Another hometown of freshwater pearls
Recently, CCTV's "County on the Departure·Jiangxi" program checked in many treasure counties and districts in Jiangxi. Under the camera, Duchang, the "hometown of freshwater pearls in China", where migratory birds dance and dolphins jump, is impressive.
Through the lens of CCTV, people have experienced the prosperous development of the pearl shell industry in Duchang. On the shore of Poyang Lake, how did a small pearl shell transform into a pillar industry that enriches the people and strengthens the county? What is the development story behind this pearl?
One
From the "Huaiyi Binzhu and fish" recorded in "Shangshu·Yugong", the earliest historical document in my country, to the "bright moon pearl, out of the river and sea, hidden in the clam" described in "Historical Records·Turtle Strategy Biography", the story of pearls has a long history.
Pearls have many meanings such as "glory and good luck, wealth and treasures, auspiciousness and peace, reproduction and rebirth", which embody people's beautiful expectations. Whether it is the pearl jewelry that is indispensable to the upper class in the film and television work "The Great Gatsby", or the modern pearl makeup of Yang Zi and Jiang Mengjie in "Modern No. 9" and "Harper's Bazaar", people have a special liking for pearl jewelry.
The pearl cultivation area in Duchang County is about 15,000 acres, and the pearl production in 2019 was 42 tons, accounting for about 19.2% of the total freshwater pearl production in the province and 6.8% of the total freshwater pearl production in the country. The reputation of "China's Freshwater Pearl Hometown" is well-deserved.
Duchang has one-third of the water surface of Poyang Lake and is located in the core area of ​​the world's famous lakes. As a large lakeside county, Duchang, which relies on water for food, has a wonderful story with freshwater pearls.
As early as the beginning of the 20th century, many towns in Duchang used shells to process button blanks. At the end of the last century, the pearl shell processing industry in Duchang experienced a period of rapid development, from the initial single button blank processing to pearl farming, pearl core processing, shell jewelry, shell crafts and interior decoration materials, and the scale of the industry continued to grow.
Among them, Zhouxi Town is a typical representative. In the 1960s and 1970s, Zhouxi Town had nearly 20 township-run key button factories. By the mid-1990s, 30% of the 50,000 people in the town were engaged in the processing and sales of pearl cores. In 1998, Zhouxi people began freshwater nucleated pearl farming again, and in 2005 they were awarded the title of "Hometown of Freshwater Pearls in China".
Since then, with the continuous improvement of industrial strength, Duchang has taken the construction of Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone as an opportunity to integrate Poyang Lake culture, pearl shell culture, and ecological harmony culture, and work together to create a characteristic cultural brand of Duchang County.
From one point to one side, from one town to one county. In a few years, thousands of pear trees are in bloom. An industrial development system led by the brand of "Ecological Duchang, Poyang Pearl Shell ", linked by high-quality "freshwater pearl" varieties, based on scale operation and supported by standardized production has gradually taken shape.
Two
Looking through the development history of Duchang pearl shell industry, it is not difficult to find that the transformation and rise of the pearl shell industry is inseparable from the pearl shell people who dare to think and fight.
Generations of pearl shell people have worked tirelessly to support the magnificent dreams of small shells.
"Only by turning the shells into treasures can the pearl shell industry have a long-term development." Under the leadership of a group of pearl shell leaders, Duchang pearl shells have gone through the initial stage of breeding and rough processing, and are constantly moving towards the middle and high end of the industrial chain.
BAOYUE Pearl is committed to providing the world pearl market with high-quality and low-cost freshwater pearl strand . Our company adheres to the concept of: developing industry, strengthening platform, and seeking innovation. Today, a pearl shell industry cluster integrating product research and development, industry standard testing, production and sales, and cultural experience is becoming more mature. Relying on this industry, Duchang's new road of "beautiful economy" is getting wider and wider.
Three
Doing a good job in "local specialties" is the key to rural industrial revitalization. Looking across the province, like Duchang pearl shells, Gannan navel oranges, Nanfeng mandarin oranges, Suichuan Gougunao tea, Taihe black chickens, Guangfeng Majia pomelo and other specialty products with regional characteristics have always been favored by the market.
Duchang pearl shell products account for about 60% of the domestic market share, and the characteristic industry has attracted attention. A pearl is a city, and Duchang relies on water for food. Behind the booming pearl shell industry, there is a development path that can be used as a reference and is worth pondering.
Read the "local" word. Different natural endowments and agricultural resources form unique products, which is the natural root of local specialties. Based on this root, we must cultivate new demands, strengthen new advantages, and give full play to the multiplier effect of the integrated development of the three industries. For example, Chongqing Fuling Zhacai uses local green cabbage heads and launches a series of light-salt Zhacai products with more than 30% salt reduction. The sales volume exceeded 200 million packs in more than a month after it was launched.
Fresh water is the most precious resource in Duchang, and it is a gift from nature to the people of Duchang. Duchang has identified its comparative advantages, cultivated and expanded its traditional pillar industries, and transformed the lake area into a production area. Relying on its unique resources and doing a good job of "living off the water", it can be said that Duchang has found a new path for sustainable industrial development.
Expanding the value chain. Rural industrial competition is gradually moving from single product competition to industrial chain competition. Extending the industrial chain, building the supply chain, and improving the value chain are inevitable trends. More than 700 processing companies in Jinxiang County, Shandong Province process garlic into more than 100 products such as condiments, allicin, essential oils, capsules, etc., with a price increase of more than ten times, and exports accounting for 70% of the country.
Duchang's pearl shell industry also follows this path. In recent years, Duchang County has invested 2 billion yuan to build a pearl shell cultural industrial park, strengthen the platform, expand the leading enterprises, and strive to solve the problems of "scattered, small and chaotic". At the same time, it has accelerated the upgrading of the value chain, continuously explored multiple subdivided consumer markets such as furniture decoration, clothing buttons, and pearl decoration, and guided the transformation and upgrading of the traditional pearl shell industry with demand as the guide, and has embarked on a new development path of diversification, scale, standardization and modernization.
Embrace digitalization. Once the information barriers of product supply and demand are broken, the market will provide unlimited possibilities. To do a good job in "local products", we must keep pace with the times, seize the opportunities of digital development, integrate the "Internet +" thinking, expand new agricultural development models, broaden product sales channels, and let more and more high-quality specialty agricultural products go out of the mountains and enter the vast market.
Duchang County organically combines e-commerce with rural revitalization, introduces the new economic form of "Internet +", builds an online marketing platform, and realizes the effective connection between agricultural production and the large consumer market. In Duchang, various rural live broadcasts are flourishing, and the display cabinets are directly moved to the village and in front of the camera.
In 2022, the annual output value of the pearl shell industry will reach 900 million yuan, driving nearly 20,000 farmers to increase their income and become rich, and truly building small-variety specialty industries into large industries that drive the income of local people.
The local water and soil breed unique "local specialties". Read the "local" secret, expand the value chain, and embrace digitalization. Not only Duchang pearl shells, but all specialty industries have the opportunity to stir up endless vitality in the vast rural land.
