National Protection Zone for Rapeseed Production and Industrial Cluster of Rape in Hubei Province

Li GAO, Yamin PENG*, Leying WU, Jin ZENG, Yuanpeng SUN, Zhiguo SUN

1. Centre for Cultural Studies on Southern Hubei Province, Xianning 437100, China; 2. College of Economics and Management, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China

Abstract Hubei Province is the main winter rapeseed producing area in China, and has the national advantage and characteristic industrial cluster of rape. The protection zone for the production of important agricultural products of rapeseed in Hubei Province also ranks first as that in Hunan Province. This paper studied the winter rape industry, the important agricultural product production protection zone of rapeseed, the provincial double-low high-quality rape protection zone and the industrial cluster of rape in Jianghan Plain in Hubei Province, and analyzed the main problems existing in the development of rapeseed production protection zone and industrial cluster of rape. Finally, it came up with strategies including promoting national rape varieties, overcoming the problem of rape "agricultural chip", promoting the "rice + rape" rotation model, and strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights of brand marks.

Key words Winter rape, Rapeseed, Protection zone for the production of important agricultural products, National advantageous characteristic industrial cluster, Hubei Province

1 Introduction

In recent years, the consumption of edible vegetable oil in China has been increasing, the demand gap has been expanding, the degree of dependence on foreign countries has increased significantly, and the security of edible vegetable oil has become increasingly prominent[1-2]. The rapeseed oil accounts for about 50% of the domestic edible oil. As the largest oil crop in China, rape occupies the core position in ensuring the safety of China’s edible oil supply. According toChinaRuralStatisticalYearbook(2022), the total yield of China rapeseed was 1 471.4 ten thousand t, the planting area was 6 991.6 thousand ha, the average yield per unit area was 956.0-3 111.4 kg/ha, and the national average was 2 104.5 kg/ha.

TheGuidingOpinionsoftheStateCouncilonConstructionofGrainProductionFunctionalAreasandImportantAgriculturalProductProductionProtectionzonesissued on March 31, 2017 stated that 46 666.67 km2of the rapeseed production protection zone would be d designated with the emphasis on the Yangtze River Basin as the main area, including 40 000 km2of the rice and rapeseed multiple cropping area. Subsequently, nine major provinces and cities have designated 43 333.33 km2winter rapeseed production protection zones. Among them, Hubei and Hunan separately had 10 000 km2, Sichuan designated 6 666.67 km2, Anhui and Jiangxi separately designated 4 666.67 km2, Chongqing had 1 666.67 km2, and Guizhou and Henan designated 1 333.33 km2.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Finance launched the construction of the national advantageous characteristic industrial cluster in 2020[6-7], and a total of 140 construction lists have been released in three batches so far. Among them, winter rape includes industrial cluster of rape in Jianghan Plain of Hubei Province, early maturing industrial cluster of rape in Hunan Province, industrial cluster of rape in Sichuan Province, and industrial cluster of rape in mountainous areas in Guizhou Province; spring rape has the industrial cluster of rape of Qinghai Province. Hubei Province is the main production province of winter rapeseed in China[8-9]. The protection zone of important agricultural products of rapeseed ranks first as that in Hunan, the total yield of rapeseed accounts for the second place in China, and the planting area accounts for the third largest province in China. In view of these, we discussed the development strategy of national protection zones of rapeseed production and industrial cluster of rape in Hubei Province.

2 Winter rape industry in Hubei Province

2.1 Cultivars of rapeThe rape cultivars in China mainly includeBrassiacampestrisL.,BrassicanapusL., andBrassicajuncea(L.)Czern. et Coss.)[10-12]. Rape cultivars in Hubei Province are mainly the first two varieties, and the third variety is rare.B.campestriscan be used as both vegetables and oilseeds.B.napusis a special oil crop planted in protection zone of rapeseed production and provincial protection zone of double-low high-quality rape.

