Zhang Wencai was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, with the date of birth: 1904+065438+ 10/01. 1934 The first academic paper on ethylene treatment of citrus was published in Journal of Horticultural Society of China. 1In April, 935, Zhang Wencai went to the United States to study and obtained a doctorate. He has been engaged in citrus research for life and enjoys a high reputation in the citrus industry at home and abroad.
Born in Hangzhou, he is the "father of Chinese citrus". But he said to everyone, "Zigui is my second hometown."
In Zigui County, the "hometown of navel oranges in China" in early winter, oranges are everywhere, and there is a scene of "vast orchards and narrow beautiful buildings". Vehicles carrying navel oranges are constantly flowing, and there is a lively scene of oranges.
In this year of citrus harvest, 400,000 Zigui people will always deeply miss a person, a burly and amiable old man, who is Mr. Zhang Wencai, the "father of Chinese citrus" and a first-class professor at Huazhong Agricultural University.
"There is much to be done in Zigui citrus", said hit the floor by Zhang Lao, inspired Zigui people to abandon the old traditional ideas and set off an upsurge of agricultural industrial revolution. On both sides of Xiling Gorge, patches of citrus appear.
"Since 1962, Professor Zhang has had an indissoluble bond with Zigui."1October 28th 165438 Song Honghu, a retired cadre in Zigui County, recalled in an interview that at the end of that year 10, Zhang Lao worked in the economy of the Provincial Department of Agriculture.
The next day, Zhang Lao and Director Pan, accompanied by the staff of Zigui County Specialty Bureau, took a boat to Xiangxi and then transferred to Xiangxi Longjiang Brigade (Xintan) (now Longmaxi Village, Quyuan Town). In the face of the storm in the Xiajiang River, Zhang Lao did not show timidity, but talked and laughed with Director Pan on the boat.
The picturesque scenery of Xiling Gorge aroused Zhang Lao's poetic sentiment. Zhang Lao, standing at the bow of the boat, improvised the first couplet: "Pan Gong boated with people in the Three Gorges". Song Honghu, who was sitting next to Zhang Lao, pondered for a moment and replied timidly and excitedly, "Zhang Shi and his disciples are hiking in the land of citrus." After listening to Zhang Lao, he patted Song Honghu on the shoulder happily and praised him again and again: Not bad, not bad! In an instant, the mysterious scientist aura above Zhang Lao's head disappeared into the rolling river with his laughter. At this moment, the hearts of Zhang Lao and his grassroots comrades have been closely attached.
When he came to Longjiang Brigade, Zhang Lao immediately put himself into his work. Talk with cadres, visit citrus orchards on the spot and visit citrus planting technicians. According to Song Honghu's memory, he worked in Longjiang Brigade for five days in a row, and also taught citrus management and high-yield knowledge to cadres and citrus professionals of Longjiang Brigade.
As a national famous citrus expert at that time, why did Zhang Lao come to the remote Longjiang Brigade? Song Honghu, who was engaged in citrus production in Longjiang Brigade at that time, said that 1955, in order to implement the national policy of "taking grain as the key link and developing in an all-round way", Geng Tianbi, former deputy secretary of the county party Committee, built a "rich root" citrus demonstration park in Longjiang Brigade. Song Honghu, who was sent to other positions, organized a production team of 32 people who were good at citrus production and set up a professional citrus planting team to do citrus production. In the third year, the citrus output reached 7 tons; In the fourth year, the citrus output reached more than 40 tons; 1962, the citrus output reached 160 tons. Citrus production ranks first in the province, ranking in the forefront of the country, which has attracted great attention from the Provincial Department of Agriculture and citrus experts.
On the basis of full investigation, Zhang Lao suggested that the climate and soil in Zigui are suitable for growing citrus, and there is great potential for developing citrus along the Yangtze River. Zhang Lao also proposed that the production of Zigui citrus should achieve the "three-oriented" goals of regionalization of improved varieties, standardization of quality and commercialization of fruits. According to the records of Zigui county, Zhang Laoyu put forward the proposal of "three modernizations" on1962165438+1October 8.
