Rugui Corridor: the unique scenery of “harvest”
As the Autumnal Equinox draws near, Ruyuan, the homwtown of the Yao Ethnic Group, is planning a major autumnal celebration for September 23. The "Farmers' Harvest Festival" will be held in Guangdong Province in 2023, with Rugui Corridor, the rural revitalization model area, serving as the primary venue.
Rugui Economic Corridor. Photo by Zhong Hua
What is Rugui Corridor?
Recently, the reporter visited this lovely rural area along the "Ten Miles of Autumn Harvest" road in order to see the magnificent image of a rich harvest and experience the new agricultural environment, rural setting, and farmers in Yao Township in the new era.
Promote the high-quality development of modern agriculture through comprehensive spatial planting
Sunshine Lake Agricultural Tourism Park. Photo by Shaolv
Sunshine Lake Agricultural Tourism Park, a landmark in the Rugui Corridor, will serve as the main venue for the 2023 "Farmers' Harvest Festival" opening ceremony in Guangdong Province. The park's lush grass and crystal-clear lakes have long been a favorite among locals and visitors.
Organic fruits and vegetables are also popular in this region. The reporter observed that lettuce and cabbage that ought to have been planted in the ground were skillfully transplanted onto the "wall" in the park's No. 1 greenhouse and flourished there. Here is where Yiliu Town's demonstration project for planting in every available space is located.
According to the project manager, who stated that the comprehensive spatial planting technology makes full use of available space and uses three-dimensional planting techniques to achieve continuous planting for 12 months out of the year, increasing the corresponding vegetable yield by several or even ten times. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has chosen this innovation-the first of its kind in China-as one of the ten new technology application models for smart agriculture. The global space planting technology enables space intensification, resource conservation, yield improvement, and quality optimization, which is the future development path for agriculture.
The project, run by Yiliu Town’s Qiangzhenfucun Company and Shanchengshuidu Agricultural Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd., aims to renovate five greenhouses and one glass greenhouse in Sunshine Lake Agricultural Tourism Park and implement all-area space planting with a total investment of 19.96944 million yuan.
Fruit and vegetable cultivation. Photo by Shaolv
Recently, Ruyuan is exploring more varied, intelligent, and abundant development models with the aid of modern agricultural technology and equipment. It does this by utilizing the application and promotion of global space technology. Moreover, it encourages the development of an agricultural industrial chain that is "complementary, strong and extensive chain" and a digital village construction, giving full play seeks to create the role of a smart agriculture demonstration park in the display of technology, the popularization of science, and the integration of agriculture and tourism, and a "Ruyuan Model" for the deep integration and growth of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries.
Symbiosis and co-construction model
Promote the integration of primary, secondary, and tertiary industry development.
A new farmer from the "post-90s" generation named Deng Changgen is picking chili peppers with his peasant aunt in Jiangbei Village, Youxi Town. “With a yield of 3500 kilo and a profit of up to 3,000 yuan per mu(a Chinese unit of area, equalling to 0.0667 hectare), the pepper harvest was bountiful in the second half of the year.”, said Deng. Three years ago, this 25-year-old came back to Ruyuan, and today he provides work for more than 50 farming households in the area. In addition to growing 150 mu of peppers, his agricultural business annually plants thousands of mu of broccoli, and his goods are regularly sold to Beijing, Dongguan, and other prominent markets.
Visit the lush branches and deep shade of the banyan and camphor tree commensal in Yaokegongsheng Square. Villagers talk about the harvest this year as they rest under the shade of the trees, looking out over the rice fields. Now that the rice ears have been bowed, a good harvest is about to be heralded by the roar of the harvester.
The banyan and camphor tree commensal next to the site is regarded as a symbol of "symbiosis of Yao and Hakka".
Ruyuan Youxi Town has been actively promoting the implementation of the "Revitalization Projects" since the beginning of this year while also paying close attention to resource integration, industrial revitalization, and rural governance. It has also creatively implemented the "Three Priorities" work measures to support the construction of the Yaoke Symbiosis Square project.
