Lotus root harvest brings smiles to villagers in Shima Village, Jingyan County, Sichuan

In August, the sky is high and the breeze is clear, with tree shadows and insect songs on both sides. Walking along the country road leading to Shima Village, Zhoupou Town, Jingyan County, the large lotus fields beside the road stretch as far as the eye can see. Villagers are digging up plump, firm sections of lotus root from under the lotus leaves and loading them onto vehicles fully loaded. This is the bustling harvest scene at the lotus root cooperative planting area of Group 2, Shima Village.

Poverty alleviation has entered an accelerated phase. What exactly can lotus root cultivation bring to Shima Village? This writer walked along the way, preparing to find out.

Transferring land, relying on industry for poverty alleviation

Shima Village is located in hilly terrain, with many mountains and dense forests, and roads and communications are relatively isolated. To complete the task of shaking off poverty, finding the right path is key.

“We have professional technology, personnel and equipment, plus government policy support, so everyone has more to look forward to!” Beside the lotus field, business owner Zhang Fengguang looked at the abundant lotus roots and was very excited. “Group 2 of Shima Village is very suitable for lotus root cultivation, so we adapted measures to local conditions and chose this lotus root project.”

It is understood that Shima Village originally planted 90 mu of lotus roots, and the harvest had always been stable. Since poverty alleviation work began, the poverty alleviation work team and town, village and group officials conducted repeated research and demonstration, selected this project, and expanded the planting area to 300 mu.

“One mu can yield about three thousand jin, and the current price is around 2 yuan.” Master Zhang, who was digging lotus roots, stated in one sentence the considerable returns from growing lotus roots. This writer also calculated silently: after deducting costs, a return of three to four thousand yuan per mu should not be a problem. With 300 mu, would that not be 1 million?

With so many lotus roots, would there be a problem with sales? “Chengdu has a big market. Once our lotus roots are transported there, there is no need to worry about sales at all.” The young man at the side who looked like a supervisor seemed to have noticed my doubt.

“In our village, families that fell into poverty due to illness or disability make up the majority of all poor households. Many families have no labor force and can do nothing even while holding on to the land. By transferring the land to professionals and cooperatives, the land is no longer abandoned, poor households have their own industry, and they also have the guarantee of a stable life. Add the year-end dividends, and it is no problem for these poor households to escape poverty!” Village Party Secretary Deng Yonggang said with great confidence.