A college graduate returns home to start a business growing roses, blossoming into a "flower of prosperity"
Clusters upon clusters, patches upon patches, red across the slopes. Under the blazing June sun, walking into Group 6 of Shenglong Village, Sansu Town, Dongpo District, Meishan City, the blooming roses are delicately beautiful, refreshing to the heart, and a feast for the eyes.
At the flower field, when first meeting the owner Yu Mingjie, he was wearing a pair of silver-rimmed glasses and a white shirt, and having just gotten a haircut, he looked even more energetic, directing workers in the field to pick roses. It is hard to imagine that this post-80s young man with a scholarly air in front of you is actually a "farmer" who returned to his hometown to start a business after graduating from university. However, he is indeed an "upgraded version of a farmer."
In the rural area of Sansu Town, where Yu Mingjie's hometown is located, his entrepreneurial story of transferring more than 160 mu of land to grow roses has spread continuously, and local people have been giving him a thumbs-up in praise: "This young man dares to venture and dare to act, setting up a benchmark for industrial development through his actions."
Returning to the countryside to forge his own entrepreneurial path
Yu Mingjie was born in 1986 in an ordinary farming family in Shenglong Village, Sansu Town. He had excellent grades since childhood and was a "good boy" in the eyes of adults. Through his own unremitting efforts, he was admitted to Wuhan Bioengineering Institute in 2008 to study biotechnology and successfully graduated in 2011. He first worked in quality inspection and sales at an import-export food company in Chengdu, and later went to a seed company in Hainan to work on hybrid rice breeding.
"Every time I return home, I feel the changes that have taken place in my hometown, especially in rural areas. The state's support for agriculture has increased year by year, which has let ordinary people taste the sweetness." Yu Mingjie said that his family contracted several hundred mu of land and could receive subsidies of tens of thousands of yuan each year, and there was also agricultural insurance in case of natural disasters. Not only that, the government also regularly carries out free training, and there are subsidized loans to support scale development. From what he heard and saw, plus what local people said, Yu Mingjie began to have the idea of returning home to start a business.
"I learned that in recent years the district party committee and district government have increased their support for agriculture year by year. This strengthened my confidence in starting a business even more." Yu Mingjie said, "Innovation and entrepreneurship are the call of the times to us college students!" The great development of agriculture is the trend of the future, and unwilling to settle for the status quo, Yu Mingjie resolutely chose to return home and start a business.
The right project chosen, the industry has prospects
After transferring the land, Yu Mingjie began to struggle with a question: "What exactly should this land be used for?" Yu Mingjie began to investigate everywhere, and his footprints covered all parts of the country. Projects such as fruit, medicinal materials, and cash crops were all ultimately rejected by him one by one. Yu Mingjie said: "I personally believe that these projects have long investment return cycles and large market price fluctuations. Even if you catch the trend, they lack distinctive features and competitiveness, making it difficult to extend the industrial chain, so I ruled them all out." Yu Mingjie fell into distress.
Just as he was thinking hard, a friend's remark enlightened him: every New Year when he was little, the rose tangyuan and rose cakes made by his grandmother were fragrant and sweet, making one feel refreshed. Yu Mingjie was inspired and began to collect and pay attention to information about roses. Later, during investigations in Kunming, Lijiang, and other places, he found that people attach great importance to the safety, health, and ecological quality of food, and rose-series foods exactly fit people's lifestyle tastes and consumer psychology. "Why not choose the rose industry project?" This quickly strengthened Yu Mingjie's confidence.
Company plus farmers, blossoming into a "flower of prosperity"
After inviting flower experts from Yunnan to test the soil, examine the climate, and survey the terrain, he introduced a new patented variety, the "Mohong edible rose," based on the experts' suggestions and market demand. "This variety has the characteristics of a long flowering period, high yield, good quality, and strong fragrance." Yu Mingjie said that after a series of preparatory work, he began the intense work of leveling the land, digging trenches, mulching film, forming ridges, and digging holes. "Now, looking at the roses blooming all over the ground, I feel a great sense of achievement and expectation." Yu Mingjie said.
Last April, after the roses bloomed in large numbers, Yu Mingjie contacted some capable and qualified manufacturers for cooperation and launched a series of products such as rose tea, rose cakes, rose powder, and rose pulp. He also participated in the Sichuan International Tourism Expo and the International Bamboo Art Expo. Almost everyone who tasted the rose products became a returning customer. At the same time, his unique path of edible rose cultivation also attracted the attention of leaders of the district party committee and district government, and recently at the second Meishan Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, Yu Mingjie won two awards in one go: the silver award and the best popularity award.
The good market response after planting the roses further strengthened Yu Mingjie's "company plus farmers" development model. "I hope that through this model I can drive the development of the rose industry in my hometown, effectively solve farmers' employment, and increase the income of local people." Yu Mingjie said. "Since he transferred my family's land to plant roses, I can not only take care of my home, but also work locally to earn money." Talking about the "rose" boom that has risen in her hometown in recent years, Wang Qunying, a villager from Shenglong Village, Sansu Town, was all smiles. She did the math for this writer: the land rent is 1,000 yuan per mu, and her family has 3.6 mu of land, which comes to 3,600 yuan a year. In addition, she also works here, earning 80 yuan a day, which comes to 2,400 yuan a month.