Former "frog ponds" transformed into a creative eco-agricultural park
Giving up an income of nearly 200,000 yuan per year outside, he resolutely returned to his hometown to manage the "frog ponds" that collect water whenever it rains. He believes these lands are well worth working on --
"Frog ponds" transformed into a "creative eco-agricultural park"
Vast stretches of lotus plants flourish lushly; when a gentle breeze blows, the lotus leaves across the entire pond sway and dance, like the graceful, swaying figures of young beauties twirling green umbrellas... On August 17, this writer stood amid it all, as if inside a painting. The master of this "masterpiece" is Li Bin, a villager from Zhangzhai Village, Fuzhai Township, Zhengyang County.
Li Bin, 44 this year, left home at 18 to make his way in the world. His hardworking, endurance-loving, eager-to-learn character soon helped him gain a firm foothold at a large chemical enterprise in Zhumadian City, where he secured a relatively stable position and income. Especially in recent years, his salary of nearly 200,000 yuan a year has made many people envious. But no one could have imagined that before the 2013 Spring Festival, Li Bin made an unbelievable decision: go back to his hometown to work the land!
Everyone else wishes they could crawl out of the dirt, but he, on the contrary, gave up a perfectly good job outside to burrow into the dirt! Many people in the village could not understand it.
In recent years, the state has given strong support to agriculture, and working the land can likewise offer great prospects. Li Bin was certain of this, but he also believed that working the land required ideas and creativity.
"People in my hometown are used to rotating wheat and peanuts, and even in the best year the income is less than 2,000 yuan per mu. Because of years of rotation, soil-borne diseases have emerged, and soil acidification and salinization are becoming increasingly serious. The planting structure must be changed," Li Bin said. "Among the land, there are more than 100 mu of low-lying abandoned kiln-site land. Whenever there is heavy rain, the ditches fill and the rivers level off, so people call them 'frog ponds,' and the income from them is even more pitiful."
There was not a single large-scale lotus root production base in his hometown, and local lotus root consumption was basically purchased from elsewhere. He traveled successively to Jining, Shouguang and other places in Shandong for on-site inspections, and decided to go into lotus root cultivation. His own more than 13 mu of "frog ponds" were his best testing ground.
Last year, he invited professionals to carry out planning, hired an excavator to convert 4 mu of it into 1-meter-deep lotus root ponds, laid film in the ponds, covered the film with wheat bran and topsoil, injected sufficient water, and introduced and planted "Yugoslavia Snow Lotus." "This kind of lotus root is crisp and sweet, with high nutritional value, commonly known as 'fruit lotus root,' and yields more than 8,000 jin per mu," Li Bin introduced. At the same time, he also stocked loaches in the lotus ponds. He said loaches can loosen the soil and eat the plankton in the ponds, and the loach droppings in turn become fertilizer, helping the lotus roots grow.
What about the income? Li Helin, the village's technical expert, did the math: calculating lotus roots at 8,000 jin per mu, a wholesale price of 3.5 yuan per jin outside is no problem; each mu can produce nearly 300 jin of loaches, at a market price of 20 yuan per jin; combining the two, the income per mu is at least more than 30,000 yuan.
He planned the more than 4 mu of cultivated land north of the lotus root ponds as an orchard, to plant fruit trees such as late-autumn golden pear. To ensure the cultivated land had sufficient returns, in the early stage he interplanted wheat and sweet potatoes among the pear saplings and other fruit trees. The cultivated land west of the lotus root ponds he planned as a vegetable planting area, to grow seasonal vegetables and off-season vegetables in greenhouses.
"In the next step, once the fruit trees have grown and begun bearing fruit, I will surround the garden with netting and raise free-range chickens, ducks and geese in it, letting them catch insects and eat grass in the garden, and their droppings will in turn become fertilizer for the fruit trees," Li Bin explained to us in detail.
"There is not much meaning in getting rich by yourself. Being able to lead fellow villagers to strive and prosper together is what truly reflects personal value," Li Bin said. In August 2015, Li Bin took the lead in establishing the Zhengyang County Xinlong Vegetable Planting Farmers' Professional Cooperative, and joined the Henan Province Agricultural Science and Technology 110 service system, providing full-process scientific and technological services to farmers willing to join the cooperative. At present, nearly 10 farmers have joined the cooperative.
"I want to transfer as much as possible of these 'frog ponds' with no guaranteed returns, expand the area for lotus roots, orchards and vegetables, and lead more fellow villagers to prosperity!" This is Li Bin's wish for the future. In fact, Li Bin has already made preparations for collective, large-scale development. He cooperated with China Yigou Network to establish a "Cultural E-commerce Life Hall," and the agricultural and sideline products produced are sold directly externally through e-commerce.