Growing money trees to boost income, enriching an entire township
"The golden pears grown on the slope land are large, thin-skinned, crisp and sweet. Supermarkets sell them for more than 3 yuan per jin, and they sell extremely well. An extra income of several thousand yuan per mu is no problem at all." In the depths of winter, Yan Hualei, a villager from Yanzhuang Village, Xiawa Town, Sheqi County, Henan Province, was busy loading a cart of golden pears for market.
The Jiutou Ridge northeast of Dongxinggou in Yanzhuang Village was once a barren rocky hill, but today it is a mountain of flowers and fruit. These more than 2,000 mu of pomegranates, golden pears and chestnuts have become the money trees of Yanzhuang Village's villagers, and the man who has led the villagers onto the road to prosperity is Li Zhenhuan, Party branch secretary of Yanzhuang Village and a county people's congress representative.
In recent years, Li Zhenhuan has led a group of quick-witted, eager-to-learn farmers to change their thinking and adjust their approach. They established the Jiutou Ridge Family Farm, transferred land, contracted the village's barren hills and slopes, and planted economic forests of pomegranates, golden pears and chestnuts, becoming the first to rise to prosperity.
The villagers could see and learn from his experience of leading the way in growing fruit trees to get rich. People came to his door one after another to learn from him. Li Zhenhuan guided them along with the trend, giving play to the effect of "one person leading one group, one group leading the whole village," providing free training in growing techniques for the villagers and promptly supplying market information. Driven by him, in 2016 another 6 people in the village transferred 500 mu of land, established a golden pear planting professional cooperative and a thin-shelled walnut planting professional cooperative, and explored a three-dimensional ecological agriculture model, intercropping oil peonies and Chinese medicinal herbs under the trees.
At present, relying on the two scenic areas of Bawang Mountain Forest Park and Dasheng Mountain Forest Park, the village has initially built an ecological agriculture demonstration base, becoming a tourist destination focused on picking forest fruit yourself and integrating leisure, sightseeing, vacationing and health preservation, achieving both economic and social benefits.