Du Liushuang, a capable farmer who holds her own among men
On a muggy summer morning around six o'clock, Du Liushuang of the Longqi Planting Cooperative in Gucheng County, Hebei Province, gazed at the 1200 mu of fine farmland before her and could not help recalling the days years ago when she worked from dawn to dusk in her family's contracted field. Back then, every household was allotted a few mu of land per person, and the whole family poured most of its energy into the fields - digging wells, buying water-lifting equipment, and also purchasing tractors, three-wheeled vehicles and other farm machinery. The investment in these fixed assets alone came to more than 20,000 yuan.
In 2013, under the country's favorable policy on land transfer, Du Liushuang made inquiries through many channels and after several rounds of investigation transferred more than 300 mu of land in one move. With more land, the previous farming and irrigation methods also had to change accordingly. During that period, Du Liushuang was either out in the fields conducting on-site inspections or sitting alone at home deep in thought. In 2014, Du Liushuang took part in a new-type professional farmer training organized by the Gucheng County Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau. At that training, she listened carefully to the experts' lectures and worked hard to learn new knowledge; she visited agricultural demonstration zones elsewhere to keep broadening her horizons. The doubts she had accumulated over the past year began to dissolve, and her confidence and determination to start her own business grew even firmer. After returning, she pressed on without letup and transferred more than 1200 mu of land in Dongqiao Village, Xibantun Township, formally establishing the Longqi Planting Cooperative.
Once the cooperative was established, an investment of more than a million yuan used up Du Liushuang's savings from many years and even left her with a considerable amount of debt. But by then Du Liushuang was like a sailor who grows braver with every battle, and no storm or giant wave could stop her advance. In 2014, the wheat and corn yields of the Longqi Planting Cooperative reached 500 kg and 700 kg per mu respectively, and total grain output reached more than 1400 tons, and Du Liushuang was also named that year's major grain grower.
The first wave had been overcome! After attending the "National Training Class for Leaders of Major Grain Growers" held by the Ministry of Agriculture, Du Liushuang, carrying the experience she had learned from major growers in other provinces and municipalities, ran to many functional departments including agriculture and animal husbandry, water resources, and agriculture and industry, seeking policy support and assistance urgently needed for modern agriculture for the cooperative. In 2015, with the help of the Gucheng County Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau, the Longqi Planting Cooperative fully implemented a water-and-fertilizer-integrated micro-sprinkler irrigation project, and purchased two large farm machines and 3 medium-sized farm machines. Soon afterward, the cooperative built two new drying yards of more than ten thousand square meters each, solving the problem of grain storage.
From then on, the Longqi Planting Cooperative embarked on the broad road of sound development. All the cooperative's workers are locally renowned skilled farmers hired for the job, and they have a naturally deep affection for crops. After the land transfer, they suddenly lost the object of their emotional attachment, and it was then that Du Liushuang extended an olive branch to them. After going to work at the cooperative, these skilled farmers could continue their "love affair" with the land while also earning a decent income.
If you take a walk around the cooperative and ask the villagers about their impression of Du Liushuang, the comments you get will surely be: "She doesn't forget the common people when she gets rich," "She's full of drive, reliable, and has never owed anyone a single cent," and so on. The simple villagers all used the most sincere words in their hearts to praise this "capable farmer" and "heroine."