Zigui, from then on, strengthened the confidence and determination to develop citrus industry and embarked on a long and difficult road of industrial restructuring. After years of hard work, citrus forests have grown on both sides of the Xiajiang River. From 1979 to 10, Zhang Lao saw that the excellent citrus varieties he had personally selected and promoted had spread all over the banks of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, and he was deeply moved. He said, "On the 30th National Day, I visited the Three Gorges, and apes sang with me; Green mountains and green hills are better than before, and colorful oranges are full of forests. "
"Zigui is my second hometown", and Zigui, the hometown of Qu Yuan, was recommended by foreign citrus experts who Zhang Lao often proudly visited. He recalled that he had strong feelings for many citrus producing areas in China, but Zigui was the place he visited the most in his life.
1993,91year-old Zhang Lao came to Zigui county for the last time. When he came to Pengjiapo Village, Guizhou Town, he was so excited when he saw the fruits of the orange forest he had cultivated himself. He wrote a poem: "The Three Gorges of Gui You National Day, Quzi's hometown is rich in oranges, and Jia Peng navel oranges are planted at home, with high quality and high yield. Rich rural areas. "
"The affection between Professor Zhang and Zigui can't be expressed in words," Song Honghu said excitedly. If nothing else, only in the three months of the Cultural Revolution (1967), Professor Zhang forged a deep affection with us.
1967, Zhang Lao, who was hit by the Cultural Revolution, came to Longjiang Brigade in Zigui County with a thick manuscript and the "secret" of student Zhou Mao. They stayed in Longjiang administrative area for three months. In this special period, they still can't give up the bitter citrus complex in their hearts. Every day, they hold the manuscript of "Citrus Production Management and Scientific Experiment" which has just been completed, and go door to door to ask the opinions of the peasant brothers.
In this "mysterious" three months, the people of Zigui will never forget the first underground ventilation storage cellar built under the guidance of Zhang Lao, which can keep citrus fresh for more than 4 months and the good fruit rate is over 90%. Song Honghu recalled that at that time, Zhang Lao chatted with them and learned that in the winter of 1966, they built a cellar with a depth of more than 20 feet in Longjiang No.4 Team, and stored more than 10,000 kilograms of citrus for sale in the next year. The good fruit rate reached 70% and the price doubled.
Zhang Lao came to Longjiang No.4 Team with great interest. After in-depth field investigation in the cellar, he determined that this was a practical and good way. At the same time, Zhang Lao suggested improving the cellar and ventilation with the outside world to improve the good fruit rate. Zhang Lao drew a sketch of the transformation overnight to guide citrus professionals to build underground ventilation storage pits. Under the patient guidance of Zhang Lao, the citrus professional team members finally built the first underground ventilation storage cellar after more than a month's efforts. At that time, Longjiang Brigade had three cellars. Experiments show that the good fruit rate is above 90%. In the second year, according to Zhang Lao's idea, 52 underground ventilation storage pits were built in Zigui County, and the citrus in the county has developed a good way of fresh-keeping sales.
Cui Zhilong, a retired cadre of Zigui County Agriculture Bureau, said: "Without Professor Zhang, there would be no citrus in Zigui, whether it is tangerine or navel orange." Zhang Lao gave Zigui Citrus his own name. 1962, when Zhang Lao visited Longjiang Brigade, he was deeply impressed by the fruits of No.8 and 18 trees he tasted. In the winter of 1965, Professor Deng Guisen and Professor Shi, led by Zhang Lao, together with experts from the province such as Chen Zhaoming and Xiao Yanhua, came to Longjiang Brigade for the first time to comprehensively analyze and evaluate the excellent citrus plants. According to the indexes of 12, such as high yield, fruit surface condition and sugar content, as well as No.8 and 18, After the evaluation results were announced, Mr. Chen Zhaoming suggested naming the selected excellent plants. Chen Zhaoming suggested that No.8 and No.8 18 with long and narrow leaves in spring shoots be named "Dragon Orange", which means that dragons are not only produced in Longjiang, but also a symbol of China. Or named "Peach Leaf Orange" according to the biological characteristics of leaves. Later, after discussion and brewing by experts attending the meeting, Zhang Lao agreed to name the excellent individual plants No.8 and 18 as "Peach Leaf Orange". Zigui citrus, which has been bred for thousands of years, has its own scientific name since then.
