Migrant worker girl becomes company boss, leading villagers onto the road to prosperity
Su Yajiang (first from left) leads villagers in planting flowering potatoes.
Lizigou Village in Tongdu Subdistrict is 30 kilometers from the Dongchuan urban area, with a minimum elevation of 2450 meters, and belongs to a high-cold mountainous area. Due to constraints such as history and natural conditions, the village's economic base is weak, and it has been listed as a "provincial-level poverty-stricken village." In 2016, the village had a total of 167 registered poor households with 641 people. Under Su Yajiang's leadership, Lizigou Village will be lifted out of poverty by the end of this year.
Su Yajiang, 46 this year, is a Yi ethnic woman from Lizigou Village. Through more than 20 years of effort, she has transformed from a migrant worker girl into a company boss. After becoming wealthy, Su Yajiang did not forget her original aspiration, returned to her hometown, and led the villagers in developing industries to seek poverty alleviation.
Going out to carve out a career
In 1989, Su Yajiang graduated from high school. To support her younger sister's schooling and reduce the family burden, she left Lizigou and came to Kunming to start a business, running a barbecue stall and selling fish. In 2002, by a chance opportunity, Su Yajiang discoveredgoose farming's commercial value, and resolutely took up goose farming and product development. The business thrived, with annual income exceeding 200,000 yuan, and she became a famous "Goose Commander" in Kunming.
After several years of tempering and accumulation, Su Yajiang masteredgoose farming, fish farming and processing experience, and also accumulated capital. In 2005, she returned to Dongchuan and invested 6 million yuan to establish Yunnan Changyu Halal Food Company, developing goose meat farming and food processing to help villagers get rich. Su Yajiang sought advice everywhere and finally successfully developed 7 series and 28 varieties of "E Ming Tang," laying a solid foundation for the future large-scale development of the goose meat industry in Dongchuan District.
In 2008, Su Yajiang established a sales center in Kunming and signed sales agreements with multiple supermarkets and restaurants. In 2009, the company also signed sales agreements with large chain supermarkets such as Trust-Mart and Walmart, and sales grew rapidly. Su Yajiang became a locally famous wealthy person.
Shared prosperity, not forgetting poor fellow villagers
With the company, how to lead more fellow villagers to prosperity became another question for Su Yajiang. Under the guidance of the district science and technology association, relying on the enterprise, she established the Dongchuan District Goose Farming Technology Association in 2006, leading 1500 local households to raise goose meat and plant flowering potatoes.
To better serve the local people of Dongchuan, they established a farming association, hired experts, compiled and printed materials, and widely publicized to farmers. To reduce farming risks, the association sold feed, veterinary drugs, goose farming tools and other materials to farmers at purchase price, and provided follow-up services, going door to door to give free vaccinations; signed buyback contracts with farmers to ensure the economic interests of farming households. Multiple measures greatly boosted the farming confidence of farmers. Goose meat farming households increased from the original 40 to the current 1500. In 2016 alone, more than 100,000 goose meat birds were raised, with total farming income exceeding 6 million yuan.
In May 2010, Su Yajiang was elected village committee director. Through in-depth understanding, she found that the unique growing environment and soil are particularly suitable for planting potatoes. The potatoes here taste sweet and sandy, with an excellent flavor. After cooking, they look like blooming white roses, so people call them "flowering potatoes." They are rich in nutrients, but could only sell for 1.5-2 yuan per kilogram on the farmers' market. To open up sales channels, in 2011, Su Yajiang organized the first "Flowering Potato Festival." Through publicity, the "Flowering Potato Festival" was widely recognized. She used the internet to open online stores and vigorously promoted "flowering potatoes" through WeChat. The fame of Lizigou flowering potatoes was further enhanced, and they could sell for 5-10 yuan per kilogram. "Flowering potatoes" became the village's treasure for prosperity, opening up a brand-new path for villagers to get rich.
Currently, the village's total output can reach 960 tons, and the annual total income of Lizigou villagers can reach 4.8 million yuan. This year, just after the potatoes were planted, most were already pre-ordered.
Rural tourism brings villagers wealth
Guniu Mountain, with an elevation of 4017 meters, is the highest peak of the Wumeng Mountains. With layered ridges and magnificent momentum, it brings together alpine meadows, rhododendron seas and other enchanting natural scenery. Su Yajiang introduced that Guniu Mountain is a major resource for Lizigou Village to escape poverty and become rich. Every year, tens of thousands of people go up the mountain for sightseeing, but there is nowhere to eat or stay, which does not drive local people's poverty alleviation. After repeated thinking, she decided to introduce capital to develop Guniu Mountain and develop rural tourism. In 2013, she began planning to apply to higher authorities for "poverty tourism poverty alleviation pilot village." With the support of relevant higher-level units, after more than two years of effort, Lizigou Village was selected as a national-level tourism poverty alleviation pilot village.
With project support, Su Yajiang led villagers to strengthen the infrastructure construction of the pilot village, integrating nearly 2 million yuan of various funds, selecting 11 registered poor households, and choosing a new site for centralized housing construction to create the tourism village "Guniu Guiyuan." Cherry blossoms, plum trees, etc. were planted, and reception training was carried out to improve service levels.
In August 2016, the 11 houses of Lizigou characteristic tourism village "Guniu Guiyuan" were completed, with upturned eaves and small blue tile roofs, white walls decorated with Yi ethnic totems, surrounded by bark fences, with purple alfalfa flowers blooming throughout. It integrates farmhouse specialty dining and leisure vacation. At the same time, public toilets and garbage collection points were built, mountain spring water was channeled in, and the village road was expanded.
"Tourism is a means, poverty alleviation is the foundation." Su Yajiang said that next, the district industry and commerce bureau will also support Lizigou Village in developing the tourism industry, interplanting sunflowers among the potatoes, and having them form Yi script patterns to attract tourists and photography enthusiasts. After rural tourism further develops, they will also build a nursing home and a kindergarten.