2.2 Main promotion varieties of rapeIn recent years, varieties of rape promoted in Hubei Province are as many as 66, such as Huayouza 62, Huayouza 9, Zhongshuang.9, Yangguang 2009, Huashuang 5, Zhongyouza 7819, Huayouza 12, Huayouza 13, Zhongshuang 12, ZhongShuang 10, Huashuang 4, Heshengyou 868, Heshengyou 555, Zhongyouza 12, Fuyouza 108, Huayou 6, Fengyou 701, Fengyou 520, Deyou 8, Huayouza 14, Fengyou 5103, Zhongyouza 11, Zhongyou 589, Xiwang 528, Zheyou 28, Nanyouza 1, Huayouza 10, Dexinyou 59, Huayouza 15, Tianyouza 3, Fuyouza 2000, Guangyuan 58, Luoyouza 101, Mianyou 12, Shengguang 127, Fuyou 668, Dadi 55, Wenyou 99, Xiwang 699, Hanyou 301, Youyan 10, Shengguang 87, Mianyou 19, Zhongnongyou 2008, Fengyou 737, Dingyouza 4, Chuyouza 910, Zhongnongyou 6, Huayouza 8, Huyouza 1, Rongyou 10, Youyan 50, Xiangzayou 2, Zhongyouza 16, Zhongyouza 7, Zheyou 601, Huaxiangyou 12, Huahang 901, Huayouza 95, Xiangzayou 5, T2159, Fengyou 679, Fengyou 958, Yuhuang 2, Tongyouza 2, and Zheyou 50.

There are 26 rape varieties in theNationalCatalogueforthePromotionofExcellentCropVarieties(2023). Among them, (i) there are 9 backbone varieties：Fengyou 737, Fengyou 730, Huayouza 62, Zhongshuang 11, Huayouza 9, Yangguang 2009, Qinyou 10, Zheyou 50 and Qingza 5; (ii) there are 6 growth varieties：Qingyou 3, Zhongyouza 19, Dadi 199, Huayouza 50, Ganyouza 8 and Qingza 12; (iii) 6 young varieties：Zhongyouza 501, Fangyou 777, Chuanyou 81, Qinyou 1618, Ningza 182, Baoyou 150; (iv) 5 special-type varieties：Yangguang 131 (short growth period rape), Fengyou 320 (short growth period rape), Huayouza 62R (clubroot resistant rape), Huayou 2129 (high oleic acid rape) and Kangyou 3 (yellow seed high oleic acid rape). Except Qingza 5 and Qingza 12, which are spring rape varieties, all other varieties have been promoted in Hubei.

2.3 Rapeseed planting areaAccording to the data inRuralStatisticalYearbookofHubeiProvince(2022), the planting area of rapeseed in the whole province was 1 094.02 kha. Among them, Jingzhou City, Huanggang City, Jingmen City, Xianning City, Yichang City and Xiaogan City had larger planting areas, which were 203.49, 155.49, 128.78, 88.30, and 84.78 kha, respectively (Table 1).

Table 1 Rapeseed planting area in cities and prefectures of Hubei Province kha

The top 15 counties of planting area were Jianli City, Xiantao City, Shayang County, Tianmen City, Zhongxiang City, Gongan County, Huangmei County, Xian’an District, Wuxue City, Honghu City, Dangyang City, Xishui County, Chibi City, Qichun County and Macheng City, which were 76.69, 53.80, 47.24, 38.46, 34.95, 34.55, 30.74, 26.76, 26.49, 26.28, 23.76, 23.67, 22.27, 22.12, and 19.16 kha, respectively (Table 2).

Table 2 Rapeseed planting area in counties of Hubei Province kha

2.4 Rapeseed yieldAccording to the data inRuralStatisticalYearbookofHubeiProvince(2022), the total yield of rapeseed in the whole province was 2 517 789 t. Among them, Jingzhou City, Huanggang City, Jingmen City, Xiaogan City, Yichang City and Xianning City had larger total yield, which were 498 554, 369 005, 322 104, 195 650, 191 077 and 151 154 t, respectively (Table 3).

Table 3 Total yield of rapeseed in cities and prefectures of Hubei Province t

Jianli, Xiantao, Shayang, Gongan, Tianmen, Zhongxiang, Honghu, Huangmei, Wuxue, Jiangling, Xishui, Dangyang, Qichun, Macheng and Jingshan were the top 15 counties in total rapeseedyield, which were 137 578, 122 930, 122 828, 103 961, 91 738, 85 102, 79 406, 71 423, 67 143, 57 101, 55 980, 52 972, 49 959, 45 887.8 and 45 449 t, respectively (Table 4).

