Returning home to rent over a thousand mu of land to grow vegetables, giving up an annual income of 200,000

“Land transfer brings income, and I can usually come work at the base too. Working with Boss Peng, I can get rich without leaving home.” At the Xinmao Ecological Agriculture Base in Tacheng Township, Nanchang County, looking at baskets of freshly picked vegetables and fruit, Tacheng Township villager Zhu Jinyu's face was filled with a joyful smile. The “Boss Peng” she mentioned is named Peng Ning, who 6 years ago gave up a “golden rice bowl” with an annual income of 200,000 yuan, returned home and transferred over a thousand mu of land to grow vegetables. In just a few years, with an ecological vegetable base, he set more than a thousand villagers on the road to increased income and prosperity.

Returning home to grow vegetablesDriving more than 1,500 farming households into employment

Hupi Village is located in the central area of Shuilanzhou in Tacheng Township, with beautiful scenery. In 2010, Peng Ning relied on the ecological advantages here to carry out green planting and breeding, established the Xinmao Ecological Agriculture Base, and transferred land to build a vegetable base.

When Peng Ning returned to his hometown to grow vegetables, the villagers were all startled. It turned out that Peng Ning, as a college student from the village, had entered a prestigious school, was deeply knowledgeable, and also had a respectable, well-paying job in the city, yet he was unwilling to cling to a “golden rice bowl” and resolutely resigned to return home. “Every year when I came home, the hometown had not changed much. I hope I can do something to make my hometown better.” Peng Ning said.

Today, the Xinmao Ecological Agriculture Base has transferred 1,006 mu of land, including more than 350 mu of pollution-free vegetable planting base, more than 100 mu of hundred-fruit orchard, more than 260 mu of aquatic ecological breeding farm, more than 60 mu of livestock and poultry ecological breeding farm, and more than 230 mu of rice and other cash crops. Peng Ning also registered the “Gandi Xinmao” trademark, built a pollution-free vegetable base, and 14 vegetable products under the company obtained pollution-free agricultural product certification from the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Center of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Not only that, the Xinmao Ecological Agriculture Base operates under the model of “company + core base + farmers' professional cooperative + farming households”, and farming households can participate in the company's planting in various forms and share the fruits of development. In 2015, the base's agricultural product sales revenue reached more than 24 million yuan, directly and indirectly driving more than 1,500 local farming households into employment.

Farmers livethe life of office workers with an 8-hour day

With the construction of the rural land transfer trading market, the development path of the Xinmao Ecological Agriculture Base has gone further and further. This year Peng Ning increased investment in infrastructure and built a multi-span greenhouse, preparing to focus on premium fruits and vegetables. At the same time, it also opened up a path to increased income and prosperity for local villagers.

At the Xinmao Ecological Agriculture Base, Zhu Jinyu is a senior employee of the base, mainly responsible for picking and caring for the vegetables in the base. Compared with the past farming life of facing the loess with the back to the sky, she now lives the life of an office worker with an 8-hour workday every day.

“I work 8 hours a day, earn more than 1,000 yuan in wages each month, and also get more than 1,000 yuan in land rent. It is much better than farming before.” Zhu Jinyu told the reporter that her husband died early, and in the past farming depended entirely on the weather. Now she has a stable job at the Xinmao Ecological Agriculture Base. Not only is it less hard work, but her income is guaranteed, and life feels more hopeful.

“After land transfer, farmers have all become ‘three-gold’ farmers. Through land transfer or shareholding and other methods, farmers can obtain rent while also transferring to the secondary and tertiary industries, greatly increasing their income.” According to the relevant person in charge of the municipal Agriculture Bureau, previously farming households operated in a scattered way, and the net income per mu in one season was only 300 yuan to 600 yuan. Now land transfer allows farmers to transfer land in the form of leasing, and depending on the region and the nature of the land, they can obtain a “rent” of 400 yuan to 800 yuan per mu each year.

In addition, farmers who transfer land in the form of shareholding can also obtain “dividends” from the project each year. At the same time, farmers can leave the land with peace of mind and work nearby or in the city, earning a “salary”, and some farmers leave the land to start their own businesses and can also obtain considerable returns.

The village takes on a completely new look

At the Feiran Ecological Park (Nanchang Vegetable Garden) at the foot of Shizifeng in Meiling, the fields are laid out in squares, roads and canals form a network, trees stand in rows, with mountains and water nearby, presenting a pastoral scene. Along the way, the villages in the park have taken on a completely new look, and the people's living environment has improved markedly.

“This place used to be all wasteland. Now roads have been built, trees planted, houses beautified, and the village greened. It is much more beautiful.” Inside the intelligent glass greenhouse of Feiran Ecological Park, Liu Wenxiu carefully tends the ecological vegetables absorbing “nutrient solution”. At this time 1 year ago, she was still struggling to make a living in Beijing. Now she has a stable job in the park and can also take care of the elderly and children at home.

Fu Jun, deputy general manager of Feiran Ecological Park, told the reporter that because most of the farmers in the park transferred their land to the company, farmers' direct income increased by more than 7,000 yuan per person per year. Moreover, all the company's workers are hired from local left-behind farmers. Male workers earn 3,000 yuan per month, and female workers 1,700 yuan per month. Last year, the per capita net income of farmers in the park reached 13,000 yuan.

“Not only do farmers have new ways to increase income, but the concepts and facilities of modern agricultural development in the park, as well as advanced production technology, have fundamentally changed local farmers' thinking.” Fu Jun said.