Zhang Lao knows that excellent varieties of fruit trees are the foundation of high yield and high quality. He led the teachers and students of Yichang Branch to go deep into the citrus producing areas in western Hubei and carry out mass large-scale citrus seed selection. He taught farmers the purpose, standards and methods of seed selection, mobilized them to select excellent individual plants, and made a "gift" to the country, and then conducted scientific analysis and identification in the laboratory.
After Ye Tao Orange was named, Zigui County strengthened its publicity on the one hand, and expanded its planting scale on the other. Every citrus conference after Zhang Lao will talk about Zigui Peach Leaf Orange. He spoke highly of the "excellent quality" of "Taoye Orange" in two books, namely, Citrus Fine Variety Breeding written by 1973 and Citrus Production Technology and Scientific Experiment published by 1977. By the end of 1976, there were 78,000 Zigui peach-leaf oranges/kloc-0, with an output of more than 3,000 tons.
1983, Vice Premier Wan Li instructed 1000 kg peach orange and 3000 kg navel orange to be selected from Longjiang and Xiangxi, and sent to Beijing for a state banquet in the Great Hall of the People. Since then, Zigui Citrus has gained great fame. At the 1989 National Fruit Selection Meeting, Ye Tao Orange and Robertson Navel Orange No.35 won the title of famous fruit. Zhang Lao loves Qu Yuan, a "poet ancestor", not only because of Ode to Oranges, but also because Qu Yuan is patriotic and inquisitive. He often goes to Quyuan Temple to have a deep dialogue with this lonely and loyal great patriotic poet.
"After the emperor jia tree, orange to take. I was ordered not to move and was born in the south. " More than 2300 years ago, Qu Yuan, the "poet", wrote Ode to an Orange to express his feelings. It can be seen from the poem that Qu Yuan's feelings for oranges are extraordinary, and it is more obvious that Zigui has a long history of growing oranges.
More than two thousand years ago, Qu Yuan loved oranges. More than two thousand years later, many people in China loved Ode to an Orange and Qu Yuan, a poet. Zhang Lao is a follower of Qu Yuan. After Quyuan Temple was built (1982), he came to Zigui and often went for a walk in Quyuan Temple. Everyone knows in his heart that he didn't just come to play, to have a look. He is having a deep dialogue with this lonely and loyal great patriotic poet.
Familiar with Zhang Lao's Zigui theory, Zhang Lao is as patriotic as Qu Yuan. 1938, Zhang Lao, who was studying in the United States, refused the retention of his colleagues in the citrus industry in the United States and resolutely returned to the war-torn motherland with patriotism and devoted himself to agricultural scientific research. Like Qu Yuan, Zhang Lao spent his whole life searching and exploring in the ocean of science. Many problems in the development of citrus industry were solved, and the first monograph on citrus cultivation in China, Practical Citrus Cultivation, was compiled in 1935. In order to do a good job in citrus export, he compiled "Fresh Fruit Packaging, Storage and Transportation Marketing" from 65438 to 0954. 1979 edited the first "Fruit Tree Research Law" in China as a national general teaching material. He also wrote more than 70 valuable academic papers. During the "Cultural Revolution", Zhang Lao, who suffered heavy losses, still loved his motherland and citrus industry and never stopped studying citrus.
