Wang Longmin: 33 Years Leading Kiwifruit Growers to Prosperity
As far as the eye can see, the green vines of the kiwifruit orchard stretch out, with clusters of flower buds ready to bloom. The growers are busy in the orchard, pinching buds and fertilizing, a scene of bustling activity.
The artificially planted kiwifruit area in Dinghe Town, Xixia County has reached more than 25,000 mu, and this year's output is expected to exceed 10,000 tons, with an output value of over 100 million yuan. It is worth mentioning that the ten-thousand-mu kiwifruit ecological demonstration zone has also been named a "Provincial Agricultural Science and Technology Demonstration Park" by the Provincial Department of Science and Technology, the only one of its kind in the entire city.
The rise of the kiwifruit industry in Dinghe Town is inseparable from the 33 years of effort by one person. His name is Wang Longmin.
Leading the way in trial planting of kiwifruit
"Flowering will probably begin around the end of April, so we need to prepare for flower and fruit thinning and artificial pollination as early as possible." On April 12, in a kiwifruit orchard in Jiancun, Wang Longmin inspected the growth of the fruit trees while reminding several villagers.
Wang Longmin is a native of Wafang Village, Dinghe Town. In 1984, he was elected by the villagers as secretary of the Wafang Village Party branch. While building roads, installing electricity and constructing schools, he considered how to choose a path to prosperity for the villagers. In autumn, he went wandering in the mountains and happened upon a patch of wild kiwifruit trees. "At the time, those trees were full of green leaves, with densely packed fruit hanging below. I fell in love with them at once," Wang Longmin said.
So he began consulting relevant books and materials, and humbly learned from kiwifruit expert Zhu Hongyun about the growth habits, management methods, technical procedures and practical key points of kiwifruit. The following year, he led the villagers in planting 400 mu of kiwifruit in the mountains all at once. Three years later, these kiwifruit bore clusters of fruit, and they sold them for more than 100,000 yuan in one go. At the time, that was truly an astronomical figure!
From then on, Wafang Village was the first in Xixia County to plant kiwifruit. In 1991, Wang Longmin heard an odd story from an old farmer: wild kiwifruit that had been thrown on a sand pile at home the previous year showed signs of splitting open and sprouting by spring. This "odd story" gave Wang Longmin an idea: perhaps wild kiwifruit could be grown from seed.
In 1991, Wang Longmin became a full township cadre. That year, he successfully raised kiwifruit seedlings there from wild kiwifruit for the first time. "At the time, this one mu of seedlings sold for 7,000 yuan."
The "backbone" of the kiwifruit orchards
After the success of artificial kiwifruit seedling cultivation, it coincided with the Xixia County Party Committee and County Government building a kiwifruit corridor along National Highway 312. Wang Longmin, then deputy mayor of Dinghe Town, recognized the advantages of developing kiwifruit and was determined to guide the villagers to plant in contiguous plots. However, the villagers were not enthusiastic.
Wang Longmin made Jiancun the first target for a breakthrough. "Our village will start with you. I guarantee it," villager Li Guangjie still clearly remembers Wang Longmin persuading him to grow kiwifruit.
"At the time, the wheat had already been planted in the fields, and Old Wang came saying he wanted to plant kiwifruit." Li Guangjie recalled that Wang Longmin did the math for him: growing wheat would only fill your belly, and after a whole year of hard work you would only make a few thousand yuan; if you planted two or three mu of kiwifruit, in three to five years you would have an annual income of fifty or sixty thousand yuan, more than ten times the income from growing crops.
Li Guangjie planted all two mu of his family's land with kiwifruit, and as soon as the fruit appeared he sold it for 12,000 yuan, which set the villagers of Jiancun abuzz. In the end, all 400 mu of riverside land in the village was planted with kiwifruit. After several years of development, Jiancun's kiwifruit planting area has reached 2,200 mu, and this year 70% has entered the full-bearing period. Relying on kiwifruit, last year Jiancun successfully shed the label of a poverty-stricken village, and the villagers all praise Wang Longmin's contribution. With the pilot project in Jiancun in place, in the spring of 2012, Legend Holdings' Huaxia Liancheng Fruit Industry Co., Ltd. wanted to develop kiwifruit in contiguous plots in Dinghe, and they approached Wang Longmin. After more than four months of painstaking work, they finally transferred 1,200 mu of land in Xiedi Village at one time for Huaxia Liancheng Fruit Industry Co., Ltd. to plant kiwifruit, laying the foundation for the Dinghe kiwifruit industry to move toward corporate operation and large-scale land transfer, and opening a precedent for land transfer in Xixia.
At present, Dinghe Town has built two ten-thousand-mu kiwifruit demonstration zones. Of the town's 29 administrative villages, 24 are specialized kiwifruit-growing villages. More than 60% of the town's farming households grow kiwifruit, and more than 80% of per capita net income comes from the kiwifruit industry.
Satisfaction of the people is the standard
"If the people are satisfied and trust you, everything is easy to do!" Wang Longmin said.
In villages such as Jiancun, Fengshan, Beiyu and Wafang, whether they are farmers at the planting bases, members of kiwifruit cooperatives, or outside merchants, when they mention Wang Longmin, their gratitude is beyond words: "He is the 'backbone' of the Dinghe kiwifruit orchards..."
Wang Longmin first approached the county kiwifruit office, and through their matchmaking, Dinghe Town introduced these high-quality varieties, developing more than 1,000 mu in contiguous large-scale planting in four villages: Fengshan, Chayu, Muzhai and Jiancun. The company signed sales agreements with farmers and implemented order-based operations, and the purchase prices of these kiwifruit were far higher than market prices.
As his reputation grew, large kiwifruit growers from other places offered big money to hire Wang Longmin for technical guidance, but he declined them one by one. He said: "A person must accomplish one thing, and my thing is to do a good job with the kiwifruit of Dinghe Town." Wang Longmin has served as village Party branch secretary, township civil affairs director, deputy mayor, and deputy section-level cadre. He has held a deputy section-level post for nearly 20 years and is now about to retire, but he has no regrets and is still rushing about in the fields, always busy for Dinghe's 30,000 fruit growers.
Last year, under Wang Longmin's leadership, Dinghe Town completed the improvement of more than 2,000 mu of wild kiwifruit in the northern mountainous area. Wang Longmin said, "Wild kiwifruit will be a new growth point for the kiwifruit industry."