Table 4 Total yield of rapeseed in counties of Hubei Province t

2.5 National "one village, one product" demonstration villages and townsThere are 28 national "one village, one product" demonstration villages and towns of grain and oil in Hubei, whose leading products involve rape only in Xianjian Village, Hongshan Residential District, Hongshan District, Wuhan City, and Wangjiashawan Village, Anju Town, Suixian County, Suizhou City, which are separately Hongshan Caitai (flowering Chinese cabbage) andBrassicajunceavar.foliosaL. H. Bailey.

2.6 Geographical indications of rapeGeographical indication (GI) is an intellectual property right mainly for special products[13-14], which indicates that a commodity comes from a certain region, and the specific quality, reputation or other characteristics of the commodity are mainly determined by the natural or human factors of the region. There are 3 kinds of rape geographical indication products in Hubei：Wuxue rapeseed oil, Hongshan Caitai, Suizhou rapeseed oil (Table 5); 11 geographical indication trademarks：Xiangyang rapeseed oil, Xiangyang rapeseed, Zhongxiang rapeseed oil, Babao rape, Maocao Red Caitai (registration No.：13833910), Maocao red vegetable moss (registration No.：14229283), Ehongshan vegetable mosses (registration No.：3958379) Hongshan Caitai (registration No.：12861108), Hongshan Caitai (registration No.：49743971), Suizhou Paopaoqing, and Zhongxiang Paopaoqing (Table 6); 4 kinds of geographical indications of agricultural products：Jingmen rape, Wuxue double low rape, Hongshan Caitai, and Suizhou Paopaoqing. Among them, Caitai (BrassicaparachinensisL. H. Bailey) and PaopaoqingBrassicajunceavar.foliosaL. H. Bailey are mainly used for vegetable, and Wuxue double low rape, Wuxue rapeseed oil, Xiangyang rapeseed soil, Xiangyang rapeseed, Babao rape, Zhongyang rapeseed oil, and Jingmen rape are originated fromBrassicanapusL.

Table 6 GI trademarks of rape products in Hubei Province

2.7 China’s well-known trademarks and Hubei’s advantageous trademarksA famous trademark refers to a registered trademark that has a high market reputation and commercial value, is well known to the relevant public, and is recognized according to law[15]. Hubei rapeseed oil-related products have 22 well-known trademarks in China (Table 8) and 17 advantageous trademarks in Hubei Province (Table 9).

Table 7 GI of rape products in Hubei Province

Table 8 China’s well-known trademarks of rape and rapeseed oil products in Hubei Province

(Continued)

Table 9 Advantageous trademarks of Hubei Province related to rape and rapeseed oil

2.8 Rape seed industryHubei Province has two national regional rape breeding bases in Xishui County and Gucheng County, a national oil seed enterprise in Zhongken Jinxiu Huanong Wuhan Science and Technology Co., Ltd., and a national oil crop germplasm resource medium-term bank (Wuhan), National Crop Germplasm Resource Bank (Nursery), and has obtained 357 national invention patents and one national new utility patent in rape breeding field (international patent IPC A01H).

B.napus,Brassicajuncea, andB.campestriswere included into the second, sixth and tenth batches of theListofNewVarietiesofAgriculturalPlantsofthePeople’sRepublicofChinaseparately on March 7, 2000, May 20, 2005 and April 16, 2016[16]. Hubei has obtained 39 new agricultural plant variety rights ofB.napus, involving 11 variety owners (Table 10), but has not obtained the new agricultural plant variety rights ofB.junceaandB.campestris.

Table 10 Agricultural plant new variety right of Brassica napus in Hubei Province

3 Rapeseed important agricultural product production protection zone of Hubei Province

There are 10 000 km2rapeseed important agricultural product production protection zones in Hubei Province. The protection zone is distributed in 16 cities and prefectures (including 3 county-level cities directly under the jurisdiction) except the Shenlongjia forest area. Among them, Jingzhou City, Huanggang City, Jingmen City, Yichang City, Xianning City and Xiaogan City have relatively large protection zones, which are 2 100.00, 1 766.67, 1 013.33, 720.00, 666.67, and 633.33 km2, respectively (Table 11).

