Henan post-80s young man builds orchard to lead local farmers to prosperity
Yang Yang inspecting the growth of watermelons
Seed selection, seedling raising, cultivation... These seemingly highly professional agricultural techniques are second nature to Yang Yang, a young man born in the 1980s. From founding Luoyang Yangfeng Fruit Industry Co., Ltd. in 2009 to today, Yang Yang has gone from a layman in fruit and melon cultivation to an expert in agricultural technology. Years of dedicated development have not only allowed Yang Yang's ecological garden to keep growing and earn substantial profits, but also enabled his fellow villagers to embark on a new life of escaping poverty and achieving prosperity under his leadership.
"From January to May there are strawberries, from May to June cherries can be picked, from June to July there are peaches, and watermelon picking can last from mid-April to August. Even in December when it snows, we still have the 'Ice Beauty' grape variety available for picking." Speaking of the orchard, Yang Yang wore a proud smile. "Starting the business was not smooth, but now the development is roughly what I had envisioned."
In 2009, with the restructuring of the phosphate fertilizer plant, Yang Yang lost the job he had held for many years. Facing a livelihood problem, Yang Yang steeled himself and took out all his savings, contracting 98 mu of land with 6 co-workers to jointly establish Luoyang Yangfeng Fruit Industry Co., Ltd.
As the orchard's business improved year by year, Yang Yang began to consider how to drive his fellow villagers to prosper together. Yang Yang said that he himself had been a laid-off worker and could understand the hardships of life. If he could help his fellow villagers prosper together, it would also benefit the development of specialty agriculture. Since its establishment, the orchard has recruited more than 90 laid-off workers and landless farmers from the surrounding area, and during busy farming seasons the number of seasonal workers has reached more than 200.
As the orchard grew steadily, in 2013 Yang Yang and friends jointly established the Mengjin Shuofeng Professional Cooperative, realizing a four-in-one development model of "company + base + cooperative + farming households," further safeguarding the rights and interests of farming households. Zhang Xiaohong is one of the beneficiary farming households. Zhang Xiaohong is over 40 years old, her husband has been bedridden with illness for years, and she has two children still in school, making life difficult. When Yang Yang learned of Zhang Xiaohong's family situation, he immediately provided funds to build two greenhouses for her family and taught Zhang Xiaohong planting techniques. With her diligent hands, Zhang Xiaohong's greenhouses now generate an annual net profit of 40,000 yuan.
In 2015, Yang Yang also established a field school within the orchard, providing free agricultural technical knowledge to villagers from 8 surrounding administrative villages and holding regular lectures. Now, seeing students who come every day to learn and exchange ideas, Yang Yang's heart is full of hope.