Yunnan Tonghai's Female Powerhouse Leads Flower Farmers onto the Path of Increasing Income and Prosperity

In recent years, Yuxi City in Yunnan has leveraged the leading role of women's entrepreneurship demonstration bases, actively supporting large specialized households, leading enterprises and cooperative business organizations led by women, guiding and driving rural women to increase their incomes and achieve prosperity. Liu Lizhen, chairwoman of the Yangliren Lisianthus Professional Cooperative in Tonghai County, is one who, with the help of the city and county women's federations and through her own unremitting efforts, found success. Under her leadership, more than a hundred local women have found employment at their doorstep, and the cooperative has also been recognized by the All-China Women's Federation as a National Women's Poverty Alleviation Demonstration Base. Through her actions, Liu Lizhen has proven true to her WeChat name: "World of Flowers, Beautiful Life."

In the cooperative's packing workshop, buckets are filled with colorful fresh lisianthus flowers. Holding a bunch of cut lisianthus with tender green leaves and delicate, vivid blooms, Liu Lizhen told reporters: "This is a new lisianthus variety we trial-planted, screened and will mainly promote this year. It not only has high quality but also excellent grade, and the flower shape is very beautiful too. We currently have more than 20 such outstanding main lisianthus varieties, all from the Netherlands, Japan and the United States."

Liu Lizhen observing cut lisianthus flowers

During the interview, reporters learned that Liu Lizhen, 51 this year, grew up in the countryside with a junior high school education, and once worked in sewing and sold fruit. In 2004, the year she switched to flower cultivation, she invited her village sisters to jointly establish the Tonghai County Yangliren Lisianthus Professional Cooperative, the first lisianthus professional cooperative in Yuxi. This year is her thirteenth year of growing flowers. She said: "At the time, many people said that bending over the soil every day to grow flowers was too hard. But when we made money, the sisters were all extremely happy and joyful."

According to Liu Lizhen, from the moment the cooperative was founded, it set clear goals: to persist in science and technology guidance and industrial support, to provide practical technical training for rural women, to improve rural women's scientific lisianthus cultivation skills, to promote new lisianthus planting techniques, new varieties and new facilities, to guide women onto a path of industrialization, specialization and organization, and to lead women to prosperity through science and technology. Later, Yunnan Yangliren Flower Co., Ltd., established on the foundation of the cooperative, launched the resounding trademark and brand "Yangliren," selling more than 60% of its fresh cut lisianthus to countries and regions including Australia, Russia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong, China. Liu Lizhen said: "At present, we ship three consignments to Australia every week, each consisting of more than 10,000 bunches."

Villager Shen Shuyuan is a typical rural housewife with limited education and no way to start a business. Under Liu Lizhen's guidance, through the company + professional cooperative + base + farmer model, in the very year Shen Shuyuan joined the cooperative to grow lisianthus, she not only recovered her cultivation costs but also earned more than 20,000 yuan per mu. She said: "Liu Lizhen is conscientious and quick-witted. When we go to deliver flowers, she tells us the advanced cultivation and management techniques she has learned and has us follow them."

In the Tonghai area, members who have joined the cooperative to grow lisianthus like Shen Shuyuan have increased from 66 households at its founding to 187 households, of which women account for more than 70%. Lisianthus cultivation has also expanded from 128 mu at its founding to around 2,100 mu.

Liu Lizhen's success and the cooperative's development are thanks to the strong support and help of the city and county women's federations. Liu Lizhen told reporters: the women's federations took us flower farmers out on study tours to learn from others and bring advanced experience home. In addition, the cooperative organizes more than 500 rural women each year for standardized cultivation training, significantly raising flower farmers' planting skills and greatly increasing the yield and quality of cut lisianthus, thereby expanding sales markets and increasing flower farmers' incomes. "The women's federation allocates 5 to 10 places to the cooperative each year, with 5 to 10 wan yuan per household, to support members' production and development. Assisted members use microcredit to build greenhouses and buy seedlings of new and superior varieties, laying a solid foundation for improving efficiency and increasing income. At present, flower farmers' income has risen from about 6,000 yuan of net profit per mu initially to more than 20,000 yuan now. With the help of microcredit, many flower farmers, like Shen Shuyuan, have embarked on the road to prosperity through flower cultivation," Liu Lizhen said.

It is understood that in addition to Tonghai County, Liu Lizhen has also driven a radiating effect, leading 1,760 flower-growing households in Yuxi City, Chuxiong, Honghe, Pu'er and Kunming to cultivate more than 3,900 mu of high-quality lisianthus, forming an annual processing capacity of 40 million stems of fresh cut lisianthus. Due to her outstanding achievements, Liu Lizhen has been awarded honorary titles including "Yunnan Province March 8th Red Banner Pacesetter" and "National Rural Science Popularization Female Expert in Becoming Prosperous." The cooperative was awarded the glorious title of "National Farmer Professional Cooperative Demonstration Cooperative" by the Ministry of Agriculture, and at the end of last year, the cooperative's modern flower experimental demonstration base was recognized by the All-China Women's Federation as a "National Women's Poverty Alleviation Demonstration Base." Liu Lizhen said: "Although our lisianthus has a certain market share, we still haven't done enough. Next, we will build temperature-controlled greenhouses to grow lisianthus and sell through e-commerce, so that our fresh flowers can be sold farther and better."