Couple in Fengdu, Chongqing Earns 300,000 Yuan in Gross Income from Growing Vegetables
"Our village sits at an altitude of 700 to 800 meters, so the temperature is lower than along the river below 400 meters, which is why we are still transplanting vegetable seedlings now." On April 23, Peng Xiujuan, a farmer's wife from Group 1 of Nanmu Village, Shuanglu Town, Fengdu County, told this writer.
Peng Xiujuan and her husband are over 40 years old. In recent years, in order to look after their child's schooling, the couple gave up working away from home and chose to stay home, mainly growing vegetables. Last year, their summer vegetables were affected by consecutive clear and hot weather in the late harvest period, which reduced yields and caused some losses. Therefore, Peng Xiujuan hopes for favorable weather this summer and aims to achieve a gross income of 300,000 yuan.
Consecutive Clear and Hot Weather Caused Vegetable Yield Reduction
"Our family only has four or five mu of contracted land. In recent years, many villagers have gone out to work, so we took over their contracted land, totaling more than 60 mu, all used for growing vegetables," Peng Xiujuan said.
Peng Xiujuan told this writer that last spring, after discussion, she and her husband successively planted summer seasonal vegetables such as green beans, cucumbers, eggplants, peppers, and cowpeas, and also planted more than 10 mu of lotus roots. The couple worked from dawn to dusk, braving sun and rain, exchanging their hard-working sweat for the thriving growth of all kinds of vegetables.
"In the blink of an eye, it was maturity time, and my husband and I became even busier. Almost every day at dawn, we had to pick the ripe vegetables and then transport them to the market to sell. Sometimes vegetable vendors also came to the field to buy them," Peng Xiujuan said.
The vegetables were growing well. Based on past experience, the couple estimated that green beans at 800 kg per mu, cucumbers at 1,300 kg per mu, eggplants at 1,500 kg, peppers at 1,000 kg per mu, and cowpeas at 1,000 kg per mu would be no problem. According to the market prices at that time, after this season's vegetables were all harvested and sold, the gross income was expected to reach 300,000 yuan. But man proposes and heaven disposes. Just in the late harvest period of vegetables such as eggplants, peppers, and cowpeas, they encountered a 20-day stretch of consecutive clear and hot weather. As a result, the vegetables were dried out and killed prematurely, yields were greatly reduced, and income fell accordingly. The overall loss reached at least around 80,000 yuan.
In order to reduce the loss to a minimum, after the beginning of autumn, the couple planted quite a few autumn and winter vegetables.
Planning This Year's Vegetable Production Early
"Summer vegetable production is the top priority of the whole year. Just after this year's Spring Festival, my husband and I were busy with spring plowing and preparation, buying seeds, purchasing plastic film, and preparing fertilizer, mainly farmyard organic fertilizer," Peng Xiujuan said.
The couple discussed and decided that, based on last year, they would appropriately expand the planting area of eggplants among this year's summer vegetables, while continuing to plant other vegetables such as green beans, cucumbers, peppers, and cowpeas, only with relatively reduced areas. Last year, due to drought, the more than 10 mu of lotus roots they planted also had reduced yields. Therefore, taking advantage of the current relatively abundant rainfall, they also need to do a good job of storing and conserving water, striving to ensure sufficient water source for this year's more than 10 mu of lotus roots, so as to obtain a better harvest.
"Unlike last year, we have also set up greenhouses this year, mainly for growing vegetables such as eggplants. At present, the greenhouse eggplants are growing very well, and most plants have already bloomed and borne fruit. They are expected to be harvested and marketed successively in mid-May," Peng Xiujuan said, but other vegetables grown in the open field are much later, mainly because of the higher altitude.
This writer saw that the open-field eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, and others planted by the couple had only recently survived, while at the vegetable bases in Wenxi Village, Gaojia Town, and Gujiadian Village, Mingshan Subdistrict, these same open-field vegetables had already bloomed and borne fruit. Not only that, Peng Xiujuan told the reporter that some of the vegetable seedlings they had raised were still being transplanted.
"Look, what's left in this seedbed are eggplant seedlings and pepper seedlings, and over there are watermelon seedlings being raised. These seedlings are expected to all be transplanted in two weeks," Peng Xiujuan said.
Hoping This Year's Income Will Be Better Than Last Year's
"You two are going to grow more than 60 mu of vegetables. Are there times when you can't keep up with the work?" this writer asked.
"It's mainly very busy during the harvest period, because after the vegetables are harvested, they still have to be transported to the market to sell. My husband and I have to go to the fields at dawn every day. It's quite hard, but as long as that day's vegetables can sell for a good price, no matter how hard it is, we don't feel it's anything much," Peng Xiujuan said. Actually, the vegetables they grow mature one after another, so harvesting is also carried out one after another, which leaves room for flexibility. As long as there is careful planning and arrangement, it won't be too tiring.
Peng Xiujuan introduced that, according to last year's market conditions, growing one mu of vegetables normally brings a gross income of more than 5,000 yuan. More than 60 mu would originally have brought more than 300,000 yuan, but because consecutive clear and hot weather dried out and killed some plants, losses occurred in the late harvest period. To prevent a recurrence of high-temperature summer drought this year, she and her husband adjusted some plots that are not drought-tolerant, that is, planting drought-tolerant vegetables in plots that are not drought-tolerant, and planting non-drought-tolerant vegetables in drought-tolerant plots.
"At the same time, we are also trying early planting and delayed planting to avoid losses caused by high-temperature summer drought as much as possible," Peng Xiujuan said. They decided to plant four or five mu of watermelons this year, also as preparation in case the vegetable market performs poorly, so that through price complementarity between the two, they can maximize income growth.
It is reported that the couple has also learned to use WeChat and has added some vegetable vendors to a group chat, so they can learn about market conditions and other information at any time. When the vegetables are ripe and harvested, they can also use Moments to sell vegetables farther away and at better prices.