Zhang Xipo Brings Suning Eggplants to the Beijing Market

One after another, farm vehicles and three-wheeled carts loaded with round eggplants kept arriving. After strict inspection by quality control staff, the round eggplants - each bearing dewdrops, deep purple and glossy black in color - were sorted, graded, packaged and boxed by workers, then loaded onto large vegetable transport trucks, about to set off for the Beijing market. A few days ago, the reporter witnessed this busy scene at the vegetable market of Tiankang Fruit and Vegetable Planting Cooperative in Yuancheng South, Wobei Town, Suning County.

Yuancheng South Tiankang Fruit and Vegetable Planting Professional Cooperative was established in 2012. Zhang Xipo, the 40-year-old chairman of the cooperative, left his home village of Dongzhilan 15 years ago to seek opportunities elsewhere, working in the fruit and vegetable delivery business in Beijing. After years of hard work, he built up his own business. In recent years, as the state has placed increasing emphasis on food safety and market entry thresholds have risen, Zhang Xipo keenly seized the business opportunity. After careful consideration, he decided to return home to develop his own planting base, focusing on the general consumer market with the goal of producing green, pollution-free products to ensure that consumers can eat vegetables they can trust.

Given Suning's climate and soil conditions, he decided to grow protected vegetables, mainly round eggplants and tomatoes. To ensure product quality, Zhang Xipo set strict production standards. The Tiankang Cooperative he founded implements a "five unified" operating model: unified seedling supply, unified fertilization, unified pesticide use, unified management, and unified sales, organizing members to produce according to the standards. "Look at our Heibao round eggplants - they have a beautiful appearance and good taste, and are an ideal variety for making braised eggplant. Beijing residents love them." Zhang Xipo explained that thanks to their high quality, their products successfully entered the Beijing Xinfadi market and major supermarkets such as Wumart, Yonghui, Chaoshifa, and China Resources, with their products accounting for 60% of the Beijing market, and they have also successfully opened up markets in Inner Mongolia, Zhangjiakou and other places.

Committed to the goal of "shaking off poverty in one year, becoming prosperous in two years, and reaching moderate prosperity in three years," the cooperative also provides full services to its members. Li Tongle of Wobei Village used to work in a printing factory with a monthly salary of 7,000 to 8,000 yuan, but even so, after deducting various expenses, little was left. "In 2014, I planted 3 mu and 6 fen of greenhouse eggplants, and that year I earned 180,000 yuan." Speaking of his eggplant business, Li Tongle was overjoyed. This typical example of leading by demonstration greatly inspired the enthusiasm of local people to join the cooperative. At present, the cooperative has developed 1,350 mu of solar greenhouses, with 327 member households, and has radiated out to drive 6,000 mu of surrounding land to grow protected vegetables. The cooperative sells 10,000 tons of round eggplants annually.

In order to capture the market and seize the initiative, Zhang Xipo started by guiding growers toward standardized production, continuously exploring and practicing new technologies to reduce soil-borne pests and diseases, and actively exploring new models of round eggplant production to strive for greater economic benefits. "Next, I plan to further expand the cooperative's planting scale, build two more model greenhouses, and cooperate with the Muhe Park to join forces and make the vegetable-based prosperity business bigger and stronger, leading more villagers to prosperity." Zhang Xipo said with full confidence.