The Bletilla striata king of Luotian shares his experience of growing Bletilla striata and getting rich
"Growing one mu of Chinese medicinal herbs yields an average annual net income of 230,000 yuan" - how is this not like a myth? But for Chen Shiwei, a large-scale Bletilla striata grower in Chenjiahe Village, Daqi Town, Luotian County, it has become a living fact!
At the end of May, this writer rushed to Chenjiahe Village to investigate, driven by curiosity. Beside old Chen Shiwei's Bletilla striata field, looking around, the Bletilla striata stems were full and lush, draped in purple and hung with red, each striving in beauty; among the myriad flowers, old Chen wove back and forth, now lingering to stroke the stems and admire the flowers, now wholly focused on pulling weeds and applying fertilizer.
When it came to the harvests of recent years, old Chen was even more delighted: "I began planting Bletilla striata one after another starting in 2012. Every year I had to go into the deep mountains to dig up Bletilla striata seedlings, and after digging them up I chose good fields to plant and propagate them. By the end of 2014, Bletilla striata had grown to 3 mu. At the end of 2015, selling fresh tubers from 1.5 fen of land brought in 85,000 yuan. At the end of last year, selling fresh tubers from 4 fen of land brought in 270,000 yuan. Such high returns are truly something I never even dreamed of..."
The secret of old Chen Shiwei's development of Bletilla striata is: careful cultivation and meticulous management, growing seedlings to supply households, rolling development, and driving one area forward. From digging seedlings, planting seedlings, propagating seedlings, selling seedlings to managing seedlings, he treats the entire process seriously, operates strictly, and strives for ever greater refinement.
"One flower blooming alone is not spring; a hundred flowers blooming together fill the garden with spring." In recent years, under his mentoring and guidance, there have been more and more Bletilla striata growers in Daqi Town, Luotian County, and the area has grown larger and larger. At present, Daqi Town has developed 186 mu of Bletilla striata, with 23 large households of more than 2 mu, and Bletilla striata planting is expected to achieve an annual income of more than 9 million yuan. Through developing Bletilla striata production, the development of Daqi Town's Chinese medicinal herb industry has been powerfully promoted, the pace of targeted poverty alleviation has been accelerated, and a "four increases" win-win effect has been achieved: industry expansion, agricultural efficiency, farmers' income growth, and agricultural strengthening.