CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Wednesday, August 18, 2021 | 7 CHINA HK farmer wriggling profit from earthworm breeding The invertebrates and their dung are generating big business in Guangdong

By ZHENG CAIXIONG tion ever since. Though earth- in Guangzhou worms themselves are selling well, [email protected] market recognition of earthworm fertilizer is still low. In Lee Ka-lam’s earthworm Lee said: “The traditional idea is Miao Yi gets the chance to talk to 2020 Nobel Prize winner Har- breeding base in Huiyang district of that there is no fertility without vey J. Alter in an online session held at the No 1 Middle School in Huizhou city, Guangdong province, smell. Although earthworm dung Longyao county, Hebei province, on Aug 6 as part of the Youth dozens of ridges are covered with a does not have a strong scent, it is University Science Camp. provided to china daily thin film in the greenhouses. actually rich in all kinds of organic Under each film is a mixture of matter needed for plant growth.” cow dung and soybean dregs, which He said he is now preparing to creates a hotbed for the growth of apply for an organic fertilizer regis- earthworms. tration certification so he can open Summer science camp When the films are lifted and the a broader market for earthworm dung piles are removed, there is fertilizer. almost no smell, and groups of He has registered his own brand, sparks students’ interest worms can be seen wriggling. and the annual output value pro- In an open space, a cylindrical duced by earthworms has reached By ZHANG YU in Shijiazhuang separator rotates continuously. 1.9 million yuan. [email protected] Workers shovel the worms and the In addition, about 1,000 metric I never thought I dung, which by then has been con- tons of worm fertilizer are pro- Miao Yi’s interest in biology real- sumed and excreted by the worms, duced every year, he said. ly took off after she watched an would get the into one end of the machine. Despite the achievement, Lee online lecture by a Nobel Prize chance to talk to one As the drum keeps turning, the said he needs constant challenges. winner and had the opportunity to screen at the front end will filter To this end, he has signed up for ask him questions she had about of the world’s top out the dung, which can be used as an entrepreneurship and innova- viruses afterward. scientists directly. It an organic fertilizer, and centrifu- tion competition held in Guang- “I never thought I would get the gal force will force the worms into dong this year. chance to talk to one of the world’s was so instructive — the plastic basket on the side of the The entry item is “earthworm top scientists directly. It was so it really expanded separator. porous fecal particles as new mate- instructive — it really expanded Each day, Lee and his workers are rials for batteries”, a cooperative my horizons,” said the 17-year-old my horizons.” usually busy packing the worms project between Lee and a Taiwan high school student from the No 1 Miao Yi, student from the No 1 into special boxes for shipment in professor introduced to him by Middle School in Longyao county, Middle School in Longyao the evening. Huizhou University. Xingtai city, Hebei province. county, Xingtai city, Hebei “Afternoons are usually the busi- They plan to carbonize worm The scientist in question, Har- province est time for me and my colleagues,” Lee Ka-lam works at his earthworm farm in Huiyang district of dung and use it to make batteries. vey J. Alter, a researcher and virus said Lee, a young entrepreneur Huizhou city, Guangdong province. provided to china daily Meanwhile, worm feces is also expert from the United States, has from the Hong Kong Special being added into pig feed to help become Miao’s idol. Together with in viruses, including the novel cor- Administrative Region. reduce the chance of the animals two other scientists, Alter received onavirus. The worms are sent directly to certificated stand-up paddling agriculture industry has great being affected by a virus. the 2020 Nobel Prize in physiology For several years, Hua Fang, a fishing gear stores and fishing coach in Hong Kong, decided to potential on the mainland. “If the project is successful, it or medicine for the discovery of technology teacher at the No 1 grounds. venture into organic agricultural “Compared with first-tier cities, could not only increase the scientific the hepatitis C virus in 1988. Middle School, has helped stu- Although the market price for the entrepreneurship. Huizhou has more space for the and technological process of earth- Apart from Miao, two other stu- dents participate in the summer worms sits at 2 yuan (31 cents) a In 2013, he returned to Hui- development of agriculture. Even if worm breeding, but also extend the dents and a teacher from else- camps, which cover topics like box, Lee’s worms can sell for 2.5 yang, his hometown, taking with I decided to quintuple the produc- industrial chain,” Lee said. where in China also got the chance technology, aerospace and oceanic yuan a box due to their large size him earthworms and cow dung tion of earthworms, I would not As a member of the Huizhou to participate in the online session science. and high quality. Those sales repre- and focusing on developing his worry about sales,” he said. “Also, I Youth Federation, Lee said he hopes on Aug 6. They were selected for “It’s a big and wondrous world sent about 10 percent