Editor's note: Mountains are the bones, water is the veins, and green is the soul. Everywhere is green, writing the ecological answer sheet of Chinese modernization. All localities have implemented the concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" with practical actions, so that ecological dividends can benefit thousands of households. CCTV specially planned a report on the theme of "Why China·Green World", walking through the mountains and rivers, going deep into the grassroots, recording the vivid stories of green expansion, green development and green protection in various places, outlining the magnificent picture of building a beautiful China, and participating in the green appointment together, panoramically showing the vivid practice of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
The karst mountains and fields are as green as dye, and the continuous pepper fields are as red as the clouds. In the golden autumn season, in the 10,000-acre pepper planting base in Xiazi Town, Zunyi, Guizhou, the pepper harvest is coming to an end, and baskets of red peppers are loaded on the edge of the fields for shipment; merchants and merchants are coming and going in the China Pepper City, and goods are piled up like mountains. This prosperous industry, with a perennial planting area of more than 2 million acres, accounting for about one-tenth of the country's total, and ranking first at the prefectural and municipal levels in the country, is supported by green electricity everywhere, from a drop of irrigation water in the field to a moment of drying electricity in the workshop.
"Pepper peppers have strong fruit-bearing ability, but their root systems are shallow and underdeveloped. Watering requires small amounts of water and frequent watering. The irrigation area is large and the power cycle is long." Li Tao, a pepper farmer, squatted among the ridges and stroked the last plump pepper fruit with his fingertips.
He clearly remembers the difficulty of watering the fields during the dry season: "In the past, when the power supply was unstable, the water pump would not work, and I could only watch the pepper seedlings suffer from drought. But now it is different. When the switch is closed, there will be water!" Beside the field ridge, standardized agricultural row distribution boxes are neatly arranged, and the power supply service team members carry tool kits to inspect the lines and test the contacts.
Fresh peppers have a short shelf life, so drying them is an unavoidable hurdle. In the earth drying room deep in the years, cinders are scattered and smoke is thick. Workers turn peppers with bare hands, and the color of the finished products is dull. "In the past, when we burned coal for roasting, the fuel cost for a pound of dried peppers was only 70 cents. The quality fluctuated, and the smoke and dust polluted the environment. It was a heavy burden." Fu Zhongbo, head of the China Chili City Ladu Cooperative, recalled.
In today's modern workshop, rows of closed electric drying equipment are running smoothly, the temperature control screen numbers are beating, and the dried chili peppers sent out by the conveyor belt are bright and even. Fu Zhongbo calculated the new accounts for reporters: "Now the electricity bill for electric roasting is only 40 cents per pound of dried peppers. During peak periods, more than 8,000 pounds of dried peppers can be baked a day. The annual income has more than doubled compared to the past."
From "smoky" to clean and efficient, behind the scenes is the service window moving forward. Guizhou Zunyi Power Supply Bureau of China Southern Power Grid has assessed the needs of enterprises in advance and conducted a comprehensive "physical examination" of distribution lines and electrical equipment. During peak periods, it has assigned account managers to track loads throughout the process, carry out refined energy consumption analysis, and guide peak-shifting production and shift shifts. Based on the rich variety of local crops, the local area has also innovatively created the "Colorful Electric Roasting +" electric energy baking service product, which provides integrated services such as electrification transformation, equipment selection, and smart operation and maintenance. It solves the pain points of high idle rate and high energy consumption of traditional baking rooms. It can be widely used in the processing of peppers, fruits and vegetables, meat products and other categories.
The butterfly transformation of a chili pepper is a vivid epitome of Guizhou’s green power empowering thousands of industries. At present, Guizhou's total installed electric power capacity has exceeded 100 million kilowatts, and clean energy accounts for more than 60% of the installed capacity. Aiming at the "double carbon" goal, China Southern Power Grid Guizhou Power Grid Company has deeply explored electricity substitution scenarios. "New electrification" projects such as "electric brewing", "electric tea making", "electric flue-cured tobacco", electromagnetic kitchens, and heat pump applications have flourished everywhere, promoting a comprehensive transformation of production and lifestyle towards green and low-carbon.
Today, the comprehensive output value of Zunyi peppers has exceeded 21 billion yuan, driving an increase in the income of nearly 500,000 pepper farmers. Green hills, pepper fields, photovoltaic panels and wind turbines form a picture against each other - this green power grid spread among the karst mountains and fields not only supports prosperous industries, but also brings green spring to thousands of households.
【Green·Experts Say】
Empowering pepper production with green electricity not only solves the problems of drought caused by unstable voltage and environmental pollution caused by coal baking, but also effectively reduces the cost of pepper production, improves the quality of pepper products, and allows pepper farmers to share the fruits of green electricity development.
In recent years, while green power has promoted the transformation of pepper production to green and low-carbon, Guizhou has also continued to promote the introduction and cultivation of improved pepper varieties, accelerated automated seedling breeding and mechanized production, promoted order-based production and branded sales through the "company + base + farmer" model, held consecutive "Spicy Expo", Guizhou's comprehensive service platform for pepper "Buy Spicy Network" has been launched online, and the scale of Guizhou's pepper production, processing and sales has ranked first at the provincial level in the country for several consecutive years. The high-quality development of the pepper industry has become a vivid practice and typical epitome of Guizhou's complete, accurate and comprehensive implementation of the new development concept, increasing people's income and allowing people to share the fruits of development. (Wu Jie, deputy director and associate researcher of the Institute of Rural Development, Guizhou Academy of Social Sciences)
