Three Red Honey Pomelo Paves the Way for Farmers to Increase Income and Prosper
"This whole area is planted with Three Red Honey Pomelo." On May 16, the author walked into the Gaoling Family Farm in Wulong Village, Masi Township, Xincheng County, and saw that both sides of the clean and tidy road were planted with flourishing Three Red Honey Pomelo trees, with peanuts also intercropped between the rows of fruit trees over 1 m tall, while fruit farmers were busy pruning branches and leaves with scissors in hand.
"This area covers more than 70 mu in total, and about more than 30 mu will bear fruit next year. In the first year, one tree can probably yield twenty to thirty jin, and calculated at last year's retail price of 8 yuan per jin, it can sell for at least 200 yuan. In the third and fourth years, the fruit from one pomelo tree can sell for five or six hundred yuan." In the view of Yuan Fei, owner of the Gaoling Family Farm, every fruit tree before his eyes is his "money tree."
Yuan Fei is 29 years old this year. He once went out to work and helped a boss manage an orchard, where he learned some fruit planting techniques. During the Spring Festival in 2014, he came back and discussed with his family, deciding to return home and start a business growing Three Red Honey Pomelo. After gaining his parents' support, he used all 200,000 yuan sponsored by his family for renting land and ordering fruit seedlings. In 2015, he successfully planted 30 mu, and this year he continued to expand the planting. At present, under his influence and leadership, more than 10 households in the whole village have participated in growing Three Red Honey Pomelo, with a total area of more than 100 mu.
"Xiao Yuan not only provides us with techniques free of charge, but also promised to help us sell the pomelos. As long as the market remains stable, in just a few years my family will also be able to shake off poverty." said Lan Guokang, a poor grower in Gaoling Tun, happily.
Yuan Fei's development of Three Red Honey Pomelo planting has also gained recognition from the Xincheng County government. In addition to subsidising him with chemical fertiliser and recommending him to go out to participate in study and training, relevant departments such as the county agricultural bureau also fully assisted him in building his Three Red Honey Pomelo orchard into a typical ecological family farm in Xincheng County.
"The development of the Three Red Honey Pomelo industry by Gaoling Farm can increase local villagers' income in three aspects. First, land transfer rent: by renting out land for 10 years, farmers can obtain a one-time land rental income of 3,000 yuan per mu. Second, labour income: some left-behind women and older farmers who work on the farm can get about 80 yuan per day in labour remuneration. Third, three-dimensional planting and breeding: in the first three years, peanuts, rapeseed flowers and so on can be intercropped between the rows of fruit trees, and after the trees bear fruit, free-range chickens can be raised under the trees, obtaining multiple sources of income." The person in charge of the county agricultural bureau told the author that the honey pomelo planting industry has become a good way for poor farmers in the county to increase income and become prosperous.
"Next, I plan to develop more than 400 mu of red-fleshed honey pomelo planting in several village groups in Wulong Village, including Gaoling Tun, Banyang Tun, Moguang Tun and Niuyan Tun, to drive more than 200 farming households and build a 'Hometown of Three Red Honey Pomelo.' At the same time, in combination with ecological village construction, I will guide farmers to insert holes, plant flowers and plant trees, and build an ecological village demonstration site. When the pomelos ripen, we will further tap the added value of the honey pomelo industry through flower viewing, fruit picking and running farmhouse entertainment, so as to drive villagers to shake off poverty and increase income." Yuan Fei is full of confidence in future development.