Industrial Cluster: Yangcheng County Has Initially Formed The Development Model Of The Whole Sericulture Industry Chain

"The first sericulture county in North China", the national standardized sericulture production demonstration county, the national "sericulture base county moving from east to west", the national sericulture industry technology system construction demonstration base, and the "one county, one industry" sericulture base county in Shanxi Province... When it comes to planting and sericulture, Wang Dong, the president of Shanxi Sericulture Research Institute, talks endlessly. In 2021, Yangcheng's sericulture system was included in the sixth batch of China's important agricultural cultural heritage list. After years of development, Yangcheng County has initially formed a full industrial chain development model of multi-level utilization of sericulture resources, with an annual comprehensive output value of more than 300 million yuan.

In the long history of thousands of years of mulberry planting and sericulture, silk weaving and processing, Yangcheng County has formed a unique sericulture system and technology system, from using local resources to build terraced ridges, planting mulberry trees, using unique cutting technology for mulberry management, silkworm breeding, and from sericulture management to pest control, from harvesting to storage, All of them reflect the wisdom of local farmers and summarize a series of cultivation methods such as seed production, mulberry feeding, disease prevention and taboo of silkworm eggs.

Liu Weihong, director of the sericulture industry development center of Yangcheng County, proudly introduced that in the 1970s, Yangcheng Digeng Mulberry made great efforts to develop, opening up the practice of mutual promotion and coordinated development of grain and mulberry in the northern region of "the land is the bank, and the land is the granary". The grand occasion of raising silkworms and selling cocoons by every household made the best model of rural farming civilization at that time, which is still continuing today. The management technology of "cutting and pruning, white coating to control insects, spring and summer rotation cutting" has become an original creation in the north and is famous throughout the country.

Up to now, shed sericulture has become a practical technology widely used by the people in Yangcheng County. Because the shed is built near the mulberry garden, the transportation cost of mulberry leaves is saved. At the same time, "ground noodle mulberry breeding" is adopted. Mulberry is given once or twice a day, which not only reduces the number of feeding times, but also facilitates the automatic mounting of square cocoons, reducing labor intensity, reducing the labor for sericulture, and improving work efficiency by 50%.

Liu Xuebing, deputy director of the sericulture technology center of Yangcheng County, said: "Silkworm culture in greenhouses is labor-saving, safe and efficient. It can not only expand the scale of breeding, but also save labor and improve efficiency. It is also conducive to the thorough disinfection and disease prevention of silkworm rooms, and improve cocoon production."

In addition to its significant ecological and cultural functions, Yangcheng's sericulture industry also plays an important role in developing the local economy, increasing farmers' income, and especially in increasing the income of the poor.

Today, 15 villages and towns in Yangcheng County are all sericulture, of which Ciying Town and Sitou Township have mulberry orchards covering more than 5000 mu, and 70 villages with an annual cocoon output of more than 5000 kg. According to statistics, the county's mulberry garden covers an area of 37000 mu, with a total of 38.5121 million mulberry trees, 33000 silkworms per year, 1.58 million kilograms of cocoons, and an income of 89.95 million yuan. There are 6473 silkworm farmers in the county, with an average household income of more than 10000 yuan. The number of silkworm rearing and cocoon production in the whole county account for 90.7% of the city of Shanxi and 86.8% of the province. In terms of production and processing, the sericulture industry in Yangcheng County has also formed a relatively complete industrial chain. There are 3 silk reeling enterprises, more than 10 silk quilt processing enterprises, 2 mulberry beverage factories, 4 mulberry leaf tea production enterprises, more than 30 mulberry branch edible fungus production enterprises and family farms. The development of mulberry leaf feast, mulberry wine, cordyceps militaris, silkworm sand pillow and other by-products has also begun to take shape. Modern sericulture, such as mulberry picking, sericulture research, cocoon and silk culture creation, is rising day by day, and has initially formed a full industrial chain development model of multi-level utilization of sericulture resources. The annual comprehensive output value of sericulture exceeds 300 million yuan. (Li Quanhong)

(Source: Yangcheng County People's Government website)