Grapes in Hengfeng, Shangrao, Jiangxi String Together Farmers' Dreams of Prosperity

Neat rows of grape greenhouses spanning a thousand mu

Under bright sunshine, in the thousand-mu grape orchard of Caiwu Village, Cenyang Town, Hengfeng, Shangrao City, grape farmers are busy weeding and pest-controlling the grapes, clearing ditches and dredging channels - a scene of bustling activity. With more than half a month to go before the opening of the Hengfeng Yanchen Grape Tourism Festival, Lyu Haifeng, chairman of the Yanchen Planting and Breeding Professional Cooperative, is already filled with excitement, looking forward to another bumper harvest at this 1200-mu grape orchard. In the previous two years, Cenyang Town held two consecutive Yanchen Grape Cultural Tourism Festivals, which brought him and hundreds of grape farmers in the village substantial profits.

"Employment + Agriculture" Doubles the Income of Stay-at-Home Villagers

Lyu Haifeng's grape orchard was established in 2013, covering more than 1200 mu. Besides grapes, it also grows fruits such as dragon fruit, strawberries and cherries. After several years of operation, each mu can now generate about 8000 yuan in revenue, not only bringing him considerable profit but also providing jobs for more than 300 people at their doorstep.

Apart from employment, villagers can also choose to invest their own farmland as shares. "Growing rice can produce 600 jin of paddy per year, which at current prices is about 720 yuan. If they invest as shares, we will give corresponding compensation to guarantee the villagers' interests," Lyu Haifeng said. Driven by the grape base, the annual per capita income of stay-at-home villagers has risen from 2000 yuan to around 5000 yuan.

According to Lyu Haifeng's vision, in this "cooperative + base + farmers" model, the cooperative is merely a platform that can both guarantee farmers' income and further build up the cooperative's brand. At present, Cenyang Town has also established a modern ecological agriculture industry demonstration park, in which an agricultural products distribution center covering more than 20 mu with a cold storage facility has already been built.