Yao Villager Leads the Way in Planting Orah Mandarins, Blazing a Trail to Shared Prosperity

"This year I plan to contract another 10 mu of land to expand my orah mandarin planting..." Having just finished feeding the pigs, Cen Xiangyao hurried to her orah mandarin orchard to prune the trees.

Cen Xiangyao is the women's director of Li'an Village, Daxi Township, Jianghua Yao Autonomous County. Li'an Village is the most remote mountainous area in the county, and its economy is relatively backward. How to change the village's poor and backward situation and lead the villagers onto the road to prosperity is a dream of Cen Xiangyao's. Li'an Village enjoys a naturally superior environment, with excellent air quality, large temperature differences between day and night, good water quality, high soil organic matter content and few pests and diseases, making it an ideal place for growing high-quality organic crops. In 2012, through the Daxi Township Family Planning Association's efforts to bring in connections, the orah mandarin planting technology brought by Tuli Tuwu Company was introduced. Since it was their first encounter with the crop, and the planting technology, harvest conditions and market prospects were all unclear, the villagers had no confidence and were all hesitant, with no one willing to take the risk. At this point, Cen Xiangyao bravely stepped forward, shouldered the burden of conducting trials, and became the first person in the village to eat crab; she decided to first plant 20 mu of orah mandarins on her own hillside land. Then, under her leadership, another 8 households also joined the ranks of orah mandarin planting.

The work of burning the hillside, loosening the soil, fertilizing and pruning was all very hard, but Cen Xiangyao was full of drive. She said happily: "What does a bit of hardship and fatigue, and bearing some risk, matter? When my planting succeeds and other villagers see the real benefits, and I use my own practical actions to guide the villagers to plant together and the whole village grows rich together, then all my hardship and fatigue will have been worth it."

In 2015, Cen Xiangyao's orah mandarin trees began to bear fruit, bringing her a net income of 150,000 yuan that very year. Seeing the tangible economic benefits, other villagers also joined the planting ranks one after another. Many villagers came to Cen Xiangyao to ask for advice on orah mandarin planting techniques, and Cen Xiangyao without reservation brought the villagers to the orchard to "teach on site," using intuitive instruction to help the villagers solidly master the technical skills. Now, when Yao villagers from near and far mention Cen Xiangyao, they all give a thumbs-up: "She not only does her family planning work well, but she is also an expert at leading villagers to grow rich through planting."

Today, Li'an Village's orah mandarin planting area has reached more than 230 mu, and the scale is still constantly expanding. Gazing at the orah mandarin trees covering the hills, Cen Xiangyao looks delighted: "My hard work has not been wasted after all. I see many villagers who have shaken off poverty and grown rich by planting orah mandarins, and I am especially happy!"