Left-behind woman in Bishan, Chongqing transforms into a skilled grower, leading villagers onto the road to prosperity

In the eyes of most people, "facing the yellow earth with their backs to the sky, spinning around the children and the stove" is a typical portrayal of rural left-behind women.

But in Guangpu Town, Bishan District, there is such a left-behind woman. She has changed people's traditional views through her own labor. Not only has she become a skilled grower and raiser herself, she has also led her fellow villagers onto the road to wealth.

"Avoid deep plowing and weeding, as it easily damages the roots and spreads disease." On November 9, when our reporter met this left-behind woman, Zeng Yonghui, in Group 7 of Jinlong Village, Guangpu Town, Bishan District, she was looking up vegetable-growing knowledge on her mobile phone.

Left-behind woman becomes a skilled grower

In fact, back in the 1990s, Zeng Yonghui had followed her husband to work in Guangzhou, Wuhan and other places. But as her children grew older, Zeng Yonghui returned home in 2014 to take care of them, which made her a left-behind woman.

In early last year, while watching TV, Zeng Yonghui learned about policies supporting migrant workers returning to their hometowns, which sparked the idea of starting a business in her hometown as well.

"A thought that is not acted upon can only become regret." Zeng Yonghui said she began consulting about relevant policies and took out an interest-free loan of 150,000 yuan.

In March last year, Zeng Yonghui used this 150,000 yuan to transfer 140 mu of land and began growing flowers, nursery stock, vegetables and grain.

However, with no growing experience, she initially did not know where to start. "When I have nothing to do, I hold my phone and look up information." Zeng Yonghui said that in order to learn various growing techniques as quickly as possible, she became a "phone addict."

To improve Zeng Yonghui's scientific growing level, agricultural technicians from Guangpu Town also visited Zeng Yonghui's growing plots many times to guide her on growing techniques, and Zeng Yonghui always took careful notes and studied earnestly.

For the sake of a single growing technique, Zeng Yonghui often rested only 3-4 hours a day, looking up all kinds of information and conducting experiments.

Now, whether it is vegetables, grain, or growing flowers and nursery stock, Zeng Yonghui has a thorough grasp of the growing techniques.

But she still cannot do without her mobile phone. She told our reporter that one must master the trade one practices, and only by continuously learning can one grasp more knowledge and succeed.

Leading fellow villagers onto the road to prosperity

At the end of last year, Zeng Yonghui sold agricultural products such as rapeseed, rice and sorghum, earning 160,000 yuan.

But Zeng Yonghui not only did not put the money in the bank, she also borrowed money from relatives and friends to increase investment, expanding the scale of flowers and nursery stock to more than 130,000 plants, and began learning breeding techniques.

Seeing the benefits brought by Zeng Yonghui's practical efforts, at present, 7 left-behind women in Jinlong Village, under Zeng Yonghui's leadership, are raising pigs, raising chickens, growing fruit trees, growing vegetables and so on. Zeng Yonghui not only provides breeding and growing techniques, but also helps them open up and expand sales channels.

In March this year, the village's left-behind woman Zeng Ping, inspired by Zeng Yonghui, invested more than 20,000 yuan to start raising chickens and geese.

At first, Zeng Ping did not know what breed to raise, so she relied entirely on Zeng Yonghui looking up information online, which ultimately helped her decide to raise wild geese.

In September this year, the wild geese raised by Zeng Ping began to be ready for market. Zeng Yonghui then went to various agricultural product wholesale markets, restaurants and other places in Bishan to help Zeng Ping find sales outlets. Because they use free-range methods to raise wild geese and chickens without adding feed, the meat quality and taste won a good reputation. In just one month, they sold 300 wild geese and 100 chickens.

Holding nearly 80,000 yuan in income, the first thing Zeng Ping thought of was thanking Zeng Yonghui.

But Zeng Yonghui said, we are all from the same village, and we are all left-behind women, so it is only right for sisters to help and look after each other.

Processing increases the added value of agricultural products

This year, Zeng Yonghui was elected vice chairman of the Women's Federation of Jinlong Village, Guangpu Town, and she is preparing to lead her sisters in a big effort.

With the help of the Guangpu Town government and the support of the Women's Federation, Zeng Yonghui built a large warehouse of 150 sq m.

"I plan to store the grain and build a distillery and an oil press." Zeng Yonghui said that brewing sorghum into liquor and pressing rapeseed into oil will increase the added value several times over.

"Being rich alone does not count as being rich; only by leading everyone to prosperity is that true prosperity." Zeng Yonghui revealed her idea to our reporter: she will buy up all the grain grown by other villagers, and villagers can also take shares in the distillery and oil press, mobilizing everyone to get rich together.