Niu Huaidong Leads Villagers onto the Path of Poverty Alleviation and Prosperity

Niu Huaidong, head of the Xiaoniu Fruit Farmers' Professional Cooperative in Xinhe County, is called an "encyclopedia" of fruit tree cultivation by fruit growers. Whatever problems the fruit trees have, the villagers like to consult him.

At the end of May, it is exactly the season for purchasing apricots. Villagers from the surrounding townships and villages all sell their apricots to the Xiaoniu Fruit Farmers' Professional Cooperative located in Yangdake Village, Yiqi'aerike Township, Xinhe County. Here, the price of apricots is 1 yuan per kilogram higher than the market price.

Villager Aiyidong Nu'erdong from the same village has 9 mu of jujube orchard. Since he began growing red jujubes in 2006, Niu Huaidong has come to his orchard every year to provide guidance, helping him onto the path of prosperity.

Niu Huaidong, now 59 years old, is a forestry and fruit tree technology expert from Yongji City, Shanxi Province. In 2002, when Aksu Tianshan Jujube Industry was established, the enterprise contacted the Yongji City Forestry Bureau of Shanxi Province, requesting that a red jujube planting and management expert be sent to Aksu for technical guidance. Niu Huaidong thus formed a bond with Aksu and invested and started a business here, contracting 200 mu of walnut orchard in Yangdake Village, Yiqi'aerike Township, Xinhe County. In April 2009, he established the Xiaoniu Fruit Farmers' Professional Cooperative in Xinhe County.

In 2016, Niu Huaidong invested more than 5 million yuan to expand the red jujube processing plant: a 1,500-square-meter processing workshop, a 10,000-square-meter drying yard, and an 80-ton fresh-keeping warehouse. He purchased equipment including a red jujube roller sorting machine, a walnut peeling machine, a bubble washing machine, a brush washing machine, a blow dryer, a hot air drying machine, and a packaging machine. The cooperative's members have also grown from more than 50 households initially to more than 300 households at present, with an average household income increase of 2,000 to 3,000 yuan, and it has more than 50 regular employees. During the slack farming season, the cooperative can also provide more than 30 job positions, absorbing surrounding farmers for short-term work.

Niu Huaidong introduced that he has opened 26 sales outlets across the country and applied for the "Tuoksu" trademark, forming a one-stop service system of unified management, unified purchasing, and unified sales. "Tuoksu" brand red jujubes are sold far away to inland cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu, and Yuncheng. The two red jujube sales stores opened in Xi'an alone can achieve an average annual net income of 600,000 yuan.