AcrossChina:Chineseherbalmedicinebenefitsfromsci-techinnovation_GuangmingOnlineLANZHOU,Sept.24(Xinhua)--Inthescorchingsunatnoon,farmerYanBaipingisbusyinhisfieldswhereChineseherbsaregrown.Yan'sfieldsarelocatedinLongxiCountyofDingxiCity,northwestChina'sGansuProvince.Lastyear,heplantedfivemu(about0.33hectares)ofChineseherbsandsoldwhathegrewforatotalof30,000yuan(about4,122U.S.dollars)."Iexpectanincreaseofatleast1,000yuaninincomepermuandhavemoreplotsthisyear,"Yansaid.Dingxihasearnedthelabelof"millenniummedicinetown"andisakeyChineseherbalmedicineproductionareainnorthwestChina.CommonlyusedvarietiesofChineseherbssuchasradixastragali,AngelicasinensisandCodonopsispilosulamostlycomefromthiscity.Therearemorethan500,000peasanthouseholdsinDingxi,withover60percentengagedinplantingChineseherbs.Onaverage,eachhouseholdplantsmorethansixmuofChineseherbs.Chineseherbalmedicinehasbecomeapillarindustryforthesteadyincreaseoffarmers'incomeandtherevitalizationofruralindustriesinDingxi,whereincomefromthecultivationandprocessingofChineseherbshadaccountedfor20.5percentoftheannualpercapitadisposableincomeoffarmersin2022.In2019,GansuProvinceestablishedagermplasmbankforChineseherbalmedicines,integratingtheintroductionanddomesticationofnewherbalvarieties,theprotectionofgermplasmresources,thetransformationofsci-techresearchanddevelopment,andsciencetraining.Suchsci-techinnovationisofgreatbenefittotheeconomicefficiencyoftheChineseherbalmedicineindustry.Underlaboratoryconditionsatthegermplasmbank,thestaffcanpackageandstoreChinesemedicinalseedsthroughaseriesofprecisionoperationssuchasdrying,screening,numberingandcoding,saidLiGuangwen,anassistantagronomistwiththegermplasmbank.EachherbalseedisgivenaDNAbarcode,Lirevealed.Thegermplasminformationisavailablebyscanningthebarcodewithasmartphones.Bytheendof2022,GansuProvincehadpreservedatotalof3,264Chineseherbalgermplasmitems,with94varietiesrepresented.Todate,DingxiCityhasmanagedtoestablisha42,300muherbalseedbreedingbaseanda153,300museedlingbreedingbase.Meanwhile,aruralcreditcooperativeinLongxiCountyhascarriedoutalarge-scaletransformationofterracedherbalfieldswhicharesuitableformechanizedfarmingandinvitedcollegesandresearchinstitutestoprovideguidance.Theoutputvalueofthecooperativeisexpectedtoexceedthreemillionyuanin2023,whileTraditionalChineseMedicine(TCM)processingenterprisesinDingxiCityhadincreasedtheiroutputvaluefrom3.5billionyuanin2018tosevenbillionyuanin2022.In2022,theoutputvalueofthewholeindustrialchainofTCMreached42.5billionyuaninDingxiCity,andtheaddedvaluewas4.624billionyuan.TheplantingareausedforTCMmaterialsinGansuProvincereached4.91millionmuin2022,withastandardizedplantingrateof55percentandanoutputof1.47milliontonnes,accordingtoLiuBorong,headoftheTCMadministrationinGansuProvince.AuthoritiessuchastheNationalAdministrationofTraditionalChineseMedicine,areacceleratingtheformulationofdocumentstopromotethehigh-qualitydevelopmentoftheTCMindustryandbeefuprelatedsci-techresearchnationwide.■Editor:DisclaimerTheviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisarticlearethoseoftheauthor's,GMW.cnmakesnorepresentationsastoaccuracy,suitability,orvalidityofanyinformationonthissiteandwillnotbeliableforanyerrors,omissions,ordelaysinthisinformation.