On the road of almond cultivation, Song Xueqin of Fenxi walks with a resounding stride

Unwilling to accept a life of poverty

What Song Xueqin felt most deeply was that in the first few years after marrying into Fenxi from Hebei, all her initial curiosity and freshness was quickly replaced by a sense of desolation. Relying on the optimistic and positive mindset she had formed over the long term, this strong woman did not give up on herself; instead, she thought hard and worked to change her impoverished situation.

In 2008, gypsum suddenly became popular. So Song Xueqin also invested in building a gypsum factory, but the factory soon went bankrupt. She spent a great deal of time visiting places all day or searching online for entrepreneurial projects, and finally set her sights on almonds.

No matter how hard or tiring, she had to persevere

Almonds are also called badam and American almonds. They have very high nutritional value, contain 18 mineral elements, and are rich in vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin E and others. Most importantly, the demand for almonds is enormous, and 95% of China's almonds need to be imported, so the room for developing almonds is very broad!

She had made her choice, but where should she start? Just when she was at a loss, Song Xueqin accidentally discovered on a website that Fenxi County was cultivating an almond experimental base, and she was overjoyed. It took quite some effort before she found out that the person in charge of the almond base was Cao Yugui, director of the Fenxi Science and Technology Development Center.

She told Cao Yugui about her strong desire and plan to grow almonds, and received great support from him.

She acted as soon as she decided. In 2011, Song Xueqin contracted more than 150 mu of barren hills and slopes, determined to vigorously develop almonds. The first step was to clear the barren hills. At that time, the hills were covered with all kinds of messy shrubs and wolf's-teeth thorn everywhere. Clearing them was not only laborious, but her hands and body were often cut by the thorns. Song Xueqin, who had grown up on the plains, had never walked mountain paths and often fell. "I have always believed that no matter what you do, without a strong will and persistent spirit, you can accomplish nothing. It is better to regard the current situation as a kind of training for yourself." In this way, after more than two months of effort, she led her family and finally finished clearing the weeds.

By the spring of the following year, the county science and technology development center provided scions free of charge and sent technical personnel to train them in grafting techniques. In this way, more than 1,000 almond trees were grafted. Then came management tasks such as removing sprouts, staking (tying), and pruning. The almond trees grew very vigorously. By autumn, the fruit trees had already grown to more than one meter tall, and Song Xueqin's confidence grew even stronger. Soon after, the Fenxi County Zhuohan Agriculture and Forestry Professional Cooperative, with Song Xueqin as the legal representative, was formally established. More than a dozen grafters were quickly trained, and after more than a month of effort, more than 10,000 almond trees were grafted in total.

During this period, due to a lack of experience and technical guidance, many problems arose in the management process, such as grafting density being too high, which led to insufficient sunlight and caused canopy closure, and inadequate pruning in the early stage, which caused the fruit trees to consume excessive nutrients. These problems troubled Song Xueqin for a long time. Fortunately, He Yong, an expert from the Fruit Tree Research Institute of the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences, made several special trips to the base and solved the technical and management difficulties. Li Jie, director of the Provincial Fruit Tree Research Institute, and many other experts also provided guidance and help to this newly established base.

"I am especially grateful to them. It is they who made me deeply love this land that, although not wealthy, is warm." Whenever Song Xueqin spoke of these things, she inadvertently revealed deep affection.

The almond project got off the ground, but the development of almonds cannot be separated from people. This family, which devoted all its energy to the almond project, would next face an even greater problem: if both of them worked on almonds, how would they make a living? How would they pay their children's tuition? How would they fund the almond investment? If they went out to work, no one would manage the almond trees, which meant all their efforts would be wasted.

After thinking it over again and again, Song Xueqin decided to take odd jobs in the surrounding villages.

She heard from an acquaintance that there was a broiler chicken farm in Taiyangshan hiring feeders. So the couple went to this chicken farm to work as feeders. Only after starting did they realize that being a feeder was not as simple as just feeding the chickens. They also had to remove manure every day, and the heat and stench in the house mixed together, making it unbearable. The boiler had to burn 24 hours a day regardless of spring, summer, autumn or winter. The couple took turns, not daring to close their eyes all night long. In this way, the couple worked for four autumns and winters. "My husband and I had to earn money to support the trees and the family, and had no time to look after the children. Both of my children attended kindergarten in Hebei. Thinking about it now, without faith, I could never have persevered."

Leading fellow villagers to become wealthy together

The surrounding villagers witnessed the gradual development of the almond base, and they could no longer sit still. Their desire to grow almonds was very strong. After understanding the villagers' wishes, Song Xueqin taught them grafting techniques and management experience hand by hand. Because many people needed grafting and there were not enough scions, she went to other villages to arrange for scions. Later, growers from Ganhe Village in Hongtong County and elsewhere came in an endless stream after hearing of her reputation, making this cooperative, which integrated almond planting, seedling cultivation, grafting and sales, busy and fulfilled. By 2016, the cooperative had more than 10 members and more than 30 professional grafters. Song Xueqin led the villagers in developing more than 13,000 mu of almond economic forest, including more than 8,000 mu of orchards established by top-grafting almond trees onto mountain peach trees and more than 4,000 mu of newly built almond orchards, distributed across 8 townships in the county and also extending to Ganhe Village in Hongtong County.

"Seeing the villagers full of drive one by one, I feel sincerely gratified. It is as if I can see a beautiful tomorrow." On the almond road, Song Xueqin walks with a resounding stride.