Growing Taxus chinensis to help farmers get rich quickly: How Zhang Zejun does it

Zhang Zejun at the planting base

At the Taxus chinensis planting base in Mianyuhe Village, Yanzikou Town, Qixingguan District, base manager Zhang Zejun told this writer about the scale of the operation: "We started planting Taxus chinensis at the end of 2011. At that time there were only just over 200 mu, and the plots were not contiguous. After gradual development, the planting scale has now reached more than 500 mu."

In 1992, Zhang Zejun went to Yunnan Province to work in a machinery factory. After 9 years on the job, he quit and returned to his hometown, thinking about how to find something with a steady income to do. In 2011, he learned a piece of information from a relative: "Growing Taxus chinensis can make money." So he seized the opportunity without hesitation and went with the relative to Yunnan to inspect the Taxus chinensis market on the ground.

"After returning from the inspection, we began discussing how to develop Taxus chinensis planting," Zhang Zejun said. To bring Taxus chinensis planting to a certain scale, they looked for partners, formed a team of 9 people, and together established the "Qixingguan District Senyuan Suhong Forest Professional Cooperative."

As for Taxus chinensis, Zhang Zejun already had a business plan worked out: "Although Taxus chinensis needs to grow for 5 years before it produces economic returns, as long as it starts being sold to the market, it can make money every year after that. That is because we have already secured sales channels in Yunnan, and over there they also need to purchase large quantities of Taxus chinensis branches to extract taxol." He explained that with good management and care, nearly 20 kg of branches can be cut from each Taxus chinensis plant. Branches with high taxol content can sell for nearly 8 yuan per jin, and branches with low content can also sell for nearly 2.5 yuan per jin.

During the Taxus chinensis planting process, when workers are needed for weeding and fertilizing, the cooperative generally gives priority to hiring villagers with weaker labor capacity, because they have difficulty finding work. After tending the crops on their own land, villagers can find time to take odd jobs, and a daily wage of 80 yuan can help supplement the household income.

Talking about future plans, Zhang Zejun said that in September this year, the Party committee and government of Yanzikou Town held a symposium on adjusting the agricultural industrial structure and the sector economy. After the meeting, representatives of various enterprises and large farming and breeding households shared their experience in getting rich. Zhang Zejun felt that the opportunity had come to mobilize more villagers to plant Taxus chinensis together, so he and the cooperative members took the initiative to talk with the attendees, and received a response from villagers in other villages.

Now, the cooperative will follow the "company + cooperative + farmer" business model and adopt two methods for sharing the returns. If a farmer provides land and labor to participate in planting, and the cooperative provides saplings and fertilizer, the split is "50-50." If a farmer provides land but does not provide labor, the split is "70-30."

Zhang Zejun said that after more villagers participate in planting Taxus chinensis, the planting scale will become larger. The cooperative will consider building a processing plant to extract taxol, forming an integrated "planting-production-sales" business model, moving toward scaled development, and driving more villagers to get rich together.