For days, the 120,000 mu of high-mountain Sichuan pepper in Chencang District, Baoji City, have fully entered their mature harvest period. At the 10,000-mu Sichuan pepper industry demonstration park in Jijiagou Village, Chisha Town, the mountains are covered with lush pepper trees, branches heavy with plump, red peppercorns, and a rich, numbing aroma spreads across the landscape.
On August 4th, the Chencang District Forestry Industry High-Quality Development Conference, themed "Technology Empowers Pepper and Medicine Quality, Ecology Leads to Increased Understory Efficiency," was held at the Jijiagou Village 10,000-mu Sichuan Pepper Industry Demonstration Park. Chencang District is a naturally superior zone for Sichuan pepper cultivation, with the Xishan region featuring moderate altitude, abundant sunlight, large temperature differences between day and night, and well-aerated soil. Leveraging these natural endowments, the district's total Sichuan pepper planting area has reached 120,000 mu, with 10 demonstration parks of 10,000 mu each established. To date, the district's annual output of dried Sichuan pepper has stabilized at over 9,000 tons, with an annual output value of 500 million yuan, driving the district's total forestry output value to exceed 1.82 billion yuan. Over 90% of the population in the Xishan mountainous areas participates in the Sichuan pepper industry, and in the core production area of Chisha Town, more than 60% of households derive their main family income from pepper cultivation.
Holding the conference at the frontline of the industry was the most distinctive feature of this event. On the day, attendees conducted on-site observations of vertically integrated management models, including standardized pepper planting and understory ecological breeding. In Yaohuagou Village, Chisha Town, villagers have combined pepper cultivation with understory "mountain-run chicken" farming, exploring a circular, integrated agricultural approach. With pepper on the trees and chickens beneath, a single mu of land yields dual benefits, achieving a "win-win" for both ecological and economic outcomes. Such practical innovations are taking root in more and more villages in Chencang District. Currently, the district's forestry industry has driven an average annual income increase of 500 to 1,000 yuan per household for participating growers. The vertical composite management system of "harvesting from above the forest, touring within the forest, and raising livestock beneath the forest" is also accelerating in its implementation and effectiveness.
Chencang District's bupleurum planting area has stabilized at over 120,000 mu, with 30,000 boxes of Chinese bees and 20,000 understory ecological chickens in stock. Additionally, nearly 10,000 mu have been set aside for experimental planting of specialty Chinese medicinal herbs such as forsythia, wild jujube, epimedium, and yellowhorn. The region has cultivated two provincial-level leading forestry enterprises and four provincial-level understory economy demonstration bases, gathering over 20 business entities involved in the planting, acquisition, and processing of medicinal herbs. It has also established two bases for standardized GAP planting and primary fresh-cut processing of bupleurum.
Looking toward the "15th Five-Year Plan," a Chencang District official stated that the district will continue to deeply explore the value of mountain forest resources, coordinate the promotion of ecological protection and restoration with the quality and efficiency improvement of specialty forestry industries, accelerate the construction of a modern green forestry industry system, and empower comprehensive rural revitalization through high-quality development of the forestry industry.
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