of the market business of turning waste into have talked with Pingtan airport to contribute to youth exchanges their excellent performance dur- out there for students from small share in Guangdong. treasure. officials about selling the worms all and cooperation in the Greater Bay ing a science and technology sum- counties like mine. The camp is a In addition to the bestselling Lee started off planting dragon over the country by air in the Area. mer camp held between July 18 very good opportunity for them to worms, the organic fertilizer made fruit and breeding worms simulta- future.” Meanwhile, he also hopes to help and July 23. expand their horizons and nurture from their dung is screened out by neously, but after talking to local Yang Yu’an, a local farmer who more young Hong Kong residents That event was part of the their interest in science and tech- the separator. experts about other cultivation met Lee at a training course, said he who want to come to Guangdong to Youth University Science Camp, nology,” Hua said, adding that he Lee gets the cow dung for his ideas in 2017, he rented 6,667 heard that Lee was selling worm start businesses and find employ- which is organized each year by hopes more students will become greenhouses in Guangzhou’s Zeng- square meters of land to expand his dung, just in time for watermelon ment opportunities in the field of the China Association for Science involved in the future. cheng district, located more than breeding operation in Huiyang’s season. Yang decided to try it out by organic agriculture. and Technology and the Ministry At present, only high school stu- 100 kilometers from his earthworm Pingtan township. buying just a few hundred kilo- He said he intends to establish a of Education. dents with excellent grades and farm. “Earthworms reproduce quickly, grams at first. Hong Kong youth agricultural This year, 71 branch activities who demonstrate a comprehen- After fermentation, the dung and after organic fertilizer is “The effect of the earthworm entrepreneurship base in Huizhou were held across the country by sive grasp of subjects at school get becomes a hot spot for earthworms formed, earthworms can be filtered dung fertilizer was seen in less than to provide a platform for entrepre- different organizations, including the chance to attend the camps. to reproduce. out and sold,” Lee said. a week,” he said. neurship exchange. universities, local educational Hua said that normally, the stu- Their growth accelerates the In order to sell his surplus earth- Yang said that with the fertilizer, He also wants to provide agricul- bureaus and departments for sci- dents tour universities, scientific decomposition and transforma- worms, he drove to nearby fishing not only did the leaves become tural knowledge training, produc- ence and technology. research institutes and museums, tion of nutrients in the dung, mak- gear stores and fishing grounds. black and bright, but also the fruit tion guidance and other services to According to the association, learn to make devices and objects ing it an efficient and green Unexpectedly, his worms were very tasted sweeter. Hong Kong youth interested in more than 12,500 high school stu- such as drones and replicas of organic fertilizer. popular. “Moreover, chemical fertilizers, launching organic agricultural dents from the Chinese mainland, ancient animal-shaped sculptures “After the cow dung is digested Because the profits from worm as well as humic acid, potassium startups, by inviting experts from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and attend lectures by top scien- and excreted by the worms, organic breeding were considerable, Lee fulvic acid and other water-soluble South China Agricultural University participated in activities either tists and professors. Due to COV- matter such as humic acid that is decided to abandon dragon fruit organic fertilizers from agricultural and relevant research institutes and online or face-to-face. ID-19, however, this year’s required for plant growth is present altogether. materials stores, used to cost him associations in Hong Kong. The online event Miao attended activities were held online. in high amounts, and this plays a In 2019, he registered and estab- from 300 yuan to 400 yuan per Doing this will help young people was organized by Shanghai’s “The activities not only made role in disease resistance and yield lished a biotechnology development 0.067 hectare,” he said. The earth- better integrate into the Greater Tongji University. me happy, but also increased my increase,” Lee said. and research company. He attended worm fertilizer, however, only costs Bay Area and encourage them to Alter spoke about his expertise thirst for science and technology,” Located in Xiajiao village, Huiz- a training course and became a certi- 100 yuan to 200 yuan for the same contribute to its development, Lee and answered questions from said Tian Yufei, another student hou city, Lee’s earthworm farm now fied farmer in the Guangdong-Hong area. said. Miao and other attendees during from the Longyao No 1 Middle sits on 2 hectares of land. Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Yang has been using the dung for the hourlong session. It further School who attended this year’s Born in 1985, Lee, who is also a Lee said he believes the organic seedling cultivation and fertiliza- Fu Lidan contributed to this story. inspired Miao, who has an interest camp.