Table 11 Distribution of protection zone of rapeseed production in cities and prefectures of Hubei Province km2

The protection zones for rapeseed production are distributed in 74 counties (including three districts of Ezhou City), of which the top ten counties are Jianli City, Tianmen City, Xiantao City, Shayang County, Gongan County, Songzi City, Zhongxiang City, Macheng City, Honghu City and Xishui County, and the areas are 666.67, 433.33, 400, 366.67, 333.33, 300, 300, 300, 266.67 km2, respectively (Table 12).

Table 12 Distribution of protection zone of rapeseed production in counties of Hubei Province km2

4 Provincial double-low high-quality rape protection zones

The double-low rape with low glucosinolate and low erucic acid is a high-quality rape variety[17]. The content of erucic acid in rapeseed oil is less than 3%, and the content of glucosinolate in rapeseed is less than 30 micromol/g. According to the deployment of theGuidingOpinionsontheConstructionofDoubleLowQualityRapeProtectionZonesissuedbytheGeneralOfficeofHubeiProvincialPeople’sGovernment(E Zheng Ban Fa[2016] No.21), Hubei has built Jianli, Gongan, Songzi, Honghu, Shishou, Jiangling, Jingzhou, Macheng, Huangmei, Xishui, Wuxue, Qichun, Hongan, Shayang, Zhongxiang, Jingshan, Duodao, Xinzhou, Huangpi, Yangxin, Daye, Dangyang, Zhijiang, Yicheng, Ezhou, Hanchuan, Yingcheng, Xiaochang, Xiaonan District, Xian’an District, Chibi City, Badong County, Xiantao City, Tianmen City and Qianjiang City. These 35 counties (cities, districts) planted more than 133.33 km2double-low rape, and initially realized the pattern of "double-low varieties, full mechanization, functional diversification, service socialization, processing standardization and brand quality". The area of rapeseed production protection zones in these 35 counties (cities, districts) ranked first in the province, all larger than 100.00 km2, and the total area of national protection zones of rapeseed production was 8 013.35 km2, accounting for 80.13% of the province.

5 Industrial cluster of rape in Jianghan Plain, Hubei Province

Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the middle and lower reaches of the Hanjiang River, the Jianghan Plain is located in the south-central part of Hubei Province and is named after the alluvial plains of the Yangtze River and the Hanjiang River. It covers an area of about 4.6 million km2, mainly including Jingzhou District, Shashi District, Jiangling County, Gongan County, Jianli City, Shishou City, Honghu City and Songzi City of Jingzhou City and Jingzhou Development Zone, as well as Xiantao City, Qianjiang City and Tianmen City directly administered by the province, Shayang County, Jingshan City and Zhongxiang City in Jingmen City, Hanchuan City and Yingcheng City in Xiaogan City, Caidian District in Wuhan City, Zhijiang City in Yichang City and Yicheng City in Xiangyang City, a total of 20 counties (cities or districts). The planting area of industrial cluster of raperapeseed in Jianghan Plain is 470.18 kha (Table 2), accounting for 42.98% of the province, and the total yield of rapeseed was 1 157 583 t, accounting for 45.98% of the province. Except Jingzhou Development Zone and Shashi District, other 18 counties (cities, districts) in Jianghan Plain have rapeseed production protection areas (Table 9), with a total production protection area of 4 600.00 km2, accounting for 46.00% of the whole province. Except Jingzhou Development Zone, Shashi District and Caidian District of Wuhan City, the other 17 counties (cities and districts) in Jianghan Plain are provincial double-low high-quality rape protection zones.

This industrial cluster has no geographical indication products (Table 5) and rape national "one village, one product" demonstration villages and towns, and only has three geographical indication trademarks：Zhongxiang rapeseed oil, Babao rape and Zhongxiang Paopaoqing (Table 6); one geographical indication of agricultural products：Jingmen rape (Table 7), five well-known trademarks in China：Shendi, Changxiangyuan, Manyicun, Tianzhu and Xisong (Table 8), and one advantageous trademark in Hubei Province：Luoshifu (Table 9).

The industrial cluster of rape in Jianghan Plain has no rape national level regional seed breeding base, large seed production county and oil national seed production enterprises, and has obtained few national invention patents and national new utility patents in the field of rape breeding (international patent IPC A01H). There are only two new varieties ofB.napusagricultural plants：Fuyou 2 developed by Hubei Fuyue Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. and You 201 developed by Jingzhou Jinghua Seed Technology Co., Ltd. (Table 10).

