Grain-Growing Champion He Qianwen Shares His Experience of Getting Rich
The ten-thousand-mu high-yield corn in Erjiangchuan, Huachi County, China, has long since sprouted. He Qianwen, who lives in Shanzhuang Village, Shanzhuang Township, Huachi County, China, planted another 130 mu of full-film corn this year, once again making him the "grain-growing champion" of the entire township.
On June 2, the first thing that caught the eye was two corn cribs outside the courtyard gate, each 9 m long and 5 m high. Part of last year's bumper corn harvest had already been sold, bringing in 50,000 yuan, and the remaining portion is expected to bring in at least about 100,000 yuan.
Like many farming families whose members go out to work, He Qianwen had worked as a bricklayer, driven a large truck, and had once been a "migrant worker" who looked for work everywhere. The husband went out to work while the wife stayed home to care for the elderly and children and to handle the spring planting and autumn harvest. "Working away from home is truly hard. You don't earn much in a year and you can't take care of your family either," He Qianwen said.
When spring plowing began in 2014, He Qianwen did not roll up his bedding and go out to work like other migrant workers. Instead, he planted full-film corn on all of his family's flat river land and on the mountain land that had lain fallow for several years. By the end of that year, He Qianwen's family had earned more than 70,000 yuan from selling corn. He Qianwen said, "Farming at home, you're only busy during spring plowing and autumn harvest. There's plenty of slack time in the farming season, the work is easy, and the whole family is together every day. It's far better than working in the city."
In 2015, He Qianwen decided to continue expanding the planting area, and that year his corn income reached 120,000 yuan. As soon as spring plowing began in 2016, He Qianwen rented land everywhere. He not only planted full-film corn on all of his own family's flat river land and mountain land, but also rented all the idle fields of neighboring households and relatives. That year, counting both flat river land and mountain land, He Qianwen planted a full 130 mu of full-film corn. He Qianwen and his wife, relying solely on planting full-film corn, earned 170,000 yuan, becoming the farming household with the largest grain planting area in the entire township and even the entire county, and also becoming a veritable "grain-growing champion" known far and wide. That year, He Qianwen also took part in a young farmer planting training program organized by the county at Gansu Agricultural University, studying in Lanzhou for 15 days. "The main things we studied were corn planting, fertilization, management, protection and other knowledge," He Qianwen said. "Only after listening to the experts' training did I realize that there is a lot of knowledge involved in growing corn."
With the increase in the rate of agricultural mechanization, more and more corn is grown, yet the work keeps getting easier. In He Qianwen's wing of the house, there are all kinds of small farm machines: a film-laying machine, a rotary tiller, a small corn harvester, a corn husker, a thresher and more. He Qianwen explained, "This year I started laying film on March 27 and finished around April 16. During that time I hired one helper, paying 100 yuan a day in wages. Now everything is mechanized cultivation, which frees up most of the time and also reduces the cost of hiring people." With more slack time in the farming season, He Qianwen, who is enthusiastic about public affairs, became the village director of Shanzhuang Village, riding his motorcycle everywhere every day. During the slack farming season, his wife goes to nearby cities to do odd jobs, earning several thousand yuan a year.
Today, corn has become the "ironclad crop" of farmers in most townships of Huachi County, China. In recent years, Huachi County, China, has continued to promote full-film corn "across the plains, up the mountains and into the gullies." Through plastic film investment and other methods of encouragement and support, the corn planting area has expanded year by year, and more and more poor households have steadily achieved poverty alleviation and prosperity through traditional planting.
"This year the government invested 50 rolls of plastic film. For seeds and topdressing, I invested more than 400 yuan per mu myself. The soil moisture is good this year. Calculated at the conservative yields of 2,200 jin per mu on flat river land and 1,500 jin per mu on mountain land, the net income per mu can reach 900 yuan," He Qianwen said. "It's just a pity that there is no more land to expand the planting area."