A small asparagus plant set him on the road to prosperity

Li Qizhong does the preliminary processing of freshly harvested asparagus.

Li Qizhong is the chairman of the Zhongwang Asparagus Planting Professional Cooperative in Enyang District, Bazhong. In 2010, he tried growing green asparagus and was among the first local specialized growers, but failed because of technical and management problems. In 2014 he started over from scratch, transferred more than 150 mu of land, and led his fellow villagers onto the road to prosperity. In 2016, Enyang District held the first Enyang Asparagus Festival, and Li Qizhong's asparagus won the title of "Asparagus King" for its excellent appearance.

On the morning of May 23, the reporter went to Shangbamiao Town in Enyang District, where the billboard reading "Hometown of Asparagus" was very eye-catching. After the heavy rain the night before, in the fields, the knee-high asparagus plants swayed in the wind with unusual vigor. On the ground, the thumb-thick spears had already grown to more than 20 cm, and it was the best time for harvesting; Li Qizhong and more than ten villagers were busy swinging their sickles to cut them.

Asparagus paves a road to prosperity

Enyang District has a tradition of growing asparagus. When Li Qizhong was a child, he fell in love with the crisp, tender texture and distinctive fresh fragrance of asparagus. In 2010, Li Qizhong tried growing asparagus, but it ended in failure, and after three busy years he had almost no harvest at all. Only later did he figure out that asparagus comes in white and green types, and that the two differ in technology and management.

After this failure, Li Qizhong went to Hunan to study, and experts from Hunan also came to Enyang to teach. In 2014, Li Qizhong decided to start over. He planted asparagus all around the front and back of his own house, and later successively transferred more than 150 mu of land, leading 9 villagers to establish the Zhongwang Asparagus Planting Professional Cooperative.

While Li Qizhong was busy in the fields, several tricycles had already parked one after another by the roadside; their owners were all buyers from the city.

The freshly cut asparagus was still oozing juice from the cut ends, and several traders came over to snatch it up. "Don't rush, don't rush, come back tomorrow." Li Qizhong kept trying to calm them down. At 11 a.m., Li Qizhong received another call from a customer in Shanghai, who asked for 200 jin right away, but the goods were already sold out. He apologized repeatedly on the phone and said he would definitely find a way the next day.

Asparagus, as a green food rich in various amino acids, protein and vitamins, has a crisp, tender texture and can be eaten raw or stewed and stir-fried, and in recent years it has become increasingly sought after. Li Qizhong often faces the awkward situation of customers fighting over it. "There's no way around it; sometimes I even end up offending people."

The asparagus industry develops greatly

"One mu of land can yield about 1,600 jin, and conservatively estimated income is 8,000 yuan, far exceeding the economic benefits of traditional crops." Li Qizhong did the calculation. His success produced a demonstration effect in the village, the enthusiasm of local people was stirred up, everyone joined the cooperative one after another, and all those fields left uncultivated for many years were planted with asparagus.

From Dengwen Village to Shangbamiao Town, and then to the whole of Enyang, the scale of asparagus planting has been constantly expanding. A small asparagus spear has grown into a leading agricultural industry in Enyang District. In 2017, Enyang District planned to plant 50,000 mu of new asparagus, ultimately forming a planting scale of 100,000 mu. Some businesses with a keen sense of smell saw the huge business opportunities in this and rushed to Enyang to engage in deep processing of asparagus.