According to the “Compendium of Materia Medica” (Bencao Gangmu), Poria (Fu Ling) has a mild flavor and is permeable in nature, promoting the generation of body fluids, opening the pores, nourishing the water source, and descending… In ancient times, Poria was praised as a “divine medicine for all seasons” due to its extensive benefits, regardless of the time of year. Poria can not only be used as medicine but also be made into delicious sweet cakes and local snacks. The Tang dynasty poet Jia Dao wrote: “For twenty years, I have consumed Poria, and half of my letters are about the Daoist scriptures.” This means he has been consuming Poria for twenty years.
▲ Some products primarily made from Poria.
Speaking of Poria, one cannot forget Jingzhou in Huaihua. Jingzhou is known as the “Hometown of Chinese Poria,” with seven out of ten Poria coming from Jingzhou. The “earth lump” has transformed into a “gold lump,” emerging from the deep mountains and attracting pharmaceutical giants to the area, allowing Jingzhou Poria to play a significant role in boosting the local economy.With inherent advantages and diligent effortsIn the pine forests, farmers dig small mounds along the tree roots to extract the buried bags, and after initial processing by the farmers, the fresh Poria in these bags is transported out of the mountains to local processing factories.
▲ Scene from the Jingzhou Poria trading market.“This year, the Poria harvest is abundant. If I sell all the Poria I have harvested, I can earn about 300,000 yuan.” In mid-October, Poria farmer Li Cuiqian arrived early at the Poria trading market with her harvest, and within ten minutes of entering the market, she successfully completed her sales for the day, earning over 30,000 yuan. It is understood that Poria is not only an important source of income for Li Cuiqian but also a key agricultural specialty industry that Jingzhou is vigorously developing. Jingzhou, located in the southwestern part of Hunan, is the central area bordering the three provinces of Hunan, Guizhou, and Guangxi. Jingzhou has a long history of cultivating Poria and is the origin of pure mycelium strains of wild Poria in China. Thanks to the unique natural geographical environment, in 2014, “Jingzhou Poria” was approved for geographical indication registration protection by the former Ministry of Agriculture.
▲ The China Poria Technology Industrial Park located in Jingzhou. The development of the Poria industry in Jingzhou has both inherent advantages and diligent efforts. Recently, the third National Poria Conference was held in Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County. This is not the first time Jingzhou has hosted the National Poria Conference; the second National Poria Conference was held in Jingzhou back in 2017. After years of development, Jingzhou now distributes 80,000 tons of Poria annually, accounting for about 70% of the national total, with the export (including re-export) volume accounting for two-thirds of the total national Poria exports. This small medicinal material, referred to locally as “earth lump,” has become a major pillar industry for Jingzhou. Jingzhou has also become the largest distribution center for Poria in the country, a processing and export base, and a center for Poria strain supply and technology promotion, boasting the most complete Poria industrial chain in the country, the largest Poria processing and trading center, and the only “Poria Price Index” information release platform. These data illustrate Jingzhou’s leading position in the national Poria industry.
▲ Workers processing Poria in the production workshop. Today, Poria has become a good channel for local villagers to increase their income. The county has 216 strain factories, producing about 40 million bags of strains annually, accounting for over 70% of the main Poria production areas in the country, creating employment for over 50,000 people, with an average annual income increase of over 5,000 yuan per person.“Chain” style investment attraction strengthens the industrial chain Poria is a major medicinal material that is both food and medicine, one of the “Nine Flavors of Hunan,” and the first of the “Six Flavors of Huai.” The Poria industry, as one of the key advantageous industrial chains in Huaihua, is contributing to Huaihua’s goal of building a “Southern Chinese Medicinal Valley.”
▲ Jingzhou Medicinal Material Industry Demonstration Base. (Photo: Chen Junming) To strengthen and expand the Poria industry, Jingzhou has successively established a Poria processing trade center, a Poria micro-enterprise incubation center, and a regional food and drug testing center, while leveraging leading enterprises to attract upstream and downstream Poria enterprises to gather in Jingzhou, creating a “strong magnetic field” that concentrates resource elements. In February of this year, the national Poria (medicinal material) and its products electronic trading platform was officially launched, promoting the upgrading of the Jingzhou Poria industry. Just over a month ago, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Xiu Zheng Pharmaceutical Group (Hunan) biopharmaceutical project was held in the Jingzhou Poria Technology Industrial Park. The total investment in the project is 1.3 billion yuan, making it the largest investment project in Jingzhou to date, with the strongest brand influence and the most complete industrial chain.