According to Mei, director of qu yuan memorial hall in zigui county in Zigui County, Zhang Lao often wears a tunic suit and is very approachable. He personally received Zhang Laosan at Quyuan Temple at least three times, and once Zhang Laosan came alone to pay his respects to the "poet's founder". On that occasion, Mei and Zhang Lao sat on the stone bench of Quyuan Temple and talked for a long time. The theme of the conversation is naturally Qu Yuan and citrus. Zhang Lao was very happy when he learned that Quyuan Temple was going to grow all kinds of oranges. He said that in the future, more Chinese and foreign tourists can taste citrus, which is not only the promotion of Zigui citrus, but also the company of Qu Yuan and citrus, so that they are no longer "lonely".
Mei Yun said that the most impressive date should be198810 June 17. On that day, Zhang Lao, who had participated in citrus research activities in the county, came to Quyuan Temple again. Mei took the opportunity to ask Zhang Lao to leave "Mo Bao" for Qu Yuan Temple, a poem written by himself in Xianfeng years. Zhang Lao immediately agreed to this request happily. Because of the rush of time, Zhang Lao is not very satisfied with the works written on the spot. He immediately recorded the poem, copied it back to Wuhan and sent it to qu yuan memorial hall in zigui county, Zigui County. Looking back, how touching this "little thing" is!
Today, Zhang Lao's calligraphy poems, together with the works of more than 40 other calligraphers in the country, are collected in the stele gallery of Quyuan Temple. I wonder what it's like for a veteran to copy metrical poems. I always thought that he and Qu Yuan had a thousand years' love, because they were heart-to-heart, because they copied poems and lived together across time and space. "Zigui has become the hometown of navel oranges in China, and it is a model of navel oranges in Yichang area and even in southern China. At present, the most important thing is how to organize fruit farmers to produce, supply, sell, transport, store and process large-scale agriculture and develop fruit market economy. Ganzhou, Jiangxi province ran ahead of us. We supplied them with an improved virus-free navel orange at 1985. " 1February 1996 19-year-old Zhang Lao knew that his life would be short and was still thinking about Zigui. He specially wrote a letter to Luo Qingquan, then secretary of Yichang Municipal Party Committee, and transferred it to the county party committee and government.
In his letter, Zhang Lao gently suggested that Zigui should learn from Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, which came from behind: setting up fruit farmers' stock cooperatives, training farmers' technicians, and strengthening pre-,mid-and post-natal treatment; Formulate policies to accelerate development and use policies to mobilize the enthusiasm of fruit farmers; Establish navel orange fruit industry association, establish pre-natal, mid-natal and post-natal service system, and provide technical guidance such as packaging, grading, fruit washing, transportation and export ... What touching words!
According to Zhang Lao's suggestion, Zigui began to carry out large-scale citrus product reform in 1997, and formulated a series of measures to vigorously promote citrus industrialization. At that time, Zigui "Newhall" navel orange won the title of famous brand product in the third agricultural fair.
Zhang Lao has always treasured Zigui in his heart. From 65438 to 0989, the Ministry of Agriculture decided to establish an agricultural development project in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Zigui was not the focus of the investigation at that time. Zhang Lao, who is over eighty years old, patiently introduced the history of citrus cultivation in Zigui to the World Bank delegation and explained the new varieties of navel oranges cultivated locally. He finally used his influence to win this project for Zigui, which enabled Zigui to obtain a loan from the World Bank. During the implementation of the project, Zhang Lao made a special trip to the site for guidance many times, which made the project achieve remarkable results and effectively promoted the production of Zigui citrus.
To Zhang Lao's delight, citrus has become a pillar industry in Zigui. Today, the area of citrus in Zigui is 6.5438+0.7 million mu, with an annual output of more than 6.5438+0.5 million tons and an annual output value of more than 200 million yuan. There are more than 100 professional citrus villages in the county, and more than 65,438+10,000 farmers are engaged in citrus cultivation.
