I am a journalist, iiqing liu
Correspondent lee junfang
On the morning of 24 april, a group of elderly people became the most impressive view of the green field, with sunlight spilling over the fields at the 10,000 acres of chinese medicine growing base in the military district of yichang city。
They are not young visitors, but are the main protagonists of the 2026 “silver age operation” rural renewal and industry development project launching ceremony, an expert of silver age from the association of older professors of hubei province。
During the launch ceremony, inspector peng wengjie, civil affairs department of hubei province, expressed the hope that a broad range of older friends would actively participate in the "silver age operation" and flourish in the service of society and in their dedication. In his message, yang fan, vice-president of the military district of yichang city, described the blueprint for rural renewal: the ecological advantages of half the villages in the mountains have given life to ecological tea gardens, four seasons of orchards and organic gardens。
At the site of the event, five "silver age operation" volunteer teams received a flag. Representatives of the vice-president of the association of older professors of hubei province, liu song year, and the professor of agriculture of china, cai rihong, took the flag from peng wenjie. The banner spreads in the spring wind as their first hearts were not old。
As soon as the launch ceremony was over, the experts entered the chinese medicine base。
Professor wang gue, china agricultural university
Professor wang guéhenno of the agricultural university of china was surrounded by farmers. "professor wang, what's the whiteness on the leaves?" a farmer passed the leaves. Wang qui was crouching down and squeezing the leaves in detail: "powder disease. Sprayed once in 10 days with multibacterium, methyl tobuzin, and only two or three severe sprayings." while he was talking about drawings, the farmers around him came together and someone pulled out a video of the phone。
“my family has grown yellow, white, and mountain medicine, and has recently been eaten by insects.” another farmer came in. "is it with an undecided farmer fat?" pig dung and cow dung are not fully fermented and are the most prone to underground pests. It's too wet to be able to rot." he did, "don't plant anything. It's not an industry. It's a vegetable garden. Select one or two good varieties and grow them on a scale to be useful.”
The farmers listen and nod. An old man's feeling: "when an expert comes, he's in the bottom."
Seeing the scene, professor deng, president of the association of former professors of hubei province, lamented: “this is a two-way journey. The professors have experience and wisdom but lack platforms; the village has needs and skills, and the silver-age operation is a bridge.” she informed the press that the association of older professors of hubei province, founded in 2000, currently has more than 10,000 individual members and that more than a dozen experts were present in chinese medicine, fruit and vegetables, plant protection and marketing。
Professor cai rihong (left) of china agricultural university answered the farmers' questions
Among the experts, professor cai rihong, from the agricultural university of china, who was 77 years old, was one of the older experts who had arrived that day, but he did not lose any of his youth by crouching in the fields. He has been in the countryside for more than a decade。
In 2013, the ulcer outbreak of the monkey ulcer in the prefecture of buen, where he prepared technical material overnight, went straight to the ground the next day and found an area of up to 20,000 acres. He then ran 120 villages and found a different tree in the fields. All the other trees died of disease, but it remained alive. That was the “building incense” of a later disease-resistant species, after which farmers changed their varieties to avoid the huge losses of the local monkey industry。
Why are you still in the field at this age? Cai ri-hong spoke calmly but firmly: "something needs to be done, it's good. It is best to be needed to spend the best time.”
Professor shobo, vice-president of the association of older professors of hubei province and former secretary of the party at wuhan light labour university, during the interview, the motivation of this generation of silver-age specialists was reduced to “three”: long-term education with a party, professional knowledge and skills, and feelings for the homeland. “all of them are young people who came to the village after 40, after 50, after 60, who had a special attachment to the land. It's a dream of a young age to have a chance to come back again."
In his view, the significance of the flag given to the team of silver-age experts at the launch ceremony was to make the old comrade “sensei famous”. “the hubei department of civil affairs set up a two-way enabling platform. The flag is a responsibility, a trust. At the same time, the launching of the silver-age operation has allowed older comrades to export their aspirations to give back to society, and has created a channel for grass-roots voices, where the two forces come together and work together.”
When it comes to the future, professor dunland has a clear plan. She said that, in addition to field coaching, the association would conduct systematic training to make farming techniques more accessible to a wider audience. “we can also use online means to take a photograph of anything, give guidance at any time, and be more direct.” she hopes to brand the "silver age initiative" so that every farmer, every industry, can become a sign of wealth, “letting rural specialty produce out of the country, have a good brand, have good quality and have a wide distribution channel, and the farmer's path to wealth becomes wider”
This million-acre pharmacological base, because the arrival of this group of silver-age specialists has a different life. And the spring wind passed over the seedlings, and the white hair of their hairs, and the bright smiles of the farmers。
