The planting story of Sun Shanda, the Potato King, in Salaxi Town, Qixingguan District
In early summer, the author came to the potato planting base in Longfeng Village, Salaxi Town, Qixingguan District, and from a distance saw Sun Shanda in the field helping villagers observe the growth of the potatoes. "Look at how well these potatoes are growing. Every seedling has its own special vitality. This year's harvest will definitely be good." Seeing the author arrive, Sun Shanda pointed to the neat, uniform potatoes at his feet and said happily.
Sun Shanda is the deputy director of Longfeng Village, Salaxi Town. In recent years, in order to lead the people out of poverty and toward moderate prosperity, he has, in light of the village's actual conditions, actively led the villagers in adjusting the agricultural industrial structure, vigorously developed the potato planting industry, effectively expanded the space for villagers to become wealthy, and made the villagers' wallets bulge step by step. Therefore, the villagers jokingly called him Longfeng Village.
In 2012, in order to integrate resources and improve the people's ability to withstand risks in potato planting, under the guidance of the town Party committee and government and in light of Longfeng Village's actual conditions, Sun Shanda registered capital of 400,000 yuan and established the Hongzhida Potato Professional Cooperative, and applied to the administrative department for industry and commerce to register the "Hongzhida" potato trademark. At present, the people participating in the cooperative increase their income by more than 15,000 yuan per year. The establishment of the cooperative not only enhanced the market competitiveness of Longfeng Village's potatoes, but also made Longfeng Village a well-known local specialized village for potato breeding.
Every spring, Sun Shanda provides villagers with seeds and chemical fertilizer, and passes on technology to the villagers. When the harvest comes, he purchases potatoes and seeds from the people at a price per jin higher than the market price, stores them in a unified way, and sells them in a unified way, so as to relieve the people's worries. In recent years, Sun Shanda has relied on his own potato "planting formula" to turn Longfeng Village's potatoes into a brand industry. To ensure the healthy development of the cooperative, Sun Shanda discussed with other management personnel of the cooperative and decided to seize the market, establishing 15 sales outlets in 6 large and medium-sized cities inside and outside the province, including Guiyang, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Guangzhou, and adding 8 purchasing outlets within Bijie City.
"My family planted 13 mu of potatoes this year. Through the technical guidance of the cooperative, this year's output value is expected to reach 40,000 to 50,000 jin, with an increase in income of about 35,000 yuan." When villager Li Xingfa spoke of the "sweetness" brought by planting potatoes, he could never hide the joy in his heart, and the villagers working in the fields all had faces filled with the joy of harvest.
Sun Shanda has always had an indissoluble bond with potato planting. Previously planting Chinese medicinal herbs and potatoes gave him a strong interest in agriculture. Speaking of his "destiny" with potatoes, Sun Shanda said it was Longfeng Village's unique geographical advantages and fertile land that created Longfeng Village's brand potatoes and also made him what he is today. He explained that in the past, when households split up, there was a land shortage, and if the people wanted to eat potatoes of good quality, they could only buy them from other townships. In 2007, in order to change the situation of idle land in Longfeng Village, Sun Shanda encouraged villagers to plant potatoes, while he himself provided technology and seeds free of charge. Through a series of efforts, many villagers in Longfeng Village once again shouldered their hoes and used idle land to plant potatoes.
Through the introduction of high-quality potato varieties and the support of agricultural technology departments, the potatoes grown in Longfeng Village have high quality and a unique aroma, gradually making Longfeng Village's high-quality potato brand well known. When everyone saw that Longfeng Village's potatoes were different in quality from those of other townships and other places, they rushed to buy them, and sometimes there were even cases of bosses coming into the fields to purchase them.
In 2008, the potatoes planted by Sun Shanda and the villagers of Longfeng Village increased output by more than 2,000 jin per mu, and later increased by another 3,000 to 4,000 jin. "They can be sold and eaten, solving the people's food and clothing problem while also solving the feed problem for livestock." Sun Shanda said that potatoes are a "lazy man's" crop; basically, once planted, one only needs to wait for the autumn harvest. Relying on Sun Shanda's stubborn "bull-like drive," the villagers expanded the scale of potato planting one after another, and their wallets bulged step by step. Today, Longfeng Village plants 10,000 mu of potatoes. Through potato planting, 169 poor households have been driven forward, and the poor households participating in planting increase their income by up to 15,000 yuan per year. At the same time, it has driven more than 30,000 households in surrounding townships to plant 3.05 million mu of potatoes.