Sprout farming helps rural youth in Zhaoyuan, Shandong get rich
On the second day of Chinese New Year, I walked into a greenhouse base in Guojiabu Village, south of Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province, and interviewed the owner of the sprout greenhouse on the spot, listening as he told the story of how he refused to wait or rely on others, resolved to escape poverty, rolled up his sleeves and got to work, and set out on the road to prosperity.
No soil, no fertilizer, no pesticides: sprouts are "planted" in trays
Outside, snow was falling heavily, but inside the plastic greenhouse it was full of spring. Row after row of sprouts stood like soldiers in uniform waiting for inspection, neatly arrayed, a stretch of emerald green, growing beautifully. Huh, how are these sprouts grown in big trays? Only when I got closer did I realize that saying they are "planted" in trays is not quite accurate, because there is no soil in the trays at all. "All the sprouts in this greenhouse, whether pea shoots, radish shoots or Chinese toon shoots, are placed in plastic trays, sprinkled with clean water at set times each day, and kept at a suitable temperature; they can generally be harvested in about 5-7 days," Xu Xiaolei told the reporter. "No chemical fertilizer or pesticide is used at all in this process; they grow entirely on the strength of the seeds themselves."
Sprouts are green vegetables that can be eaten directly, cultivated from the seeds of various grains, beans and trees through a series of specific processes such as sowing and watering. Because they grow vigorously and will keep growing even if cut off at the root, they are also called living vegetables.
Sprout vegetables are alkaline foods. After eating them, they can neutralize excess acid in the body and achieve acid-base balance, making them a healthy food. Xu Xiaolei told the reporter that taking bean sprouts as an example, the West calls bean sprouts one of the four great inventions of Chinese food. Bean sprouts have high nutritional value and a short growth cycle, yet contain very few calories: every 100g of bean sprouts contains only 16 calories, while water content and cellulose are very high, so long-term consumption can help with weight loss. On the market, sprout vegetables such as soybean sprouts and mung bean sprouts are relatively common, and later black bean sprouts, pea sprouts, broad bean sprouts and others were gradually developed.
Self-started business without waiting or relying on others, hoping poverty alleviation policies can benefit all
At present, Xu Xiaolei's business has only just started, and his growing techniques are still at the exploratory stage. He has only one greenhouse, and even calculated by three-dimensional growing methods, that is only about one mu of growing area. After deducting expenses, annual net income can already reach more than 40,000, basically achieving escape from poverty.
Xu Xiaolei told the reporter that growing sprouts is very hard work: getting up at 2 or 3 in the morning to cut the sprouts, rushing to the farmers' market by 5, returning to the greenhouse at 6 to raise the covers, watering 3-4 times a day, lowering the covers at 5 or 6 in the evening, handling both production and sales alone, 365 days a year, day after day. Talking about his entrepreneurial experience over these past few years, this man, 1.8 m tall, who rises early and works late every day, actually choked up a little. Three years ago, Xu Xiaolei, who was then working at an enterprise, quit his job and chose to start a business. Xu Xiaolei first took over a friend's sprout stall, spent all day in the greenhouse studying cultivation methods, and also had to run to the market every day to solve sales problems. Sprout cultivation costs are relatively high, and selling prices are also relatively high, so at first sales were not good. Through hard work, Xu Xiaolei has now not only opened up sales channels, but also established the Zhongyue Fruit and Vegetable Planting Agricultural Professional Cooperative in the village, hoping to lead everyone in raising the scale of production together and embarking on the road to prosperity.
These days, the Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture is organizing the "Provincial Rural Entrepreneurship and Innovation Project Creativity Competition," and Xu Xiaolei has shown strong interest in it. Over these past few years, Xu Xiaolei has been hustling and struggling, but only on a small scale; he has more than enough for food and clothing, yet large-scale production and sales are quite difficult. In Zhaoyuan, only one family grows sprouts, and the advantage is that there is no competition, but this distinctive agricultural production project, because of high production costs and low yields, with one seed producing only one sprout, is hard to scale up through solitary effort, and also lacks corresponding technical support, training guidance and financial assistance.
Speaking of his plans for next year, Xu Xiaolei said he hopes more entrepreneurs like him can also benefit from the government's poverty alleviation policies in the early stages of starting their businesses.