Zigui navel orange, with large seedless fruit, thin skin and bright color, juicy meat and sweet taste, is favored by consumers, and its products are sold well all over the country and exported to Southeast Asian countries. Zigui also established the experimental field and demonstration field of the National Citrus Breeding and Breeding Center, * * * introduced and reserved 88 citrus varieties, including more than 50 navel oranges, and fresh navel oranges were listed all year round.
If you want to ask, how deep is the relationship between Zigui people and Zhang Lao? The people of Zigui will tell you, please go into the government square of Xinguizhou Town and have a look at the statue of Zhang Lao with his back to the Yangtze River and facing the mountain full of citrus. That is the most accurate answer. There are two bronze statues in Zigui, one is the poet Qu Yuan, and the other is the orange man Zhang Wencai. Slightly different, the "Orange Weng" set up in the market town of Guizhou was spontaneously shaped by more than 30,000 orange farmers in Guizhou for Zhang Lao. What people still remember is the touching scene when the bronze statue of "Orange Weng" was unveiled at the Dragon Boat Festival in 2002-more than 10,000 orange farmers spontaneously came from all directions and bowed to the bronze statue of Zhang Lao to express their sincere memory. Facing the "orange Weng", my thoughts are flying. People can't help but think of his glorious life devoted to science, serving orange farmers and contributing to society, his touching scene of going deep into the countryside and taking root in farmers, and the honor he won back for Zigui and benefiting thousands of families. ...
-1978, after the state approved the construction of 20,000 mu navel orange export base in Zigui, Zhang Lao introduced 12 American fine varieties for Zigui at one time, and the trial planting was a great success. Since then, honors such as "National Famous Fruit", "Provincial Quality Product" and "National Agricultural Fair Gold Award" have successively settled in this magical land of Quxiang.
-1985 A large area of citrus trees died in Lujiashan Village, Zigui. Zhang Lao, 8 1 year-old, arrived in Zigui overnight after learning about this incident. Early the next morning, he took the students across the Qinggan River and came to the citrus orchard for sampling inspection. When going downhill, Zhang Lao slipped to the river step by step with the help of four classmates, and his clothes were soaked with sweat. Finally, under the guidance of Zhang Lao, orange farmers took effective measures to control this "incurable disease".
-1986, Zhang Lao began to serve as the agricultural science and technology consultant of Zigui County People's Government (until his death). 1993, Guizhou farmer Peng was accepted as a member of China Citrus Association through Zhang Lao's introduction. 1994, Xiang Simo was awarded the title of senior technician of farmers in the evaluation of the first batch of farmers' technical titles in the province. In Zigui, hundreds of citrus "soil experts" such as Peng and Yan are students of Zhang Lao Teaching Society.
-1995, Zhang Lao, who is seriously ill, is still thinking about the navel orange industry in Zigui and wants to introduce an orange juice factory for Zigui to increase the added value of navel oranges. Under the introduction of Zhang Lao, the secretary, director and personnel of the original orange juice factory in Zigui County came to Zhang Laojia of Huazhong Agricultural University on March 27th, and were translated by Deng Xiuxin, a citrus expert, to discuss with three American investors. Although the project was not settled in Zigui because of the high cost of navel orange processing orange juice and inconvenient transportation, Zhang Lao's special friendship for Zigui people was touching and unforgettable.
Some people say that Qu Yuan, a world cultural celebrity, made Zigui the hometown of Qu Yuan, and Zhang Wencai, the "father of Chinese citrus", made Zigui the "hometown of navel oranges in China". This is completely true! Qu Yuan brought spiritual wealth to Zigui people. What Zhang Lao brought to Zigui people was material wealth. They are equally important to Zigui and Zigui people. They enjoy equal treatment in the hearts of Zigui people.
Thanks to Qu Yuan! Thank you, Zhang Lao!