town, is now known as the "hometown of traditional Chinese medicine". Xiajiang Village in "Qianshangou" has also become a new model of landscape and countryside, with "farmhouse entertainment, busy homestays, and tourists weaving down ginger". In 2022, the per capita disposable income of farmers in Xiajiang Village was 14.5 times that of 2003.

The key to modernizing agriculture and rural areas lies in technology and talent. Technology envoys lead farmers to promote local economic development.

Yan Lichao, the person in charge of the Baihua Bee Professional Cooperative in Taishun County, is a well-known "beekeeping king" from afar. His cooperative ranks among the top in Zhejiang Province and has driven more than 300 households in surrounding counties and townships to start businesses and find employment.

At the beginning of beekeeping, Yan Lichao couldn't figure out the way to breed bees. Even if one works early and greedily in the dark, the honey production still cannot increase.

In 2010, Wang Ziqiang, a science and technology envoy from Taishun County and a professor at the School of Agriculture and Biotechnology of Zhejiang University, took the initiative to come to his home. He not only provided on-site guidance, but also invited beekeeping experts from Zhejiang University to teach hand in hand, helping Yan Lichao create a "sweet honey" characteristic industry.

Wang Ziqiang, a science and technology envoy from Taishun County and a professor from the School of Agriculture and Biotechnology of Zhejiang University, provided technical guidance at the Baihua Honey Base in Taishun County. Shen Jizhong

"Teacher Wang taught us to understand science and dare to innovate, which is a spiritual wealth," said Yan Lichao.

Over the past 20 years, Zhejiang Province has dispatched a total of 39000 science and technology envoys. In the fields, mountains, ponds, and lakes, the beautiful development scenes in Zhejiang all tell people a profound truth: it is with the support of technology that "green waters and green mountains" have become "golden mountains and silver mountains", and the sustainability of ecological development is stronger.

Writing wonderful papers in the vast fields

In 2005, when Professor Wu Lianghuan from the School of Environment and Resources at Zhejiang University first arrived in Guangdu Township, Xianju County, he was immediately surrounded by villagers on three floors inside and three floors outside.

The villagers heard that experts had arrived in the provincial capital, and they kept asking, "Why is my land not fertile?" "What can I make money by planting now?" At the training meeting held by Wu Lianghuan, the audience was filled with villagers, but it was quieter than a university classroom.

"I am a student of agriculture, and farmers need me the most." Wu Lianghuan understood the longing in the eyes of his fellow villagers, and he made up his mind to use his knowledge to change the breadth of the village.

In Xijiao Village, Guangdu Township, Xianju County, Zhejiang Province, Professor Wu Lianghuan from the School of Environment and Resources of Zhejiang University guided farmers in rice cultivation in a provincial-level scientific research experimental field. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

This is a two-way journey of exchanging sincerity for sincerity. For the past 20 years, a large number of science and technology envoys have carried a sense of mission from intellectuals to serve the country and a genuine affection for farmers, conducting field research and serving agriculture, rural areas, and farmers.

One of the missions of agricultural research is to promote the application of scientific and technological achievements in industries and solve major industrial problems. In 2005, at the age of 65, Bai Kunyuan retired from his research position at the Tea Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and made a "reverse" choice to work as a science and technology special envoy in Huyuan Township, Jinyun County, the revolutionary old area of southern Zhejiang.

He conducted in-depth investigations and research on the front line, covering 50000 acres of tea gardens in the county, and wrote a report on the development of the tea industry in tens of thousands of words. "To be 'sincere, sincere, and genuine', make more friends with farmers, and listen attentively to their voices," he said.

In 2007, Bai Kunyuan discovered a third-generation yellow leaf tea tree in a local tea garden in Jinyun. After more than 30 scientific and technological envoys' continuous efforts for more than ten years, the rare tea tree became a unique new variety of yellow tea in the local area, achieving a prosperous industry with an output value of nearly 100 million yuan.

"These experts wake up earlier and sleep later than farmers every day, and their office doors are adorned with mobile phone numbers. They turn on their phones 24 hours a day for the villagers," said Hu Aoying, Secretary of the Party Branch of Longkeng Village, Dayuan Town, Jinyun County.

In the vast field, technology envoys not only learn and apply, but also summarize research topics and technical directions from frontline practice.

