Qianjiang couple's vegetable farming brings them "Gemini" twins, driving the whole village out of poverty toward prosperity

"Two days ago we reached an agreement with the farmers. After transferring these 200 mu of land, we plan to invest 1.5 million yuan in farmland improvement, build 100 tempered steel greenhouses, develop a greenhouse vegetable base, and plant purple sweet potatoes, taro and high-efficiency greenhouse vegetables, so that the per-mu output value of this field reaches nearly 10,000 yuan." In the early winter season, Wan Lanjiao and her husband looked at this flat stretch of Han River beach farmland before them as if gazing at the twin son and daughter born to them that year, their eyes full of expectation.

This is Xiongzui Village, right next to the Han River, 8 km from the Wangchang town center and the northernmost and most remote village in the entire town. "Under the contracting arrangements, these 200 mu of land belong to nearly 30 households. In the past only some wheat and soybeans were grown, with per-mu output value of less than 1,000 yuan. This year the village Party branch and village committee promoted contiguous high-efficiency planting by household, and decided to set aside this field to mobilize farmers to transfer their land, raise the benefits of scaled planting and take the path of high-efficiency agriculture. The transfer price is no lower than in surrounding areas, at 1 yuan per square meter per year, and all the contracting households are very satisfied. After the vegetable greenhouses are built, contracting households will also be given priority in hiring for planting and management, which can provide employment for more than 60 people in the village," said Nie Juncheng, secretary of the village Party branch.

Wan Lanjiao is a daughter-in-law of Xiongzui Village. Some years ago the couple did business away from home, broadened their horizons, built up connections and accumulated a certain amount of capital. Two years ago, Wan Lanjiao and her husband discussed and decided to return to their remote rural hometown, develop a professional cooperative and help their fellow villagers get rich. "At the end of 2014, the village relocated households and cleared land, leveling 108 mu of arable land, and planned to contract it out collectively to bring in a large-scale grower. Just then Wan Lanjiao and her husband returned to the village, and the two sides signed a collective land contracting contract at 300 yuan per mu per year," Nie Yipeng, deputy director of the village committee who has been in charge of agriculture for more than 20 years, told reporters.

"On these 108 mu we mainly grow contiguous open-field vegetables. We planted cabbage and head cabbage for two years, and depending on market conditions sold them to Wuhan, Shandong, Guangdong and other places, with per-mu returns also reaching several thousand. Last winter the northern cabbage market was poor, while cold weather in the south increased demand. Relying on our sales channels in Guangdong, the field-side price exceeded 1 yuan per jin, three or four mao higher than the average price in the Qianjiang market," Wan Lanjiao said.

One contiguous open-field vegetable base and one contiguous greenhouse vegetable base, the 300 mu of vegetable land forming "twins" like a pair of "Gemini" set into this vast stretch of Han River beach land, have become an important part of the Zhangxin area, one of the three major sections of the town's vegetable bases. "Xiongzui Village is remote, with much land and few people, and it is difficult for individual households to achieve good returns from farming. Bringing in talent and capital, consolidating and transferring land, and following the path of appropriately scaled operation will help drive the whole village out of poverty toward prosperity. Exploring a new path of 'separation of the three rights' of rural land ownership, contracting rights and management rights, and planning agriculture according to an industrialized concept, this is the general direction for the town's future development of modern agriculture," Yan Youzheng, the Wangchang town leader in charge of agriculture, told reporters.