Dingtao, Shandong: Making a Fortune from Potted Fruit

Grapes inside a greenhouse

In early summer, this writer walked into Wanglukou Village, Rangu Town, Dingtao District, and saw green everywhere: row after row of emerald grape vines stretching out their branches and leaves, while the growing fruit happily plumped itself up. Inside one of the greenhouses, a sun-darkened fruit grower was busy picking ripe tomatoes planted in the gaps between the grape vines, and within moments the several baskets beside him were piled full. "The losses from last winter's heavy snow are being made up for with these ripe tomatoes. The early-ripening ones have already been sold out, and the late-ripening ones are not ripe yet. This is exactly the stage to sell them for a good price; once they are sold, I will pull up the roots so I can plant grapes." He pointed at the tomatoes that were still ripening and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Struggling in Poverty, Never Giving Up on Getting Rich

This middle-aged man is Wang Weizhong: a plaid shirt, jeans, a head full of sweat and two feet caked in mud, with a touch of world-weariness. An ordinary fruit grower through and through - that was this writer's first impression of him. He is 51 this year and has been growing grapes for 27 years, with rich experience in cultivation and management. He has an elderly father who needs care, and also a 21-year-old son who was born with intellectual disability and a young 6-year-old daughter who need looking after. In order to care for the elderly man and the children, he and his wife have always farmed at home, relying only on growing grapes to supplement the household income. Though only middle-aged, he has already been bent and hunched by the pressure of life.

Although life is not wealthy, Wang Weizhong has never given up on getting rich. He actively takes part in the grape training classes held in the village, learns by watching television, uses modern scientific greenhouse techniques, applies natural fertilizer, and grows two mu of early-ripening, pollution-free grapes, achieving off-season marketing to earn the price difference. The grapes are sweet and delicious, well received by local people, and this has increased his sales returns. To adapt to different consumer demands, he has also worked on enriching his grape varieties. The grapes he grows include Early No. 1, Horse Teat, ** Seedless, Kyoho, Muscat Hamburg, Red Baladi and several other varieties, among which Muscat Hamburg is the most famous. His grapes have won consumer recognition for their good quality, and the price per kilogram is more than 1 yuan higher than elsewhere. Even so, every year his grapes are still in short supply, and buyers place orders with him in advance.

Growing Potted Grapes: 80,000 Yuan Profit per Mu

Wanglukou Village is a well-known grape-growing village far and wide. Its grapes are sweet and tart, full-fleshed, and hugely popular. Wang Weizhong believes that to stand out in a grape village, he must develop a new growing method - potted grapes.

Speaking about why he thought of cultivating potted grapes, Wang Weizhong said that more and more people are growing grapes now, the growing area is increasing year by year, and competition is fierce. If potted grapes can open up a new sales channel, it will certainly be a good thing for grape growers. "I saw on television that people elsewhere were growing them, so I wanted to give it a try too."

According to what this writer learned, last year Wang Weizhong trial-planted 200 pots in total, of which more than 100 grew well. They were quickly reserved by grape wholesalers, nearby business owners and some friends, at 80 yuan per pot. "They were very interested when they saw them. Nowadays people care about freshness when eating fruit. Grapes do not keep well; after you buy them you have to put them in the fridge, and when you take them out again the taste is not as good. Potted grapes guarantee that every single one you eat is fresh," Wang Weizhong said.

As for the prospects for potted grapes this year, Wang Weizhong is still very confident. He did the accounts for this writer: if potted grapes sell well, the returns will be much higher than now. "One mu of land can produce roughly 1,000 pots. Calculating at 80 yuan per pot, earning 80,000 yuan from one mu is not a dream at all, while under normal circumstances, earning 20,000 to 30,000 yuan from one mu of grapes is already remarkable."

Experimenting with New Products: Getting Rich Is No Longer a Dream

At Wang Weizhong's home, this writer found that he had used the empty courtyard to plant patches of different grape varieties such as Summer Black and Ruby Seedless, as well as strawberries, sugarcane, dragon fruit and other fruits. Wang Weizhong told this writer that this plot is his experimental field for cultivating new fruits, to see whether they are suitable for growing there, and if they taste good, he will expand the planting area.

"In winter I used the temperature difference in the greenhouse to trial-plant several pots of potted strawberries, and the trial results were quite good," Wang Weizhong said. Next, he will find experts to learn about training methods. Although he has only been growing potted fruit for two years, Wang Weizhong clearly already has a bigger goal. "Consumers' shopping psychology is changing. They not only demand that agricultural products be 'tasty', but also that they be 'good-looking'. Producers must adjust their thinking and growing habits. Only by finding new 'selling points' and breaking through the traditional framework can you win by surprise, and getting rich is no longer a dream."