▲ Groundbreaking ceremony for the Xiu Zheng Pharmaceutical Group (Hunan) biopharmaceutical project. It is understood that from the signing of the strategic cooperation framework agreement in June of this year to the formal signing of the project, and then to the establishment of Xiu Zheng Pharmaceutical Group (Hunan) Co., Ltd., it took only one month. The introduction of Xiu Zheng Pharmaceutical Group will help strengthen the Poria industrial chain in Jingzhou and further consolidate Jingzhou’s position in the Poria industry. Jingzhou has attracted 29 Poria processing enterprises through “chain” style investment, focusing on cultivating seven high-tech scale enterprises, achieving the transformation of traditional industries into modern industries.
▲ Poria processing trade center. In 2022, the comprehensive output value of the entire Poria industry chain in Jingzhou reached 4.67 billion yuan, and the “Development of the Jingzhou Poria Industry” was selected as a typical case of ecological product value realization by the National Development and Reform Commission.Transforming “earth lumps” into “gold lumps” is a remarkable remedy Every county has its local specialties, and making the “local specialties” stronger is a common challenge. Why has Jingzhou Poria become a pillar industry in the area? The observer attempts to outline the “remarkable remedy” behind this.
▲ The third National Poria Conference in 2023 was held in Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County.Writing a strong narrative for local specialties, cultivating industry “punches”. Local specialties are produced locally, so developing a strong narrative for local specialties is beneficial for promoting one village, one product, revitalizing rural areas, and helping farmers increase their income. Jingzhou, which is not coastal and lacks transportation advantages, has turned the small Poria into a large industry, becoming the largest distribution center and export base in the country, demonstrating years of effort and struggle. The China Poria Technology Industrial Park has been built from scratch, and the establishment of leading enterprises like Xiu Zheng Pharmaceutical is undoubtedly a recognition of these efforts, transforming Jingzhou’s local specialties into more powerful industrial “punches.” Strengthening technological empowerment to enhance the value of “earth lumps”. Without technological support, local specialties may remain as “earth lumps,” unable to increase their added value and worth. Jingzhou continues to inject technological content into Poria. For example, a Poria strain breeding and research center has been established, independently breeding the new strain “Xiangjing 28” and conducting space breeding. Currently, “Xiangjing 28” is the mainstream Poria strain in the country. Jingzhou collaborates with the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and Hunan University of Chinese Medicine on Poria, and has launched Hunan’s first ISO standard for medicinal materials. Through technological empowerment, “earth lumps” have transformed into “gold lumps.”
▲ Different categories of Poria raw materials. Actively innovating across sectors to make products trendy. If local specialties do not innovate and rely solely on past successes, they may remain at the primary product stage with limited development space. Jingzhou guides enterprises to extend from rough processing of Poria products into the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries, developing health products, foods, and beauty cosmetics such as “Poria drinks,” “Poria wine,” “Poria powder,” and “Poria masks,” which are sold to ASEAN countries. Currently, Jingzhou has assisted park enterprises in developing over 110 deep-processed Poria products, opening channels for the Poria health industry. Expanding from food and medicine to trendy lifestyle products, this cross-sector thinking will allow the Poria industry to achieve significant development. Rural revitalization relies on developing specialty industries as an important support. General Secretary Xi Jinping made important deployments regarding “writing the narrative of local specialties” at the 2022 Central Rural Work Conference, emphasizing that developing rural specialty industries requires finding the right path and highlighting unique characteristics. How to effectively write the narrative of local specialties? Jingzhou Poria may provide a “remarkable remedy” and validate a fact. Rural revitalization, as long as the right path is chosen and persisted in, will eventually lead to a moment of clarity.
Reviewed by: Tang Yanlin
Second Review: Tang ZhenThird Review: Xiao ShifengThis article is original by Guan Chao’s Crab, please indicate the source when reprinting.Welcome to share and forward to your circle of friends.This week’s hot articles
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