6 Main problems

6.1 Low yield of rapeseedThe average rapeseed yield of counties in Hubei Province (including 74 counties involved in rapeseed important agricultural product production protection zones) was between 1 180.0 and 4 250.0 kg/ha, while the average rapeseed yield of the whole province was only 2 301.4 kg/ha. The average rapeseed yield of counties in industrial cluster of rape of Jianghan Plain was between 1 794.0 and 3 320.2 kg/ha, while the average rapeseed yield of the whole industrial cluster was only 2 462.0 kg/ha.

6.2 Weak promotion of rape varietiesThe low yield of rapeseed is directly related to the planting of rape varieties. In recent years, there are as many as 66 winter rape varieties promoted in the whole province, which have not achieved the expected results, and the promotion of rape varieties is weak.

6.3 Backward development of rape seed industryHubei Province has only two national regional rape breeding bases, a national oil seed enterprise, and has obtained 357 national invention patents and one national new utility patent in rape breeding field. Hubei Province has obtained 39B.napusagricultural plant variety rights, but noB.junceaandB.campestrisagricultural plant variety rights. Among them, the industrial cluster of rape in the Jianghan Plain does not have rape national regional fine seed breeding bases, seed production counties, and oilseed national seed industry formation enterprises, and has obtained fewer national patents in the field of rape breeding, only obtaining two rights to new varieties ofB.napusagricultural plants.

6.4 Slow development of rape planting in winter idle fields

Due to the low planting benefits, weak enthusiasm of farmers, poor agricultural infrastructure and backward traditional farming methods, insufficient attention, ineffective promotion of the "rice + rape" crop rotation model, Hubei Province has more winter idle fields, and the rape planting and development progress of winter idle fields is relatively slow, including the Jianghan Plain and the 74 counties involved in the protection zones for rapeseed important agricultural product production.

6.5 Few protection of geographical indicationsThere are only 3 geographical indication products, 11 geographical indication trademarks and 4 geographical indications of agricultural products in rape and its related industries in the whole province (including rapeseed production protection zones), and the protection of geographical indication intellectual property rights of products is less. Among them, Jianghan Plain has fewer industrial clusters of rape, no geographical indications products, only three geographical indications trademarks and one geographical indication of agricultural products.

6.6 Weak brand influenceThe branding of the whole rape industry chain in Hubei is weak. There are 22 well-known trademarks in China and 17 advantageous trademarks in Hubei Province in rape and related industries. Among them, the industrial cluster of rape in Jianghan Plain is even less, with only five well-known trademarks in China and one advantageous trademark in Hubei Province.

7 Recommendations

7.1 Promoting national rapeseed varieties and increasing rapeseed yieldAccording toNationalCatalogueforthePromotionofExcellentCropVarieties(2023), combined with the promotion experience of rape fine varieties in recent years, it is recommended to consider the suitability and high yield characteristics ofB.napus, vigorously promote the national fine varieties. In addition, it is recommended to combine high-yield farmland infrastructure construction and high-quality rapeseed cultivation technology to increase rapeseed yields and increase farmers’ income, especially in the important agricultural products rapeseed production protection zones, the provincial double-low high-quality rape protection area, and the industrial cluster of rape planting area in the Jianghan Plain.

7.2 Tackling the problem of rape "agricultural chip" and promoting the upgrading project of modern seed industryRelying on national oil crop germplasm resource medium-term bank (Wuhan), it is necessary to further improve the protection system of rape germplasm resources, greatly improve the ability of collection, preservation, identification, evaluation, distribution and sharing of rape germplasm, and maintain the diversity of rape biological genetic resources. It is recommended to establish the national and provincial seed enterprises of oilseeds, build national regional rape breeding bases and breeding counties, and use the modern biological breeding technology to overcome the problem of rape "agricultural chip", build a rape seed production base, form a rape seed industry development pattern of division of labor, cooperation and close connection among protection, breeding, and testing, and promote the upgrading project of modern seed industry.

