Specialty planting paves Sun Guodong's road to prosperity
On the morning of November 7, Sun Guodong carefully inspected the growth of his "treasures" in his own field in Weizhai Village, Xi County. After making a round, this post-90s college graduate could not help but show the joy of a bumper harvest: "Looking at this, barring any accidents, a net income of 3,000 yuan per mu from this crop is no problem."
The treasure in Sun Guodong's eyes is the Pinellia produced in Xi County (Xi Banxia), which is regarded as a rare gem among herbs of its kind. To distinguish it from other Pinellia, the medical and pharmaceutical circles deliberately prefix the two characters "Xi" before "Banxia." In the fourth year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty, the Xi Zhou Zhi already recorded this. The 1979 edition of Cihai listed Xi Banxia as a specialty of Xi County. In 2004, Xi Banxia obtained national designation of origin registration. However, due to various reasons, since the 1960s the planted area of Xi Banxia dropped sharply, even facing the embarrassment of possible extinction.
Because his father Sun Gang had always insisted on planting a small amount of Xi Banxia, Sun Guodong came into contact with it early. To carry forward this local specialty, after entering Henan Agricultural University, Sun Guodong consciously made Banxia a key research direction. During this period, he also met two classmates from the same county and the same cohort who shared the same interest, Feng Wei and Ma Hao.
During their university years, in addition to working hard together to learn professional knowledge, the three also used holidays to trial-plant multiple Banxia varieties in Zhengzhou, Shangqiu, Xi County and other places. Through continuous comparison and analysis, they became increasingly partial to Xi Banxia. "Knowledge + skills + experience" strengthened the three's confidence in scientifically cultivating Xi Banxia.
After graduation, the three, carrying a shared ideal, resolutely returned to their hometown and tried large-scale cultivation of Xi Banxia in Weizhai Village, Baitudian Township, Xi County.
At first, they used limited funds to transfer 40 mu of land in the initial stage. Having technology, being able to study deeply, and being willing to endure hardship not only let the three taste the sweetness in their first large-scale trial planting, but also gained recognition and support from more villagers.
"When they first came to me to transfer land last year, I was still a bit hesitant. Could students who just graduated farm well?" said 73-year-old poor household Grandpa Yang Chengzhang. "A year later, the transfer fee for 5 mu of land was 4,000 yuan. I usually also go to help them with work like pulling weeds, earning 50 yuan a day. Calculating carefully, it's much better than finding someone myself to farm the land. This year I want to rent all my remaining land to them."
35-year-old Sun Si, besides transferring 4 mu of land to Sun Guodong and the others, also had her own "little calculations." By doing odd jobs at Sun Guodong's place, she could not only earn wages, but most importantly learn Xi Banxia cultivation techniques. Last year, she trial-planted 6 fen of land and earned more than 2,000 yuan. This year she boldly expanded to 1 mu 7 fen. "Growing Banxia gives me much more motivation than growing peanuts before. I'm not planning to go out to work either. I'll just follow the three of them and learn cultivation well." Sun Si, who hopes to let her child live a better life right at the doorstep, said happily.
Up to now, Sun Guodong and the other two have transferred more than 100 mu of land in total, established Xi County Tuteng Planting Professional Cooperative, and have already driven more than 20 farming households to grow Xi Banxia. This year, the Xi Banxia they planted, including fruits and seeds, had long been fully reserved by customers from Gansu, Hebei, Anhui, Henan and other places. The local government has already applied for them to be a key supported project of Xi County's industrial poverty alleviation; relevant departments have begun preliminary investigation and research on the Tuteng Cooperative; the relevant person in charge of the Poverty Alleviation Office said that as long as the ability to drive prosperity is strong, active support will be given.
"We will continue to persist in taking the path of combining production, learning and research, expand the breeding scale and planting area of Xi Banxia as soon as possible, and drive more fellow villagers to increase income and become prosperous. When conditions mature, we will develop a series of Xi Banxia products... We must let Xi Banxia regain its former glory." Facing the future, the three young new-type farmers are full of confidence!