Off-season vegetables are in short supply, and contract farming helps farmers easily strike gold

In recent years, Fangxing Family Farm in Qingquan Village, Maling Town, Hengxian County, has organically combined industrial development elements such as off-season vegetables, contract farming, and green food, driving the local area to vigorously develop vegetable cultivation and achieving good economic benefits.

Walking into Fangxing Family Farm, the reporter at first thought it was no different from an ordinary family farm, but walking deeper into the farm, rows upon rows of planting greenhouses revealed the scale of cultivation here. On the farm, tomatoes are bright red, all kinds of peppers are growing vigorously, and under the eggplant trees hang long eggplants so purple they shine. "The farm covers about 115 mu, mainly growing peppers, and also eggplants and tomatoes. The vegetables we produce are mainly sold to Hunan." Farm owner Xie Zhi told the reporter that the farm has built 136 standard planting greenhouses, mainly growing off-season vegetables.

Xie Zhi seized on the market situation in which vegetables are in short supply in the north during winter and engaged in off-season vegetable cultivation. In this way, the vegetables grown not only have no worries about sales, but also fetch higher prices. Take peppers, for example: at the highest point, the selling price exceeded 24 yuan per kg, several times higher than usual sales. Combined with the increased yield from greenhouse cultivation, the per-mu yield and benefits of various vegetables at Fangxing Family Farm are very considerable. "The per-mu yield of peppers is about 4,000 kg, and tomatoes and eggplants are both nearly 10,000 jin. The profit per mu for peppers is 5,000 yuan, while eggplants and tomatoes can reach 7,000-8,000 yuan." Xie Zhi told the reporter that even before planting, an agreement had already been made with buyers: whatever varieties can be sold on the market are the varieties grown. Because there is a plan, prices are quite stable.

A keen market eye, hard work in the fields, the production model of contract planting, and organic water-fertilizer integrated pollution-free, green cultivation techniques mean that the products from Fangxing Family Farm have no worries about sales. With a stable sales channel for the farm, Xie Zhi has also become a successful "gold striker" without leaving home.