Black Beauty watermelons pave Huang Aihua's sweet road to prosperity
Huang Aihua, chairman of Yongzhou Yuheng Agricultural Development Company.
When those who get rich first lead others to get rich, how do they lead, and what results have they achieved? Recently, Rednet Moment News reporters approached 10 typical figures in Hunan Province who got rich first and led others to wealth, focusing on the ups and downs and persistence behind the word "lead," talking with the "first rich," seeing how they accumulate strength and bide their time, and sharing their journey of leading others to prosperity.
In midsummer, full of vitality.
In the fields of Menggongshan Village, Yitang Town, Yongzhou City, busy figures are everywhere. White greenhouses stretch in a continuous sheet, glinting golden under the sun, and on closer look, the fields are full of green, round watermelons.
Early in the morning, Guan Jieyuan began bustling about in his own watermelon greenhouse, looking at this one and patting that one, checking the growth of the watermelons one by one. "This year's harvest is not bad, making 300,000 is no problem!" Guan Jieyuan picked a fully ripe watermelon and smiled shyly.
Beside him, Huang Aihua, chairman of Yongzhou Yuheng Agricultural Development Company, took the watermelon handed over by Guan Jieyuan, gave it a slight cut with a knife, and with a "ba" sound, the watermelon split into two halves from the middle, revealing crisp, bright red flesh.
7 years ago, Huang Aihua initiated the establishment of the "Five Star Watermelon Professional Cooperative" in Yitang Town, and Guan Jieyuan was among the first batch of members to join.
7 years later, every household has planted watermelons, and the contiguous planting of Black Beauty watermelons in Yitang Town has become the largest contiguous planting demonstration area in the country, driving and radiating surrounding counties, districts and townships to plant more than 100,000 mu of Black Beauty watermelons, with an annual output value exceeding 180 million yuan, and the 3,000 cooperative members each having an average annual income of 20,000 yuan.
"Yitang Black Beauty, poverty alleviation Huang Aihua" has become two calling cards of Yongzhou City's "targeted poverty alleviation."
7,000 mu of barren hills and wild ridges transformed into "golden land"
"Don't look at how prosperous Menggongshan Village is now; 7 years ago, this place was still a wasteland." Pan Guorong, Party secretary of Menggongshan Village, told reporters that in the past Menggongshan Village had no industry and no collective economy. Although the village had always had a tradition of planting watermelons, due to scattered planting, mixed varieties, and planting techniques that could not keep up with market demand, the melon farmers worked hard for a year but their income was not high.
In 1984, after being discharged from the military, Huang Aihua returned to his hometown to go into business. With extraordinary courage and vision, he soon achieved some success. Looking at the desolate scene of his hometown, Huang Aihua kept thinking about how to make use of this land and help his fellow villagers start businesses and get rich together.
"Only a big industry can drive big development!" Huang Aihua believed that industrial poverty alleviation is the best path out of poverty. In view of the local tradition of planting watermelons, he set his sights on the "watermelon industry."
Afterward, Huang Aihua invested a large amount of funds to transfer and revitalize 7,000 mu of wasteland in Menggongshan Village, planning the layout according to planting areas, breeding areas, flower and nursery stock areas, and so on, leveling the land, laying irrigation facilities, and building greenhouses, turning 7,000 mu of barren hills and wild ridges into "golden land."
"Black Beauty" grown in "golden land," watermelons harvested twice a year
In 2009, Huang Aihua initiated the establishment of the "Five Star Watermelon Professional Cooperative," leading melon farmers to develop by "banding together." "Unified seedling raising," "unified technology," "unified fertilizer supply," "unified brand," and "unified sales" - using these five "unifieds" to form a clustering effect was the purpose Huang Aihua set for the cooperative.
When the cooperative was first established, many villagers were "skeptical." Guan Jieyuan was one of them: "Can it really make money? If the planting goes badly, will we not even have food to eat?"
At that time, Huang Aihua made improving technical content and enhancing watermelon quality the primary task. He not only invited watermelon breeding expert Sun Xiaowu to give on-site guidance in the village, but also took Guan Jieyuan and several other villagers to watermelon planting bases in other provinces to learn from experience.
"I saw it with my own eyes and learned it too, so now I can rest assured." In the first year, Guan Jieyuan planted 13 mu and earned more than 60,000 yuan.
When the villagers saw that the first batch of members had gotten the "sweet taste" of planting watermelons, they followed suit one after another. Soon, watermelons were planted throughout the fields of Menggongshan Village, greenhouses were built, and the area planted with Black Beauty watermelons reached more than 10,000 mu.
"Watermelons that originally could only be planted for one season can now be planted for two seasons." Huang Aihua introduced that after years of exploration, the cooperative is currently preparing to plant two seasons of watermelons. This not only improves land utilization but can also double output value, bringing considerable economic benefits.
"Plant one greenhouse, escape poverty that same year; sell ten mu of melons, drive a car home!" In Menggongshan Village today, new homes with white walls and red tiles stand against the hills, broad flat roads lead directly to villagers' homes, and the Black Beauty watermelon base stretches endlessly...
"Watermelon industry" drives the common prosperity of multiple industries
"The prosperity of one industry can often drive the development of multiple industries." Ai Kexiang, director of the Management Committee of Yongzhou National Agricultural Science and Technology Park and mayor of Yitang Town, told reporters that the "Five Star Watermelon Professional Cooperative" is now Yongzhou's first watermelon professional cooperative integrating scientific research, production, supply and marketing, and has not only driven surrounding townships to plant watermelons, but also driven the common prosperity of industries such as logistics and transportation and rural tourism.
Near Menggongshan Village is Hunan's largest watermelon trading market, where four to five thousand melon farmers trade every day. There are not only local melon farmers, but many melon farmers from other places also come to trade. At peak times, the parked large trucks stretch as far as the eye can see.
Yitang Town has held a watermelon festival for six consecutive years, changing from the previous "sell out" sales model to the current "bring in" sales model. Tourists come on their own to pick watermelons, which not only promotes the "Yitang" brand Black Beauty watermelons but also drives the local tourism industry.
In Huang Aihua's view, the driving effect of the "watermelon industry" is similar to his relationship with the villagers: "My success cannot be separated from the villagers. They need me, and I need them even more. Only together are we a win-win."
Looking to the future, Huang Aihua said that a belief he has always held firm will continue to support him moving forward - "Make a lot of money, help more people."
Reporter's notebook: The watermelons here taste good in the mouth and are sweet in the heart
On July 15, under the scorching sun, the reporter walked into Yitang Town, and everywhere the eye could see was a gratifying scene of harvest.
At every farmer's home, a plate of bright-colored, juice-filled big red watermelon was brought out. These were all fresh watermelons just picked from the fields, green rind and red flesh. One bite, and it was clear and sweet, quenching thirst and relieving fatigue - so sweet.
The farmers were beaming with joy: "This year's harvest is good. Not only is the yield high, but it also sold for a good price."
From one person getting rich to the whole village escaping poverty, from one industry dominating alone to the integration of three industries, in Yitang Town we truly saw the "win-win," and even "multi-win," path to prosperity.
This mouthful of sweetness is sweet in the mouth and beautiful in the heart.