Luo Chaoyang, the leader who shows the way to prosperity through Gastrodia elata, brings wealth to the villagers of his region

Luo Chaoyang, who lives in the Tanabu villager group of Zhongyi Village, Xinfu Town, Mojiang Hani Autonomous County, is the first person in Xinfu Town to grow Gastrodia elata. After on-site investigation, he found that the climate and soil of Xinfu Town are suitable for growing Gastrodia elata, so he introduced cultivation techniques and high-quality varieties from Simao District, changed the traditional way of growing Gastrodia elata, and moved it from open fields to cultivation under the forest. This method of imitating wild Gastrodia elata cultivation under the forest not only effectively protects forest resources, but also improves stand quality, rationally uses suppressed trees, branch and twig material, miscellaneous shrubs, and fallen branches and leaves under the forest, and makes tree growth and under-forest cultivation mutually supportive and mutually enhancing, increasing forestry efficiency and forest farmers' income, and forming a virtuous cycle development model with greener mountains, more fertile land, and wealthier people.

After more than a year of careful tending, Luo Chaoyang's imitated wild Gastrodia elata can be put into production by the end of this year. Up to now, he has planted 6 mu of imitated wild Gastrodia elata in total, and is expected to produce about 6 tons of fresh Gastrodia elata. Calculated at the market price of fresh Gastrodia elata of 40 yuan/kg, this can bring an income of 240,000 yuan. Next, Luo Chaoyang will expand the planting scale and carry out preliminary processing of fresh Gastrodia elata, continuously improve the yield and quality of imitated wild Gastrodia elata, and actively pass on planting techniques and management experience to the surrounding people, leading them to prosperity and opening up a new path to increase income and become rich by developing the under-forest economy.