Party member Deng Anjun returns home to start a business and brings prosperity to the people of Leishan

Deng Anjun picking flowers in the garden.

Recently, our reporter walked into Wangfeng Village, Wangfeng Township, Leishan County and saw patches of rose gardens, some planted in the fields, and some intercropped in tea and fruit tree bases. Seen from afar, the pink flowers were especially enchanting, with a bumper harvest in sight. Wangfeng Village Communist Party member and returned migrant worker Deng Anjun was leading villagers in planting roses, setting out on the road to prosperity.

Deng Anjun, 48 this year, was born in Wangfeng Village, Wangfeng Township, Leishan County, Guizhou Province. He is of Han ethnicity. In 1982, due to family hardship, he only studied up to the first year of junior high school. In July 2007, he joined the Communist Party of China. He is currently a member of the Wangfeng Village Party branch committee.

"As early as October 1997, I went with villagers from my village to Hainan to work cutting sugarcane. In my spare time, I would wander around the sugarcane fields. By accident, I came upon a very beautiful sea of roses. After checking things out, I rolled up my bedding and quietly slipped into the rose garden. By the time they realized I was gone, nearly a month had passed. Keeping it from everyone, I 'went undercover' to grow roses. I was quick-witted and soon mastered rose-growing techniques." Deng Anjun said this on June 8 when interviewed by our reporter.

In mid-November 1997, after returning from working in Hainan, Deng Anjun set his heart on growing roses. But after running around for several days like a headless fly, he still could not find rose seedlings, let alone a place to sell roses. So the matter was put aside. Deng Anjun is a person who cannot stay idle. Unable to grow roses, he "tinkered" with fruit trees and tea instead. More than 1,000 fruit trees were planted, and tea seedlings were also planted on a 50-mu tea base. Three or four years later, golden autumn pears and tea began to be harvested.

In 2013, he had a second chance to "keep it secret." The Wangfeng Township government brought back Zhao Zhengye, a Wangfeng Village girl who had married into Shandong Province, and her husband Li Mingxiang, through investment promotion. In early 2014, they founded "Leishan County Fengye Rose Development Co., Ltd." in the Datianbian natural village of Wangfeng Village, and built a new rose processing plant covering an area of 2,000 sq m. Deng Anjun, who had never stopped thinking about roses, realized his opportunity had come. But roses were not cheap. One seedling cost 10 yuan, and for one mu of land, the seedlings alone cost 4,000 yuan. Adding fertilizer and labor costs, it would take at least 5,000 yuan to get it done. He was not content to plant only a few mu. If he planted more, his three children at home were still in school and the burden was heavy; if he failed, he was also afraid of worrying his family sick.

Villagers selling roses at the Fengye Rose Processing Factory and sorting the selected ones.

Facing this dilemma, Deng Anjun again chose to conceal it. Although he had actually planted 13 mu of roses, he said he had planted only 5 mu. With 80,000 yuan invested, no small pressure rested on his thin shoulders. It was not until 2014, when these 13 mu of roses began to be sold and brought in nearly 1,000 yuan, and in 2015, when 11 mu of roses produced 26,338 yuan in cash income, that he happily told his wife that the 13 mu of roses planted had paid off in two years. Having tasted the sweetness of roses, in November 2015 Deng Anjun took more than 200,000 yuan and bought more than 20,000 rose seedlings from Heze County, Shandong Province, planting 52 mu.

"I manage them scientifically, doing a good job of seasonal pruning, fertilizing and pest control. Generally, in the 8th lunar month, pest control must be done so the insects will not damage next year's flowers. In the 9th lunar month, pruning and fertilizing must be done so the flower buds that grow out are uniform and easy to pick. This year my 65 mu rose garden is growing very well. I started picking and selling flowers on April 10 at five yuan per jin. On a fast picking day, I can also earn four or five hundred yuan. There are four picking rounds in a year. So far, two rounds have been picked, and sales income has already reached more than 100,000 yuan. It is expected that picking will end in mid-August. Calculated at 3,800 yuan of income per mu, total income can reach more than 240,000 yuan." Deng Anjun said.

When one family becomes rich, a hundred families learn; when one household becomes rich, it leads a whole area. "Before, we never even dreamed of growing roses. It was only after seeing Group Leader Deng grow them that we followed suit. My family planted 4 mu and has begun to earn income too. It is expected that this year we will also have an income of more than five thousand yuan." said Yang Guangguo, a villager from the sixth group. It is understood that under the influence and drive of Deng Anjun, a member of the village Party branch committee and a villager group leader for fifteen years, 67 households in Wangfeng Village have now joined the ranks of rose planting. The whole village has a planting area of more than 380 mu, and part of the area has already begun to produce benefits. It is expected that by the full-production period, income can reach 1.44 million yuan. In November 2013, Fengye Rose Development Co., Ltd. used a "company + farmers" development model to provide 128,000 seedlings to more than 150 farming households in villages including Wangfeng, Wuju, Sanjiaotian and Gongtong, with a rose planting area of 320 mu. Up to now, Wangfeng Township has planted a total rose area of more than 1,000 mu. It is expected that by the full-production period, it can bring more than 3.8 million yuan in economic income to the flower-growing villagers. At present, townships such as Xijiang and Langde have also come to Wangfeng Township to learn rose-growing techniques.

At the end of the interview that day, our reporter asked: "Your income from growing roses is so considerable. What are your plans for the future?" Deng Anjun said with a smile: "Thanks to the care and support of the local Party committee and government. Now our Wangfeng Township has a 'Fengye Rose Processing Factory.' At present, roses can be picked and sold at any time, which greatly convenience the flower-growing people. In 2017, I want to expand the rose planting area to more than 70 mu, and strive to reach an income of more than 270,000 to 300,000 yuan. As a Communist Party member, I cannot think only of getting rich myself and ignore everyone else. In the future, I will further pass on the techniques to everyone, mobilize villagers to plant roses together, and strive to expand the township's rose planting area to more than 1,500 mu next year, so that we can all embark on the road to prosperity together and realize the dream of moderate prosperity as soon as possible."