7.3 Promoting the "rice + rape" rotation model and developing rape planting in winter idle fieldsIt is recommended to promote the concept of big food, the importance of diversified food supply system and food security strategy, and raise awareness of the safety of edible vegetable oil, improve agricultural production conditions, teach high-quality and high-yield rape cultivation techniques, vigorously promote the "rice + rape" rotation model, and develop rape planting in winter idle fields.

7.4 Strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights of brand labels and establishing regional public goods brandsHubei Province needs to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights for product indications such as geographical indication products, geographical indication trademarks, geographical indications of agricultural products, collective trademarks, certification trademarks, and design patents in the whole industry chain of rape. Besides, it is necessary to build a national demonstration zone for the protection of geographical indication products, build a well-known trademark in China and an advantageous trademark in Hubei Province, establish national and local standards for geographical indications, strive to obtain overseas geographical indication certification from the European Union and other countries, encourage new agricultural business entities such as large professional households, family farms, farmer cooperatives, agricultural enterprises and other market entities to use special indications of geographical indication products, geographical indication trademarks and geographical indications of agricultural products, and integrate and establish regional public brands with geographical indications.

7.5 Promoting the construction of double-low high-quality rape protection areas to help the national high-quality grain and oil projectIt is recommended to adhere to new development concepts such as innovative development, coordinated development, green development, open development, and shared development, promote double-low excellent rape varieties, promote the construction of provincial double-low high-quality rape protection areas, and realize the pattern of "double-low varieties, full-process mechanization, diversified functions, socialized services, standardized processing, and high-quality brands". In addition, Hubei Province should implement six major improvement actions, including green warehousing, variety quality brand, quality traceability, machinery and equipment, emergency support capabilities, saving and reducing healthy consumption, and actively participate in the "China Good Grain and Oil" and "Jingchu Good Rapeseed Oil" action plans to help the national high-quality grain and oil project.

7.6 Building rapeseed important agricultural production protection zones and implementing the food security strategy under the concept of big foodHubei Province should build rapeseed important agricultural product production protection zones with high quality from the aspects of strengthening comprehensive production capacity building, developing appropriate scale operations, improving the level of agricultural socialization services, protecting according to law, implementing management responsibilities, strengthening dynamic monitoring and information sharing, strengthening supervision and assessment, and increasing investment in infrastructure construction, and implementing the national food security strategy under the concept of big food and ensuring the effective supply of rapeseed for important agricultural products.

7.7 Building the whole industrial chain of rape and the industrial cluster of rape in the Jianghan PlainHubei Province should build the whole industry chain of rape from farmland construction, seed industry development, rape planting, rapeseed vegetable production, rapeseed processing, rapeseed biodiesel production, rapeseed storage, product marketing, agricultural culture inheritance, rural tourism,etc.It is recommended to combine the competitive enterprises in the whole industry chain of rape and cooperative enterprises, professional suppliers, service providers, related industrial manufacturers and related institutions that interact with these enterprises, and combine the construction of national modern agricultural industrial parks, national agricultural industry strong towns, rape-type national "one village, one product" demonstration villages and towns, to gather in the Jianghan Plain and create an industrial cluster of rape.

7.8 Establishing a joint platform for scientific and technological innovation in production, universities and research institutions to build a new development pattern of rape industry

Relying on the scientific and technological innovation capabilities of the Institute of Oil Crops of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Hubei Lizhong Seed Industry Technology Co., Ltd., and Zhongken Jinxiu Huanong Wuhan Technology Co., Ltd., combined with new agricultural operation entities, rape national regional fine seed breeding bases, national oil crop germplasm resources medium-term bank (Wuhan), national protection zones of rapeseed production,etc., Hubei Province should establish a scientific and technological innovation system and joint platform that deeply integrates production, universities and research institutions. It is also necessary to strengthen the construction of rape innovation chain and knowledge chain as well as the development of seed industry, construct the pattern of "five-chain synergy" (industrial chain, value chain, supply chain, innovation chain and knowledge chain) and "nine-excellent linkages" (excellent core, excellent seed, excellent product, excellent purchase, excellent storage, excellent addition, excellent marketing, excellent culture and excellent education), and practice the idea of "three new developments"[13], accelerate the construction of a new development pattern with the domestic cycle as the main body and the domestic and international double cycles promoting each other.