The stubborn daughter-in-law Chen Min grows Chinese medicinal herbs, sets up a processing factory, and leads the villagers to prosperity
"Husbands go out to work, women stay at home." This is a true portrayal of most remote mountain areas. Located in Guihua Village, Dade Town, at an altitude of more than 1200 m, the area is remote, and most young people go out to work, leaving behind the elderly and children. In the village there is a "stubborn daughter-in-law" Chen Min, who married in from Guizhou. She actively learned planting techniques, took part in professional farmer training, grew Chinese medicinal herbs, set up a processing factory, and drove the village's left-behind women to start businesses and find employment, becoming a prosperity-making capable person famous throughout the surrounding villages.
Changing her way of thinking and becoming a "professional farmer"
Dade Town has a tradition of growing Yanhusuo (Corydalis yanhusuo). In 2013, Chen Min took advantage of spare time while caring for her child to plant Yanhusuo on her own land to increase income.
"Yanhusuo is a perennial herbaceous medicinal plant. It tastes pungent and bitter, has the effects of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, and moving qi and relieving pain, and is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine." Chen Min loves to learn very much, and often studies Yanhusuo planting knowledge online, improves planting methods, and increases Yanhusuo yield.
It is currently the Yanhusuo harvest season, and Chen Min's Yanhusuo planting base has had a bumper harvest. "The traditional method plants by hill, which causes uneven nutrient distribution and uneven sizes of Yanhusuo; I now plant by row, so nutrients are evenly distributed, and both the quality and yield of Yanhusuo have improved." Looking at the evenly sized, plump Yanhusuo, Chen Min's face showed a happy smile.
Chen Min grows Yanhusuo better than most old farmers, mainly thanks to her special identity: "professional farmer." "Last year I attended the district's professional farmer training, learned a lot of Chinese medicinal herb planting techniques, made contact with industry experts, broadened my horizons, and expanded my thinking." Today, Chen Min's Yanhusuo planting base has expanded from a few mu to more than 60 mu, and with good results the yield per mu is more than 1000 jin. She was also selected as a young farm owner, becoming a capable person in the village for starting a business and becoming prosperous.
Relying on local resources to open a kudzu root processing factory
Adapting measures to local conditions is the key to farmers' transformation. While planting Yanhusuo, Chen Min discovered that the village has abundant wild kudzu root. After investigating across the country, she decided to open a kudzu root processing factory, both to use natural resources and to drive villagers to increase income.
"Kudzu root is a treasure from head to toe, with 6 kinds of medicinal value including lowering blood sugar. The barrenness of my hometown needs it to change." At the kudzu root processing factory, Chen Min told the reporter that wild kudzu root is everywhere on the mountain, usually growing for three or four years, and in four or five years it can grow to 100 jin. As long as villagers are willing to work, they can dig several hundred jin a day. She buys it at 0.4 yuan/jin, then processes it into semi-finished products and sells them to traditional Chinese medicine enterprises. From this alone, her annual income reaches 100,000 yuan.
Leading left-behind women to prosper together
At Chen Min's kudzu root processing factory, the reporter saw workers in small groups carrying out processing. These are all villagers from Guihua Village, and they earn 80 yuan a day.
"We are old and in poor health, and we can't earn money if we go out. Working here lets us earn money and also look after the home." Villager Zhou Wenju told the reporter.
Chen Min's kudzu root processing factory mainly hires left-behind women. These families' incomes have doubled compared with before, and their family happiness index keeps rising. At present, Chen Min and her husband plan to expand the processing scale, strive to make the enterprise bigger and stronger, and drive more villagers to increase income. "I deeply love this land, and I feel very proud to be able to contribute a little of my own strength," Chen Min said.