How should a village's industries be planned? Wang Jun answers with action
Wang Jun, male, a native of Hengyang, Hunan, graduated with a bachelor's degree from South China Agricultural University in 2014. Born and raised in the countryside, he has always had a special affection for the land. Since childhood, he secretly resolved that he must study hard, master knowledge, serve farmers, and improve the face of rural areas. After graduating from university in 2014, he passed the exam to become a college-graduate village official in Xinhe Village, Chini Town, Huadu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong. He told himself that he must accomplish something and benefit the people of the area.
When he first came to the village, the language barrier and the unfamiliar environment were difficulties that an outsider had to overcome. Through his own enthusiasm and hard work, after overcoming the barriers of language and daily life, he began to think about how rural work should be carried out.
Wang Jun first, by communicating with village officials and visiting the people, gained an understanding of the circumstances of most families in the village and the village's basic economic situation. He found that Xinhe Village did not lack resources for becoming wealthy; what everyone lacked was a leader. Xinhe Village mainly had three major industrial directions: first, flowers and nursery stock; second, freshwater aquaculture; third, specialty agricultural products. After exchanging some of his ideas and approaches for the village's agricultural development with the Party secretary, he gained the recognition and affirmation of the secretary and village officials. Therefore, he resolutely took over the village's farmers' professional cooperative and made some plans for the village's three major industries.
For flowers and nursery stock, he united the village's 5 major flower and horticulture farms and large growers, helped them solve the problem of excess nursery stock, and introduced new varieties such as Moringa oleifera for cooperative planting as a breakthrough. For freshwater aquaculture, he planned to establish a cooperative service station in the village, introduce new industries such as agricultural input distributors, brand service providers, financial credit, and e-commerce, and help farmers gradually solve various difficulties in technology, funding, varieties, breeding, and sales. As for specialty agricultural products, along with the development of Chini ecological tourism, he aimed to build brand awareness for various agricultural products such as Xinhe taro and sweet potato, increase farmers' income, and achieve obvious benefits.
Wang Jun's plan for the cooperative is, within 3~5 years, in line with the direction of government policies, to integrate the village's industrial resources, transform toward rural tourism and ecological elderly care, help local villagers increase income and become prosperous, and achieve long-term development.