an apart from my wife,” he said lightheartedly. Amid flooding, train Hu repeatedly told passengers Videos draw wave of recycling fans that it was too dangerous for them to get off the train and there was SHIJIAZHUANG — When he have been in the business for over 30 items he retrieved from the trash, staff placated travelers nowhere to go in the heavy rain. He started shooting short videos years. like jade, necklaces and bits of callig- also told them that railway staff about waste recycling in 2019, Liu However, unlike his elders, who raphy. His followers grew over time, were working hard to help. Anan never thought he would see their job as simply collecting and he became more passionate By luo wangshu Ultimately, the train remained at Eventually, the passengers amass over 15 million followers waste, Liu thinks of it more as about his cause. [email protected] the station for more than 50 hours relented and returned to their car- online. resource recycling. In his Douyin To give the videos greater appeal, for safety reasons. riages. If it required all of Hu’s Liu, from the city of Handan in profile, he jokingly introduces him- Liu also thought up catchy phrases This summer, extreme weather Passengers became increasingly patience to face the adults, it North China’s Hebei province, self as the “CEO and Executive Presi- for his voice-overs. So far, he has events, including torrential rainfall anxious, so Hu and his colleagues required even more to take care of shares his daily findings at the recy- dent of Resource Recycling, Greater more than 200 of them. and typhoons, hit many parts of Chi- visited each carriage, explaining the younger travelers. cling station — ranging from toys China”. “To satisfy my fans, I think I na, causing massive delays, cancel- the situation to passengers and One 2-year-old girl stranded and bottles to the occasional expen- “It’s a process of turning trash into almost turned myself into a poet,” lations and diversions for the trying to comfort them. with her family was crying all the sive watch and pieces of jade — in his treasure, and in recent years, paper he said. transportation sector. On the morning of July 20, five time. The father of a young boy short videos. manufacturers have developed a The videos have been well-re- Some staff experienced difficulties passengers felt unwell and needed himself, Hu comforted her by sing- Besides showcasing his discover- huge demand for waste cartons,” Liu ceived. with stranded passengers. Train immediate medical care. ing songs, playing games and tell- ies, Liu’s videos convey the inspiring said. “I love your videos, they’re fun attendant Hu Pengfei was one of After communicating with the ing stories. Gradually, he and the message of an ordinary man with a As a short-video fan himself, Liu and inspiring,” reads one comment them. medical service team at the sta- girl built a rapport. She began to humble job who has a confident, thought he could use videos to share on Douyin. On one journey, which the tion, the conductor opened train follow Hu on his visits to the car- upbeat attitude toward life. his life as a recycling worker, an “I hope your positivity reaches 24-year-old called one of the most doors to allow the sick and their riages. The girl’s mother was grate- “The job of waste recycling can be occupation quite different from everyone who is working hard,” “unforgettable trips” of his life, Hu families to get off and receive ful and told Hu that her father’s dirty and tiring, but this is life, an those of many of his peers. reads another comment on Kuais- received complaints, scolding, treatment. name was also Pengfei. ordinary person’s life,” the 29-year- The idea got off to a bumpy start. hou, another short-video platform. requests for help and appreciation. Some anxious passengers also When the family got off the train, old says in one video with more than He gained few views at the begin- Thanks to his growing influence, His train departed from Guangzhou, tried to get off the train with them. the girl was unwilling to leave him. 1 million views pinned at the top of ning and struggled with editing. Liu has helped his hometown pro- Guangdong province, on July 18 and For safety reasons, Hu was respon- “I have a daughter and a son his Douyin home page. “And it’s Sometimes, the videos he made with mote locally-made ceramics was scheduled to arrive in Lanzhou, sible for stopping them. now,” he said. good to find something unexpected.” well-prepared scripts would get few- online. Gansu province, on July 20. But angry passengers would not After more than 50 hours, the Liu’s recycling career and online er views than random shots. “I’m still young, and I have to However, due to heavy rainfall in listen to his explanations and train finally began to move. fame both happened unexpectedly. Despite the disappointments, Liu continue to try, learn and make Zhengzhou, Henan province, the scolded him for not allowing them Because the line to the destination After graduating from middle carried on. breakthroughs myself,” Liu said. tracks were flooded as the train was to leave. was still under repair, it was forced school, he worked as a truck driver, a “As a young man, I wanted to try “Young people should work as hard passing through the area. The deluge In the chaos, Hu was pushed and to return to Guangzhou. street vendor and a part-time work- something different from my par- as possible to achieve their forced the train to stop at a small sta- scratched by a woman passenger. The journey, which was sched- er before he got into waste recycling ents’ generation,” he said. dreams.” tion at around 5 pm on July 19, but “I never thought I would be uled to take 37 hours, took nearly in 2019, following in the footsteps of Gradually, he discovered people the rain continued to fall all night. scolded or scratched by any wom- 100 hours. his parents and two uncles, who liked videos about the interesting Xinhua