Chongming Narcissus is a traditional flower loved by Shanghai residents. Nowadays, this old industry is ushering in a new wave. From e-commerce live broadcast to seed source innovation, a group of young people are injecting new vitality into the Chongming narcissus industry. They not only double the value of traditional narcissus, but also use their youthful wisdom to help their hometown find a new path for rural revitalization.
"There are already more than 20 orders placed now, come on! If you can place 100 orders today, I will apply for the lowest discount, okay?" Since the end of last year, a live broadcast room in Nanjiang Village, Xianghua Town, Chongming has been busy, and the local "town flower" – Chongming Narcissus is being sold on the screen. However, what is sold here are not ordinary bulbs, but narcissus bonsais that have been carved and processed using intangible cultural heritage techniques.
The anchor in front of the camera is from a young team called "Ruiyi" from a village-run enterprise. The six members are all born in the 1990s, and most of them are Chongming locals. In order to do this job well, they studied seriously for several months with an intangible cultural heritage master from Zhangzhou, Fujian, and gradually mastered the art of narcissus carving.
"At the beginning, I didn't dare to make serious moves because I had never done it before." Ruiyi team member Zhao Yaoyao said with a smile, "Now I am almost sure of it. I feel very happy to be able to take everyone to understand the characteristics of my hometown."
In the camera, another anchor is holding a pot of narcissus and introducing it enthusiastically: "The pot on my right is called 'Flower Time'. If you buy a pot like this, you will have at least fifty or sixty flowers…" With the participation of this group of young people, this winter, more than 50,000 pots of narcissus have been sold in the village. They also developed many cultural and creative products by themselves, such as small ornaments that reproduced the double-petal shape of Chongming Narcissus using quicksand technology. "This is very popular among young people at exhibitions, including markets." Ruiyi team member Guo Meng picked up a sample and introduced it.
In addition to live streaming to bring goods, this group of young people will also go to governments, enterprises, and schools every month to do interactive promotions, hoping to inspire more people to expand Chongming's Narcissus economy. "Our family also has a small tradition of carving." Li Jiayi, general manager of Shanghai Xiangronghua Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., said, "I want to pick up these traditional things from the old man's past and improve and develop the economy at home. I also hope to drive the farmers who watched me grow up to increase their income and become rich."
At the other end of Chongming Island, in the Chongming Modern Agriculture Park, another young team is also surrounding the daffodils. They spent their efforts on source innovation.
"I am currently studying the dyeing of narcissus. Later, through dyeing, we can also make the bulbs grown by everyone bloom with the same color." Xu Yuhang, production director of the Narcissus Provenance Center of Chongming Agricultural Development Group, was squatting in the experimental field to introduce his new attempt.
An experimental field of about five acres may grow narcissus with colorful petals and plump flowers in the future. The team also selected fifteen varieties of daffodils and tried to make them take root and sprout for the first time in Chongming. "Most of its flower shapes are trumpet-shaped or bowl-shaped, and the flower color may be relatively solid, so introducing foreign varieties can give you more choices." Mao Chongming, technical director of tissue culture at the Provenance Center, explained.
This R&D team has a total of 11 people. In order to select high-quality seed sources, they visited local farmers and cooperatives and "selected the best" from about 100,000 seed bulbs before selecting this batch of good seedlings with green leaves and well-proportioned growth. Next, they will "reset" the starting point of health for Narcissus from the cellular level through a series of operations such as explant disinfection, induction culture, and ex vivo detoxification in a modern tissue culture laboratory covering an area of 1,350 square meters. "I grew up in Shanghai. I am very happy to be able to make some contributions to Shanghai. It happens to be doing something professional that I like." Mao Congming said with a smile.
At present, the Narcissus Provenance Center has successfully cultivated a batch of healthy tissue culture seedlings. It is expected that the first batch of detoxified high-quality Chongming narcissus bulbs will be officially launched in the next one to two years. Yang Weibing, manager of Dianwei Agriculture Co., Ltd. of Chongming Agricultural Development Group, made a calculation: "The traditional method is to pick two lateral buds from the bulbs in the second year, which is relatively slow. But through tissue culture, one bulb can theoretically reach the level of 128 bulbs a year."
"During the 15th Five-Year Plan, we will expand the entire area of daffodils to more than 1,000 acres, with an annual output of more than 2 million narcissus balls and an annual output value of more than 20 million." Huang Qing, deputy mayor of Xianghua Town, Chongming District, said with confidence, "We will expand the market so that more of our citizens can know our daffodils."
A narcissus is passed down from generation to generation. From old craftsmanship to new industry, Chongming Narcissus industry is undergoing a "metamorphosis", and the unique carving skills of the older generation are being transformed into cultural and creative products in the eyes of young people. The best way to protect intangible cultural heritage is to let it live in the market. Technology empowerment and the update of sales channels may pave a fragrant road for industry prosperity and villagers' common prosperity.
Look at the news reporter: Xu Xiaoyang
