Yang Qing leads villagers to prosperity by growing field lotus roots
Yang Qing and his Xinghe Vegetable Planting Cooperative's planting base.
At the end of February this year, Yang Qing of Pengxi County was awarded the honorary title of "Sichuan Province Star of Returning Home to Start a Business".
When he was young, Yang Qing pedaled a tricycle, sold vegetables and fruit, and worked for many years in coastal areas, but the fire for entrepreneurship in his heart never went out. In 2014, he raised more than 5 million yuan in funds, established a professional agricultural planting cooperative in his hometown, began growing field lotus roots and developing rural tourism, and led more than 300 households of villagers in his hometown to develop the industry and become prosperous.
From a vegetable vendor to an entrepreneur
Yang Qing, 45 years old this year, is from Chicheng Town, Pengxi County. He once pedaled a tricycle in his hometown and worked elsewhere for several years. In 2006, he also ran a farmhouse restaurant, planted fruit trees, and dug fish ponds to raise fish. In the following years, unwilling to settle for the status quo, Yang Qing began transporting vegetables, purchasing vegetables from Chengdu, Mianyang, and Suining and bringing them to Pengxi County town, becoming a small vegetable vendor.
A few years ago, because there was a lack of professional vegetable planting bases around Pengxi County town, vegetables from other places sold very well in the county town's farmers' market. Yang Qing believed he could use this opportunity to fulfill his long-cherished wish of starting a business, but he suffered from not having enough initial accumulated capital to launch his entrepreneurial project. In the second half of 2013, Yang Qing returned home from elsewhere, and a good friend who grew and sold field lotus roots approached him, hoping Yang Qing could invest in his field lotus root plantation. At that time, the two hit it off immediately and decided to jointly establish a professional planting cooperative and begin growing field lotus roots.
In 2014, Yang Qing responded to the policy call of his hometown government to actively guide migrant workers and business people to return home and start businesses. He took out more than 1.6 million yuan of family savings, obtained nearly 2 million yuan through loans, and borrowed more than 1.4 million yuan from relatives and friends, raising a total of more than 5 million yuan in funds. On September 18, 2014, Yang Qing's Pengxi County Xinghe Vegetable Planting Professional Cooperative was officially established.
Gaining villagers' support to lease over 1,000 mu of land
When the cooperative was first established, Yang Qing contracted 500 mu of land. Relying on his friend's years of experience growing field lotus roots, the two began storing water in two barren mountain gullies in their hometown and growing high-quality varieties of field lotus roots. Soon, problems such as lack of funds, no land, and floodwater from the Fujiang River basin during the flood season backflowing into the lotus root fields in the mountain gullies plagued Yang Qing and his partner.
"Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back; once you choose to start a business, you must persist in doing it." With his persistent entrepreneurial belief, Yang Qing worked energetically every day at the cooperative's planting base. His efforts eventually won the support of the Party committee and government of Mingfeng Town, Pengxi County, as well as relevant agricultural departments of Pengxi County. The local government departments gave him the best entrepreneurial support policies, formulated targeted assistance measures, and leased hundreds of mu of land to Yang Qing's cooperative for use.
Yang Qing told a reporter from Sichuan News Network that at the beginning of the business, some neighbors did not support him and obstructed his land leasing. Yang Qing visited villagers household by household, and in addition to paying land rent, he also gave a certain amount of compensation. An elderly person in his sixties locally wanted more rent and was unwilling to lease his own land, so Yang Qing visited three times, each time giving the elderly person some cash and daily necessities. In the end, Yang Qing's sincerity moved the villagers in his hometown, and he gradually gained their understanding and support.
In April 2015, the field lotus roots planted by the cooperative were harvested for the first time. When a new variety was planted for the first time on raw land, the yield of lotus roots was not high, with only 1 million jin harvested and earnings of more than 2 million yuan. In 2016, the yield of field lotus roots reached more than 2 million jin, and earnings increased considerably. While growing field lotus roots, Yang Qing strengthened the construction of supporting facilities at the cooperative's planting base. At present, the cooperative has developed into a rural tourism and leisure destination with a transferred land area of more than 1,000 mu, integrating sightseeing tourism, fishing, leisure, and dining.
Driving more than 300 farming households in his hometown to develop
Now, through his efforts, Yang Qing has changed the original appearance of poverty in his hometown, and many young people who worked elsewhere no longer go out, staying in their hometown to develop the planting industry. "Some farmers who once worked at my cooperative, after learning professional planting and management techniques, went home and contracted land themselves, and also started growing field lotus roots," Yang Qing said. The cooperative can bring very considerable income to local villagers every year. He calculated an account for the reporter: a worker at the cooperative can earn more than 200 yuan in wages per day, and members who participate in digging field lotus roots can earn 80,000 yuan after working for a full year, much better than working elsewhere.
At present, Pengxi County Xinghe Vegetable Planting Professional Cooperative has 324 member households, with more than 70 permanent member households year-round. The cooperative has driven more than 300 local farming households to develop, and has also placed more than 200 surplus urban and rural laborers in employment, increasing local villagers' average monthly income by more than 1,500 yuan. Because the cooperative helped more than 200 local villagers achieve nearby employment, Yang Qing also provided technical support for villagers growing field lotus roots. Therefore, in November 2015, his cooperative was awarded and plaque presented with the title of "Demonstration Base for Returning Migrant Workers and Business People to Start Businesses" by the Pengxi County People's Government.
Now, in the two barren mountain gullies of Qixing Village, Mingfeng Town, where the cooperative base is located, every midsummer, lotus flowers in more than 1,000 mu of lotus fields bloom in full rivalry, plump carp swim happily under the lotus leaves, and tourists row bamboo rafts and small boats, drifting along the water, as if placed in an ink-wash painting, too beautiful to take in all at once. On July 9, 2016, the cooperative became a "Photography Creation Base" for the Suining City and Pengxi County Photographers Associations, and on the same day, July 9, the "First Pengxi County Lotus and Rural Tourism Festival" was successfully held here.
Building a rural tourism destination to help more villagers become prosperous
It is reported that because Qixing Village, Mingfeng Town, is only 3 km from Chicheng Town, Pengxi County town, it has long been known as the "back garden" of Pengxi County town. In the past, the transportation conditions here were poor, but many citizens still came here for spring outings. In recent years, as the local government vigorously built the village's infrastructure, by the end of last year the village road was widened to 5 m, allowing most vehicles to enter Qixing Village and go directly to the cooperative's planting base to admire the lotus flowers and taste the carp from the lotus root fields.
Yang Qing said that at present the market price of field lotus roots is low, and this year he plans to change the variety of field lotus roots planted, switching to a lotus root variety with a long flowering period that is convenient for viewing and easy to bear lotus seeds. In this way, "lotus flowers can be seen for several months every year." Yang Qing stated that changing the cooperative's planting strategy not only saves labor and management costs, but also lays the foundation for the cooperative to develop a rural tourism site.
"Developing rural tourism not only brings income, but also enables all villagers around the base to become prosperous together." In the first lunar month this year, Yang Qing built a homestay at the planting base and also built a parking lot, preparing to run a farmhouse restaurant. The homestay has more than 10 beds and can receive more than 100 tourists per day. In addition, Yang Qing has started the cooperative's phase II project, continuing to expand the planting scale of high-quality ornamental lotus flowers, improving the supporting facilities for rural leisure tourism, and using the base's geographical advantages to build it into a rural tourism and leisure sightseeing destination in Pengxi County.