Liang Weiqing, Associate Researcher of Zhejiang Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and his team have innovated the planting technology and low-temperature crushing technology of traditional Chinese medicine Sanyeqing, guided by industrial demand, effectively improving the quality of Sanyeqing products.

"Bringing the practical needs of grassroots back to the laboratory and combining scientific research with practical production can transform innovative achievements into productivity." Liang Weiqing said that only when technology is applied in practice can it truly realize its value.

For the past 20 years, Zhejiang science and technology envoys have traveled extensively in mountains and seas, using their actions and practices to write brilliant papers in the mountains and waters of the river——

High quality promotes industrial prosperity, with "tea villages", "honey orange towns", and "yangmei townships" emerging one by one; To provide high-level support for ecological livability and enhance the level of beautiful rural construction; Immersive science popularization and enlightenment, organizing "field classrooms" and "technology stoves" to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship vitality

In Wayaotou Village, Guangdu Township, Xianju County, Zhejiang Province, Zheng Wenjuan, a villager under the guidance of Professor Wu Lianghuan from the School of Environment and Resources of Zhejiang University, is inspecting the growth of waxberries. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

Continuing to write the chapter of the times on the road to common prosperity

Over the past 20 years, the system of science and technology envoys has been continuously deepening and developing in Zhejiang, from pilot projects in 100 townships to full provincial coverage, from individual science and technology envoys to team and corporate science and technology envoys, from serving agriculture to supporting secondary and tertiary industries.

"At present, the number of volunteers who become science and technology special envoys exceeds 1.5 times the demand, and among provincial-level science and technology special envoys, more than 70% of them have senior professional titles," said the head of the Rural Science and Technology Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Science and Technology.

Most technology envoys go to underdeveloped rural areas with high mountains, long roads, and difficult conditions. Many technology envoys have been dispatched for over a decade, even becoming "never leaving" technology envoys.

Professor Chen Siyu from Zhejiang A&F University is a science and technology envoy invited by Longquan City. Longquan has abundant bamboo and wood resources, with 610000 acres of bamboo forest, but the industrial development does not match the resource endowment.

In 2015, Longquan's bamboo and wood industry entered a crucial stage of transformation and upgrading. Chen Siyu was hired by Longquan City as an assistant to the mayor through the flexible introduction of high-end talents, responsible for the transformation and upgrading of the bamboo and wood industry as well as technological innovation.

After Chen Siyu's first term as assistant to the mayor ended, more than 20 vice president units of the Bamboo and Wood Industry Association in Longquan jointly wrote a letter to Zhejiang A&F University, hoping that the university would allow Chen Siyu to continue to stay in Longquan. So Chen Siyu stayed until now.

In recent years, he has jointly applied for more than 20 patents with enterprises, completed more than 30 projects of various types, and obtained more than 60 million yuan of supporting funds from superiors, helping Longquan create a bamboo and wood industry worth billions.

"Pulse the demand for quasi technology, introduce urgently needed talents, respect the wishes of talents, implement two-way selection, and make the system of science and technology special envoys more sustainable," said a grassroots cadre.

In order to ensure that outstanding scientific and technological talents are willing to continue, willing to work hard, and able to stay, Zhejiang has successively introduced a series of measures to relieve the worries of salary, benefits, and professional title evaluation for scientific and technological special envoys. A total of 1.536 billion yuan in financial funds has been invested to provide guarantees for the work of scientific and technological special envoys.

"The system of science and technology special envoys has strong vitality and extensive influence." The main responsible comrades of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee stated that they should guide the majority of science and technology special envoys to focus on the development needs of the "agriculture, rural areas, and farmers" cause, disseminate advanced technology, and cultivate industries that enrich the people, so that the system of science and technology special envoys can maintain its vitality, amplify its influence, and enhance its radiation.

At the beginning of this year, Professor Liu Qingjun from the School of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science at Zhejiang University came to Xianju, a mountainous county, and became the leader of the medical device assistance team of the Xianju Technology Special Mission. Medical devices are a green and high value-added industry that Xianju focuses on developing.

"Only by planting 'innovative seeds' can we open up the path to wealth." Liu Qingjun said that efforts should be made to overcome shortcomings such as weak innovation capabilities, insufficient industrial levels, and insufficient platform support through close cooperation between industry, academia, and research.

Accelerating the narrowing of regional, urban-rural, and income disparities and exploring common prosperity will be the new mission of this technology mission.

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