Du Lizhi is a consultant and senior agricultural technician with Gaotang Agricultural and Rural Affairs Bureau. Du has kept more than 90 work-related diaries, in which she has recorded her work experiences, in more than 600 villages in Gaotang (a county in Liaocheng, a city in Shandong Province), during the past 38 years.

Given her outstanding achievements, she has received many titles, including being named a National March 8th Red-Banner Holder and an Outstanding Party (Communist Party of China) Member in Shandong Province. She was a delegate to the 18th, 19th and 20th CPC (Communist Party of China) national congresses, which were held in Beijing in 2012, 2017 and 2022, respectively.

In recognition of her decades-long commitment to ensuring national food security, and also of her remarkable performances in using scientific and technological knowledge in agricultural production, the Publicity Department of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee, in April 2023, named Du a Role Model of the Times in Shandong Province. If you learn more about her heart-touching story, you might be impressed by her ardent enthusiasm and vigorous vitality, especially as she makes persevering efforts to realize her dream of helping farmers live better lives.

Emotionally Attached

Du was born in 1964 into a farmer's family in Gaotang. In 1985, she began working as an agricultural technician at Jiangdian Commune (in Gaotang). Three years later, she was employed by Gaotang Agricultural and Rural Affairs Bureau, as an agricultural technician.

During the first few years, Du had a tight daily schedule. During the daytime, she visited villages in Gaotang, so she could observe and record crops' growth. Each evening, she wrote in her diaries, recording her daily work, and she read books to increase her agricultural-production knowledge.

Du has been caught in either rain or snow countless times, and she has fallen to the ground dozens of times, as she has observed crops in the fields. Based on the results of her observations, she has increased her studies, to learn the technical skills needed to increase production.

As both a Party member and an agricultural technician, she felt obliged to help farmers solve the technical difficulties they encountered in their production. Gradually, she became an expert in agricultural techniques.

"Emotionally attached to farmers. I'm delighted to help farmers solve difficulties in their production," says Du.

Several years ago, Kong Hejun, a resident of Kongzhang (a village in Yinji, a town in Gaotang), used her money, which she saved during the prior decade as she worked in another city, to establish her family farm in Kongzhang. With Du's help, Kong grew wheat, corn and other crops. Du also helped Kong solve technical problems in cultivation. As Kong increased her production, her enthusiasm for farming grew.

Collective Wisdom, Efforts

"Visit farmland and talk with farmers more frequently." That slogan, of the former Gaotang Agricultural Bureau, vividly depicts Du's routine work. Despite the transformation of her identity, from an ordinary agricultural technician to the head of an agricultural technology station in Gaotang, and then to the deputy director of Gaotang Agricultural Bureau, Du's deep attachment to farmers has never changed.

She is busy as a bee, as she receives dozens of phone calls from farmers every day. Given her limited time, energy and resources, Du cannot help every farmer solve the technical problems in his/her production. She has brainstormed how to solve that problem. Her idea: Leading all agricultural technicians (with the agricultural bureau) in sharing their agricultural techniques with farmers.

During the past several years, Du has led her colleagues in providing lectures and counseling to farmers, to help them improve their production skills. Du has also led her colleagues in establishing a website, through which they provide farmers with information related to agricultural production and skills.

Du often encourages her colleagues to work hard, especially to improve their technical skills, so they can earn the trust of rural residents. Many of Du's colleagues have become excellent agricultural technicians, like her.

Several years ago, Gaotang's Party Committee established Delegate Du Lizhi's Studio, to popularize the Party's principles and policies among farmers. The committee also set up an office, named after Du, which provides, through a hotline, counseling to farmers, to help them solve technical problems in their production. During the past few years, Du has led members of her volunteer service team in popularizing scientific and technological knowledge in production among farmers. That, in turn, has promoted Gaotang's rural revitalization.

Priceless Emotion

Many rural residents in Gaotang treat Du as if she is a member of their families. They express gratitude to her in a simple, direct way. For example, they offer her their corn as a token. "The rural residents' sincere love for me is priceless," says Du.

Once, Du was caught in the rain when she went to Xizhu (a village in Gaotang) to help farmers improve their crop-cultivation skills. Many villagers vied with each other to invite her to have lunch in their homes. Eventually, Du said, "I'll go to the nearest house."

In November 2020, Du left for Beijing, to attend a meeting to commend national model workers and advanced individuals who performed exceedingly well in their careers. Braving the furious wind, many residents of Zhanghao (another village in Gaotang) rode their bicycles to the county town to see Du off.

During the meeting, the State Council, the Chinese Government's cabinet, named Du a National Advanced Worker, in recognition of her efforts to popularize scientific and technological knowledge among farmers.

Even while she was in Beijing, Du made plans to visit rural residents (in Gaotang), to help them solve technical problems in their production, after she returned home. When she returned to Gaotang, village officials and more than 200 rural residents were in Yangtun (a town in Gaotang) to greet her.

"To me, an agricultural scientific and technological worker, the field is my 'stage,' and the farmers are my 'relatives.' I feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when I help farmers solve technical problems in their production, and/or witness great improvements in their lives," Du has been quoted as saying.

Photos Supplied by Interviewee

(Women of China English Monthly September 2023 issue)