How is an organic village forged deep in the mountains?
Without warning, Shangwaquan Village comes into view. Surrounded by green hills, white greenhouses stretch out in unbroken rows; at the foot of the mountain, houses with red tiles and white walls stand at ease; not far away, several villagers are turning and drying freshly dug peanuts on a concrete road. The small village is quiet, a picture of untouched natural simplicity, as if it had never been disturbed.
On an early autumn morning, the sky cleared after rain, and the air grew even fresher. As the reporter walked into this "No. 1 Organic Agriculture Village" located in the deep mountain area of southern Boshan District, Zibo City, Shandong Province, the villager Liu Zhijie, doing electrical welding work at the village entrance, was spotted at once.
"My family has a greenhouse of nearly one mu, growing organic chives, and I take on odd welding jobs in my spare time." Liu Zhijie is 43 this year, and as soon as he speaks, his cheerful nature shows, "Organic agriculture is our 'lucky star.' These past two years, everyone's life has gotten better and better."
"How much can you earn a year?"
"Heh heh, not much." He said with a smile, "The organic chives we grow are good quality and safe, much more expensive than ordinary chives, selling for 50 yuan per jin." Counting on his fingers, Liu Zhijie calculated the costs and returns: two tons of organic fertilizer must be applied, at 460 yuan per ton; insect-proof nets, sticky insect boards, biological agents and so on cost more than 1,000; when the greenhouse was first built, the investment was large, with plastic sheeting, bamboo poles and straw curtains totaling more than 20,000 yuan, but with government subsidies, he only had to pay about 10,000 yuan himself; organic chives can yield more than 1,000 jin a year, for a net income of more than 30,000 yuan each year.
"How do you guarantee it is organic?"
"The soil was all replaced, no chemical fertilizers or pesticides are applied, and the fields are irrigated with mountain spring water." Speaking of his hometown's organic agriculture, Liu Zhijie was full of confidence.
In 2008, Shangwaquan Village began developing organic agriculture. It has now built 200 mu of organic strawberry greenhouses, 400 mu of organic chive greenhouses, and planted 1,500 mu of organic yellow peaches and 100 mu of organic walnuts. It has been designated by the local authorities as a village built as a whole under the modern organic agriculture model, and designated by China Agricultural University as an organic chive demonstration base.
As to what opportunity set this village deep in the mountains on the path of modern organic agriculture, you would have to ask Wang Jincheng, the village Party secretary of Shangwaquan Village, known as the "Organic Secretary."
"Income used to be very low, with only a bit more than one mu of arable land per person. Even if you worked desperately, you could not grow gold from the fields." What were the village's advantages, and how could it rely on those advantages to blaze a path to prosperity? Wang Jincheng, who had just taken office at the time, fell into deep thought. Shangwaquan Village has an exceptionally favorable ecological environment: "Backed by mountains and facing water, with no polluting enterprises within a 20-kilometer radius, pure water sources, villagers all drink mountain spring water, and there is very little soil pollution." Through study visits and discussions with higher-level government, Wang Jincheng settled on organic agriculture: "High added value, in line with people's pursuit of healthy and safe agricultural products. Developing organic agriculture is definitely the right direction."
However, the beginning was not so smooth. "Most people in the village, like me, opposed organic farming. We were afraid. Afraid the techniques would not work, afraid that if it failed we would not make money." Liu Jiafen, 49, recalled the worries of those years and laughed at himself first.
"Later, the village held more than 50 meetings. The secretary led everyone out to visit and study, and also invited professors from China Agricultural University to guide the techniques. Now I am not worried at all." Liu Jiafen grows two mu of strawberries, which sell for 38 yuan per jin, intercropped with kidney beans, for an annual income of more than 40,000 yuan. Having tasted the benefits, he manages his organic strawberries even more consciously. The organic production procedures are long since memorized by heart. When it comes to how to prevent insects and disease and how to use biological agents, he is quite professional, a true "organic farmer."
"Are the strawberries and chives you grow easy to sell?"
"Easy to sell! We do not have to worry about it ourselves at all. The village cooperative handles finding buyers. Right now is the off-season for strawberries and chives. The strawberries were just planted half a month ago, and chives also grow slowly this season. We are aiming for the market before Spring Festival. That is when the village gets lively, with lots of vehicles coming in to buy." On the mural at the entrance of Liu Jiafen's home, the four characters "Golden Bridge to Prosperity" stand out prominently.
"If you ask what we hope for, it is that the village's organic agriculture develops even better and we earn a bit more money." Liu Jiafen's hope is very simple.
Compared with the villagers, Wang Jincheng's considerations are more far-reaching. The next step is to expand the "organic" scale, expand the yellow peach area, intercrop black peanuts, plant red roses, grow kiwifruit, and raise black chickens on the mountain, all "organic." "Of course there are also doubts. Techniques must be mastered, the market has risks, prices will fluctuate, and the trust crisis in organic agriculture in some places will also affect us. How to keep expanding our organic brand to win the market, how to improve the cooperative so it plays a better role, these things all need pondering." With production to develop on one side and the market to connect with on the other, Wang Jincheng did not feel relaxed.
"Still, we have many advantages: a good ecology, good policies, and government support. The key is that 'organic' has already taken root in people's hearts, the villagers are full of drive, and many who went out to work have come back. We are very confident!"