Academician Zhu Youyong helps farmers shake off poverty

Zhu Youyong is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the honorary president of Yunnan Agricultural University. Over the years, he and his team have helped farmers in many villages in Yunnan province escape poverty and become wealthy.

In Lancang, a county of Yunnan mainly inhabited by the Lahu ethnic minority, many people have never left the mountains and live in extreme poverty. In 2015, when the Chinese Academy of Engineering was assigned the task of poverty alleviation in Lancang, Zhu Youyong, then 60 years old, volunteered to come to the village of Haozhiba. "Now that we were assigned to alleviate poverty, we should certainly go to the poorest places," Zhu said.

After thorough studies, Zhu decided that with dry and warm winters, Lancang was best suitable for planting the species of winter potatoes that he himself had developed. These varieties of potatoes ripen earlier than other varieties and are a highly competitive product on the market. And this effort has proved effective and local famers have increased their income by planting potatos

Besides teaching farmers to plant winter potatoes, Zhu Youyong also freely shared his self-developed key techniques for organically planting pseudo-ginseng in the forest with local farmers and enterprises. The only condition was that they promised not to use a single grain of chemical fertilizer or a single droplet of pesticide, and devote 15 percent of the earnings to poverty alleviation.

To win the battle against poverty, Zhu Youyong set up the first poverty alleviation skills training workshop of the China Academy of Engineering. In Lancang, his team has organised 24 various skills training workshops, which have provided training for about 1,500 local farmers. So far, 90 percent of the trainees have lifted themselves out of poverty, and 50 percent of them have helped their relatives and friends out of poverty.

In November 2019, Zhu Youyong and the Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo jointly established a rural e-commerce training workshop, to help local farmers sell their agricultural produce.

This year, Lancang is expected to bring the poverty ratio down to less than 3 percent of the population. "When I see scientific research findings bloom and bear fruits in millions of rural households, I am even happier than when I receive a big bonus or have an important article published," Zhu said.               

Academician Zhu Youyong helps farmers shake off poverty

Zhu Youyong is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the honorary president of Yunnan Agricultural University. Over the years, he and his team have helped farmers in many villages in Yunnan province escape poverty and become wealthy. In Lancang, a county of Yunnan mainly inhabited by the Lahu ethnic minority, many people have never left the mountains and live in extreme poverty. In 2015, when the Chinese Academy of Engineering was assigned the task of poverty alleviation in Lancang, Zhu Youyong, then 60 years old, volunteered to come to the village of Haozhiba. Now that we were assigned to alleviate poverty, we should certainly go to the poorest places, Zhu said. After thorough studies, Zhu decided that with dry and warm winters, Lancang was best suitable for planting the species of winter potatoes that he himself had developed. These varieties of potatoes ripen earlier than other varieties and are a highly competitive product on the market. And this effort has proved effective and local famers have increased their income by planting potatos Besides teaching farmers to plant winter potatoes, Zhu Youyong also freely shared his self-developed key techniques for organically planting pseudo-ginseng in the forest with local farmers and enterprises. The only condition was that they promised not to use a single grain of chemical fertilizer or a single droplet of pesticide, and devote 15 percent of the earnings to poverty alleviation. To win the battle against poverty, Zhu Youyong set up the first poverty alleviation skills training workshop of the China Academy of Engineering. In Lancang, his team has organised 24 various skills training workshops, which have provided training for about 1,500 local farmers. So far, 90 percent of the trainees have lifted themselves out of poverty, and 50 percent of them have helped their relatives and friends out of poverty. In November 2019, Zhu Youyong and the Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo jointly established a rural e-commerce training workshop, to help local farmers sell their agricultural produce. This year, Lancang is expected to bring the poverty ratio down to less than 3 percent of the population. When I see scientific research findings bloom and bear fruits in millions of rural households, I am even happier than when I receive a big bonus or have an important article published, Zhu said.