Aerial view of Yaokegongsheng Square. Phto by Ruxuan
Yaokegongsheng Suqare investigated the inclusion of the rural sage team of the Ruyuan Pearl River Delta Friendship Association to participate in the operation as an important node of the rural revitalization demonstration belt built by Vanke to assist Ruyuan, widely mobilized the participation of surrounding villagers, and produced more than 20 jobs. Based on the vast countryside and picturesque villages, with Yao culture and Hakka culture as the backdrop, maximizing the benefits of all parties in the government, villages, and businesses, radiating the entire town to create a comprehensive demonstration point of agricultural cultural tourism and a typical model of Chinese Yao and Hakka cultural tourism integrating night tour products, B&Bs, camps, immersive performance experiences, and other functions.
It has introduced 8 investment projects worth a total of 88.3 million yuan, planted 250 mu of rice continuously, encouraged the building of B&B projects, steadily built facilities like the Agricultural Creative Park and the Yao Hakka Memory Commune, established the Qiangzhenfucun Company and built a party branch, vigorously developed the oil tea industry, Yao medicine industry, and photovoltaic projects, and opened a live broadcast room for agricultural professionals.
Comprehensive land improvement in the whole region has accelerated the promotion of ecological industrialization
Mature rice fields. Photo by Ruxuan
In the endless rice fields of Wanglongwei Village, Guitou Town, there are colorful grains of rice and thousands of green waves that are moving in the gentle breeze. In Qixingdun Village, the scenery of rice maturing is even more spectacular, with thick and golden yellow rice growing in the vast fields, and the heavy grains bending the rice stalks, creating a stunning landscape of thousands of waves of rice. A total of 29,000 mu of high-quality rice are planted in the town, with an output of 13,000 tons per year, claims the responsible official of the Guitou Town Government.
There is a direct connection between the abundant harvest and the extensive land improvement of the entire region. For instance, the mu yield in Qixingdun Village, which has 256 mu of high-standard farmland built, can reach 600 kilograms. Simultaneously, they will work diligently to seize the high-standard farmland transformation and upgrading construction projects, upgrade the total of 12,000 mu of cultivated land in seven villages, including Songwei Village, Wanglongwei Village, and Yangpi Village, develop a contemporary farming model, and increase the rate at which land is produced.
Ruyuan Yiliu Town "Seed Chip Project" regenerative rice planting base. Photo by Zhonghua
One of the national-level pilots is the comprehensive land development project in Guitou Town. Ruyuan developed the "Pilot Work Plan for Comprehensive Land Improvement in the Whole Region" and the "Medium-term Implementation Suggestions for Comprehensive Land Improvement in the Whole Region" this year in accordance with the requirements of the "High-quality Development Project of 100 Counties and 1,000 Towns and 10,000 Villages" and the ecological construction of a Beautiful Guangdong, which creates a layout with "one village, one regulation," "one place, one landscape," "one street, one scenery," and "one garden, one feature." Guitou Town has prioritized the creation of high-standard farmland and the cultivation of high-yield crops as part of the pilot project for comprehensive land development in the entire region, and has supported the growth of ecological industrialization of rice, vegetables, and sweet potatoes. The government strives to build brands like Nanling's "Land of milk and honey," "Ruyuan granary," and "Ruyuan Fine Rice ".
The Rugui Economic Corridor radiates to Dongping, Rucheng, Yiliu, Youxi, and Guitou five townships connected by a Yaoxiangxingfu Road. Along the way, the walls of the village depict the Yao Township people's desire for a better life, frame by frame the picture of a bumper harvest on the land, a huge scroll of rural revitalization, and this picture of development will continue to expand.
Beautiful idyllic scenery. Photo by Zhonghua
Implementing the "High-quality Development Project of 100 Counties, 1,000 Towns, and 10,000 Villages" vigorously will help to create economically robust counties, prosperous industrial towns, and peaceful villages. It will also help to comprehensively paint a new picture of Ruyuan's high-quality development and move the region forward in creating a model county among the nation's ethnic minority autonomous counties.
