Qianhu cultivation helps returning farmers realize their dream of prosperity

Crossing mountains and bumping along the whole way. Recently, the reporter came to Dezhao Village, Zongdi Town, Ziyun Autonomous County, where small multi-story houses have risen one after another on both sides of the rural road.

On the hillside by the road, patches of lush Qianhu (Peucedanum praeruptorum) are growing vibrantly. These Qianhu were all introduced and planted by the village resident Liang Zhizhong.

In 2011, after years of struggling away from home, Liang Zhizhong returned to his hometown and traveled around to investigate. Through a friend's introduction, he introduced seeds of a Chinese medicinal herb called Qianhu from Anhui, and transferred 50 mu of land in the village to begin large-scale cultivation.

"Qianhu is a variety of Chinese medicinal herb that is planted and harvested in the same year. It is also called wild celery. It is a perennial herbaceous plant with thick roots and rhizomes and high medicinal value. It mainly treats dispersing wind-heat and descending qi to resolve phlegm. This medicinal herb can adapt to cool and humid climates, is drought-tolerant and cold-tolerant, and is suitable for growing in mountainous areas. Zongdi Town is located in a rocky mountain area, and the soil and climate environment are very suitable for the growth of Qianhu." Liang Zhizhong told the reporter that 50 mu of Qianhu, harvested in November, after drying and selling, brought in a total of 140,000 yuan. After deducting all costs such as seeds, fertilizer, and labor of 80,000 yuan, the profit was 60,000 yuan. Having tasted the benefits, he expanded the planting scale the next year, increasing the planting area to 80 mu.

In one of Liang Zhizhong's Qianhu planting fields, the reporter saw that most Qianhu seedlings grow in clump form spread flat on the ground, while a few Qianhu seedlings have stems 1 to 2 chi tall. Those with tall stems can be pulled out by hand, while the clump-form Qianhu growing flat on the ground are difficult to pull out by hand.

"Qianhu grown in rocky mountain soil has better quality. After some pharmaceutical factories came to purchase once, they directly pre-purchased by order." Liang Zhizhong said that the medicinally valuable part of Qianhu is the root. The roots of clump-form Qianhu with small stems are thicker and have higher yield.

After planting Qianhu for several years, Liang Zhizhong, who had gained a financial foundation, decided to expand the planting scale, and this year planted 400 mu of Qianhu in one go. Liang Zhizhong did the math: for every 1 mu of Qianhu planted, at least 7 work hours are needed from planting to harvest. At the current wage standard, each work hour requires 70 yuan in labor pay. For the 400 mu of Qianhu planted this year, the expenditure on seeds, fertilizer, and labor alone reached 380,000 yuan. But calculating on the basis of an estimated yield of 1,000 jin of Qianhu per mu, 400 mu can produce a total of 50,000 jin of Qianhu. At a market price of 12 yuan per jin, the Qianhu planted this year is expected to sell for 600,000 yuan.

One person being rich does not count as being rich; only when everyone is rich is it true prosperity. In order to lead the villagers onto the road to prosperity together, Liang Zhizhong established an agricultural professional cooperative, absorbed poor villagers into the cooperative, and signed cooperation agreements with them. Costs such as seeds and fertilizer are borne by the cooperative, planting technical guidance is provided to poor households, and the products grown are bought back by the cooperative at a price of 3.5 yuan per jin. After deducting costs, villagers can obtain a profit of more than 2,000 yuan per mu, and poor families can escape poverty by planting 4 to 6 mu of Qianhu each year.

"The Qianhu Chinese medicinal herb industry introduced by Liang Zhizhong is a good industry with low risk and quick results." said Peng Yonghong, Party Secretary of Zongdi Town. Zongdi's climate and soil conditions are suitable for the growth of Qianhu, and they will promote the Qianhu Chinese medicinal herb industry of Dezhao Village throughout the whole town.