STORY: Chinese predatory mite breeder dedicated to reducing agricultural pests, diseases
DATELINE: June 25, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:57
LOCATION: FUZHOU, China
CATEGORY: SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Zhang Yanxuan, a Doctor of Agriculture
2. various of the company of Zhang Yanxuan, Fujian Yanxuan Biological Technology Co. LTD.
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): ZHANG YANXUAN, Doctor of Agriculture
4. various of pests
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): ZHANG YANXUAN, Doctor of Agriculture
6. various of pests
7. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): ZHANG YANXUAN, Doctor of Agriculture
8. various of Zhang Yanxuan working

STORYLINE:

Zhang Yanxuan has devoted 35 years of her life to studying and domesticating predatory mites, and has won a national award for her innovative technology of "treating mites with mites."

She has traveled extensively across China. During the years, she domesticated predatory mites that can prey on harmful mites in farmlands and orchards -- Amblyseius cucumeris.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): ZHANG YANXUAN, Doctor of Agriculture
"These are predatory mites that prey on red spiders, whiteflies, and thrips on crops. We use it very successfully on blueberries in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, because this mite can eat thrips, and one of the main pests on blueberries is thrips, which can harm flowers and fruits and cause a lot of damage."

"Treating mites with mites" is a biological technology that uses beneficial mites to control harmful mites, which can reduce pesticide use by more than 80% and increase crop yields.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): ZHANG YANXUAN, Doctor of Agriculture
"I'll put it in an easily understood way: if you use the pesticides from the stores on your own orchard, the result is that the earthworms in the soil are poisoned, and the microbial community in the soil is no longer able to decompose organic matter and fertilizer."

Zhang's journey began in 1987, when she graduated from the Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University in China with a bachelor's degree in plant protection. She then went to Japan to pursue her master's and doctorate degrees in agronomy at Hokkaido University, where she focused on the ecology and behavior of predatory mites.

After obtaining her doctorate in 2002, Zhang decided to return to China and join the Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences as a researcher. She wanted to apply her knowledge and skills to help Chinese farmers control pests and reduce pesticide use.

In 2005, Zhang set up Fujian Yanxuan Biocontrol Technology Company, China's first mite-breeding enterprise. The company has achieved large-scale production of 10 species of predatory mites, as well as ladybug, and other natural enemies of pests, which are promoted in many producing areas of citrus, cotton, chestnut, tea and others in China.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): ZHANG YANXUAN, Doctor of Agriculture
"In Meishan, Sichuan Province, we released predatory mites on 3,200 acres of farmland last year, and they didn't use pesticides for a whole year. When we went to the garden this year, we saw a lot of ladybugs. If the environment is suitable, predators can thrive.
This is to be sent to tea mountain in Wuzhou of Guangxi, also used for biological control. There are 10,000 cards, each with 2,000 worms. This is the trichogramma. The little worms are here."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Fuzhou, China.
(XHTV)