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Like father, like son:
He Huaxun's mission to restore Hainan's soils
Interviewed and written by Wylie Chu
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Hainan Tropical Botanic Garden – The first tropical botanic garden in China |
Engaged in the research and application of fodder crops for more than 30 years, Professor He Huaxuan is the recipient of 23 Provincial Science and Technology Advanced Awards, having selected and cultirated 18 new fodder-crop species. On retiring last year, he volunteered to be re-hired at RMB800 per month, "minimum wages" he jokes, as this is the rate for retired labourers. Applying for extra funding would take time; he preferred carrying straight on in pursuit of his incomplete dream.
Professor He Huaxuan serves in the Institute of Tropical Crop Germplasm Resources in the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (formerly the South China Institute of Tropical and Sub-Tropical Botany). His father, He Jingzheng, was the first director of the institute and held a concurrent post with the Rubber Planting Laboratory. He instigated research work on rubber planting to the north as well as other tropical crops; he also founded the first tropical botanic garden in China.
My father was the Conservation Pioneer
A botanist and forest biologist, Prof. He's father (He senior) was highly attentive to forest and ecosystem conservation long ago in the early 1940s; Prof. He (He junior) describes this as his instinct. He senior was deeply distressed whenever he heard a piece of primary forest was seriously damaged, particularly those in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Hainan, and kept sending survey reports to relevant departments as a means to urge action on forest conservation. "My father bitterly hated the ruthless forest clearance for rubber plantations. When we visited Hainan in 1958, steel production in villagers was being widely advocated, along with the extensive logging to clear forest for rubber plantations. Large trees, with trunks so big it took three or four men to get their arms around them, were burnt to make charcoal. The people would happily hang up a big red-ribbon "flower" (signifying happy events in Chinese culture) to report such good news to the Party Committee as soon as possible. Every such scene would make him heave a sigh and shake his head," said Prof. He. Such clearance over many years led to the loss of many rare tropical plants. He guesses that was why his father decided to leave the Rubber Planting Laboratory. When, by chance, He senior was assigned to develop the tropical botanic garden in Hainan, he was delighted he no longer had to do more ecological destruction.
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Prof. He carried out a promotional campaign on fodder crop planting and rabbit raising, which attracted about 200 participants.
Photo : Prof. He Huaxuan
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He senior had clear principles and put them into practice. "To lessen the consumption of forest resources, my father started to make a dome-shaped energy-saving stove.1 He conducted trials at home and even in his colleagues' and neighbours' houses, which he extended to many other large agencies and departments. But he went further than this.
"Trees were everywhere in Hainan at that time – firewood was very handy, and people could simply log a few trees and dry them for use. Parents and kids from other households would go to the hill to log during holidays and bring the wood back in carts. But this was forbidden in our family." To solve the fuel problem, his father made a special tool by fixing a pick to a length of metal pipe to help dig up the tree-stumps. "To obtain a similar quantity of firewood, we had to spend much more time than others. We suffered a lot since we were small!" Prof. He said smilingly.
Teaching is best done by example. He senior often had to pay visits to other countries, such as India, Egypt, Algeria and Vietnam, and returned from work late at night. Developing the botanic garden kept him very busy. Though he could hardly squeeze much time to teach his son, he exerted an uplifting influence on him from childhood. Prof. He was particularly aware of environmental and ecological problems, and this indirectly paved the way to his research and promotion of tropical fodder crops.
Note :
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This stove won an award from the Sichuan Provincial Government. The design involves a reduced hearth size and a semi-circular iron ring enclosing the base of the stove. This helps centralize the heat, burning the wood more thoroughly. Cooking time is shortened, and firewood requirement is cut by 50-60%. A steel-lined flue improves air quality. |
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