Cash crop orchards help farmers onto the road to prosperity

"A hidden paradise deep in the mountains, flowers and fruit on every slope of yellow earth; the poor and backward have wisdom, and he leads the way out of poverty to prosperity." This rhyming verse passed among the villagers of Sanjiaochong Group, Huangheying Village, Maoying Town, Ziyun Autonomous County, is praise for Xie Jiagang, who led the villagers out of poverty to prosperity.

In the past, Sanjiaochong Group was utterly poor and blank, one of the most remote village groups in Maoying Town; villagers had to walk 2 hours along mountain paths to go to market and buy daily necessities. Today, the villagers of Sanjiaochong Group have shaken off poverty; wealthy families have an annual income of nearly 150,000 yuan, and ordinary families have an annual income of 50,000 yuan.

Behind the prosperity of the villagers of Sanjiaochong Group, one person deserves much of the credit: Xie Jiagang, a villager of the same village. Since planting 70 mu of fruit tree peach orchard in 1990, Xie Jiagang's cash crop orchard planting area has now grown to more than 200 mu. Under his influence and leadership, all 34 households of Sanjiaochong Group have taken the road to prosperity through cash crop orchard planting.

In 1990, Xie Jiagang, born into a poor family, made a decision that astonished the villagers of Sanjiaochong Group: he used all his contracted farmland to plant peach trees.

"Ever since planting the peach seedlings, my family has never again prepared fields and transplanted rice seedlings." Xie Jiagang said that one should learn the trade one specializes in, and in order to take good care of the peach orchard, he put all his energy into managing it.

At first, Xie Jiagang only planted the peach seedlings, and he knew nothing about care and management techniques. He learned while planting, often went elsewhere to inspect and study, and repeatedly invited experts to give him technical guidance. After long exploration and learning, Xie Jiagang's knowledge of orchard planting grew richer and richer.

"For a long time, the villagers of Sanjiaochong Group relied mainly on planting traditional crops such as rice and corn, and they somewhat did not understand Xie Jiagang's sudden decision to stop planting rice and corn, and even laughed at him." said Wang Qiguo, head of Sanjiaochong Village Group. In that era, as a farmer not planting crops but planting an orchard, it took great courage.

In 1994, the first batch of peach trees planted by Xie Jiagang had a bumper yield, earning more than 20,000 yuan that year, which was already a good harvest for the economic conditions at the time.

"At first, I lacked planting techniques and did not know how to prune branches; I thought the more luxuriant the branches and the more twigs, the more fruit would set." Xie Jiagang said. Through inspection and study and years of practical summary, I have basically mastered the planting techniques for fruit trees such as peaches, pears and plums.

As Xie Jiagang gradually escaped poverty and became prosperous through planting cash crop orchards, the doubts of the villagers of Sanjiaochong Group about developing cash crop orchards gradually disappeared, and some villagers gradually took part in planting; little by little, the villagers' thinking gradually shifted away from traditional agriculture.

Xie Jiagang said that the most important technique in planting fruit trees is branch pruning. If branches are pruned poorly, either the fruit set is heavy but the fruit is small, or the fruit is large but the set is light. To get large fruit and a heavy set, it still depends on how the branches are pruned.

After 2000, with the improvement of management techniques, the yield of Xie Jiagang's peach orchard increased year by year, with an annual output of more than 20,000 jin, and the annual income from the peach orchard alone was more than 60,000 yuan. "While planting peach trees, I also planted fruit trees such as bayberry, plum and pear." Xie Jiagang said.

In 2010, encouraged by the government's policy support for industrial structure adjustment, Xie Jiagang planted a second batch of 60 mu of cash crop orchard. This time, in addition to using 20 mu of land to plant bayberry, Xie Jiagang also planted fruit trees such as Fengtang plum, pear and Bingcui plum.

In 2013, after Xie Jiagang planted a third batch of cash crop orchard, all of his family's contracted land and contracted hillsides were planted with orchard.

This year, the bayberry planted by Xie Jiagang had a bumper yield for the first time, with more than 10,000 jin picked; the average wholesale market price was 8 yuan per jin, bringing in more than 80,000 yuan. Peaches are expected to yield more than 50,000 jin; at a minimum wholesale market price of 1.5 yuan per jin, earning 80,000 yuan is no problem. Xie Jiagang firmly believes that in three years, the total annual income of his orchard will exceed 500,000 yuan.

"The whole of Sanjiaochong Group has been influenced by Xie Jiagang. Since 2010, all 34 households in the village group have freed themselves from the thinking of planting traditional crops, and their land and barren slopes have basically been planted with fruit seedlings. Because the villagers did not understand techniques at the beginning of planting, Xie Jiagang provided them with technical guidance and services." Wang Qiguo said. In today's Sanjiaochong Group, the smallest orchard planting is no less than 30 mu; take this year alone, the lowest income from cash crop orchards alone is no less than 30,000 yuan.

Today's Sanjiaochong has green mountains and clear waters everywhere, and every household has a small white building, such a beautiful picture of an ecological homeland!