Yang Jinghua and His Fruit-Vegetables in Langxi County, Anhui
Early in the morning on May 3, Yang Jinghua came to his fruit-and-vegetable greenhouse to get busy. Inside the greenhouse, all kinds of fruit and vegetable seedlings were neatly placed in the ditches waiting to be transplanted, and the second batch of new seedlings had already grown to about half a chi.
Yang Jinghua is a college-graduate village official. In 2015, he went to Zhongfang Village, Meizhu Town, Langxi County to serve as an assistant to the general branch secretary. After taking up the post, many villagers told him that they lacked ways to get rich and hoped he could come up with some ideas for the villagers to start businesses. So he, a graduate of the Horticulture Department of Nanjing Agricultural University, began his own exploration and attempts for this purpose.
Growing fruits and vegetables is easy for Yang Jinghua. To ensure the idea could succeed, he first opened up 3 mu of "experimental field" in Tangqiao Village, the county's Economic Development Zone, and adopted ecologically healthy agricultural methods to grow fruit corn, fruit cucumbers, and fruit tomatoes. "Now many agricultural products are grown soaked in hormones and pesticides. I hope to explore a new model that not only ensures the quality of agricultural products but also innovates on that basis, creating an F2F (farm to family) direct supply model." Yang Jinghua focused his mind on innovation in planting technology and sales models. He lets fruit tomatoes ripen naturally, which is fundamentally different from some tomatoes on the market that are ripened with hormones.
The author learned that the price of fruit tomatoes on the market is 8-15 yuan/jin. Although the price sounds good, the purchase price at the farm gate is very low, and the profits are all earned by layers of middlemen. But after farmers use Yang Jinghua's "F2F" model, the fruit tomatoes in the fields can be delivered directly to the market, and the villagers' profit margin also grows straight to as much as 2 times.
At the other end of the "experimental field," the author saw another batch of mini fruit cucumbers. They are only 1/4 the size of ordinary cucumbers. "Compared with ordinary cucumbers, fruit cucumbers require more refined management." Yang Jinghua once again opened up his "planting know-how." It turns out that fruit cucumbers have very high temperature requirements and are naturally "delicate." During the seedling stage, greenhouses must be used to raise the temperature and promote vine growth. During the fruiting stage, the temperature must be controlled within 32 degrees, and equipment such as exhaust fans should be used to maintain ventilation and reduce disease.
"Currently on the market, fruit cucumbers are widely favored by consumers because of their small and delicate appearance, crisp taste, and rich nutrition," Yang Jinghua said.
To broaden the sales channels for the products, Yang Jinghua opened a WeChat official account and set up a farm micro-mall, regularly publishing seasonal fruit and vegetable products and some small tips on food safety. In this way, he can establish online contact with villagers and customers. Next, he will mobilize citizens willing to cultivate pollution-free fruits and vegetables to jointly grow and raise ecological agricultural products, turning ecological agriculture into a wealth-generating industry that brings win-win and double gains to both farmers and users.