Sichuan pepper helps Guangming Village in Ludian, Zhaotong shake off poverty and become prosperous
Villagers picking Sichuan pepper
A range of green Sichuan pepper products
Green Sichuan pepper from Guangming Village
In Ludian, Zhaotong, there is a village called Guangming, located in a semi-mountainous area with poor soil and drought in nine out of ten years. To help the villagers shake off poverty and become prosperous, village Party secretary Tan Dejun truly wore himself out with worry. "For a while I could not sleep night after night, racking my brains for a solution, and finally I found a way. The crop best suited to poor soil is Sichuan pepper, and it also requires low investment and brings quick returns."
The reporter learned that Tan Dejun put his words into action at once and began going door to door to rally the villagers, but unexpectedly he was met with closed doors.
"Does it really work? Can just a few Sichuan pepper trees make money?"
The villagers looked at him with doubtful eyes. They felt that Sichuan pepper could not be eaten as a meal, and none of them were willing to plant it.
So Tan Dejun had the members of the Guangming Village Party branch organization lead the villagers to Sichuan, Chongqing and other places to inspect and learn, and worked on each household one by one. "The main thing was that I took the lead in planting first, and once there was a demonstration effect of making money. By 2016, the Sichuan pepper planting area in Guangming Village had reached 15,000 mu, and the villagers' income from planting Sichuan pepper alone reached more than 6,300 yuan per person," Tan Dejun said.
According to reports, in 2014, Ludian green Sichuan pepper, represented by the Sichuan pepper of Guangming Village, was also granted a "Geographical Indication Certification Trademark" by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
In August 2015, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Ludian. Tan Dejun led the villagers in emergency rescue and recovery and reconstruction, and infrastructure such as housing, transportation, water conservancy and education was greatly improved. "In industrial reconstruction, the village invested 2 million yuan to complete the quality and efficiency improvement of 10,000 mu of Sichuan pepper. We set up the Ludian County college student village official agricultural products e-commerce direct sales store, and through various agricultural product promotion fairs and expos we stepped up publicity and promotion, expanding the influence of 'Ludian green Sichuan pepper'," Tan Dejun said.
At the same time, he also led the villagers to develop "raising free-range chickens under the Sichuan pepper trees". At present, 51 households in Guangming Village raise more than 1,000 pepper-forest chickens, and the whole village produces more than 80,000 chickens for market each year. By raising pepper-forest chickens alone, pepper farmers can increase their income by more than 5,000 yuan per mu.
A person in charge of the Ludian County Poverty Alleviation Office said that when General Secretary Xi inspected the Ludian earthquake disaster area in 2015, he also praised it, saying, "A tiny Sichuan pepper tree, a big industry for becoming prosperous."