300 mu of barren hillside turned into an orchard: college graduate Liu Xing returns home to start a business
Turning 300 mu of barren hillside into an orchard
-- A short account of college graduate Liu Xing returning home to start a business
Cherries ripen in April, loquats hang in June, peaches are picked in August; eat free-range chicken, taste wild vegetables, tour the orchard, pick fruit; with ample stores throughout the four seasons, we can entertain guests from all directions... According to the vision of Liu Xing, a college graduate who returned home to start a business: in two or three more years, the more than 300 mu of barren hillside in the village will become an orchard fragrant in all four seasons, and together with the fellow villagers he will be able to fully enjoy the joy of a bumper harvest and growing prosperity.
In mid-April, under a steady drizzle, after driving out of Pingba urban area and along the winding mountain road, the reporter arrived at Dazhai Village, Anping Office, Pingba District, to learn about the hardships and joys of Liu Xing, a college graduate from the village, who returned home to start a business and led the villagers in clearing wasteland and planting trees.
On both sides of the village road, on more than 100 mu of hillside, rows of new buds had just sprouted, and a small mountain path led straight to the top. Halfway up the slope, Liu Xing and the villagers were pruning and trimming the leaves of the just-sprouted fruit tree seedlings. Seeing the reporter, Liu Xing put down the work in his hands and chatted with the reporter about everyday matters.
"These hands used to operate a computer, and now they hold scissors and swing a hoe; I really am not used to it." With that, Liu Xing spread out his hands, and the scars left from worn and broken palms were still faintly visible. He is a graduate of Guizhou University with a bachelor's degree in computer science. After graduation, using his professional expertise, Liu Xing ran a computer specialty store on his own elsewhere, with an annual income of more than 100,000 yuan. When asked why he chose to return home to clear wasteland and plant trees, Liu Xing told the reporter that in early 2015, by chance, he came into contact with the kiwifruit planting industry. After learning about the substantial profits and market prospects of the kiwifruit planting industry, he thought of how his hometown, although rich in land resources, had long suffered from a lack of good industrial support, and the villagers' lives had remained relatively poor. Liu Xing then conceived the idea of developing the kiwifruit industry in his hometown.
"At that time, several hundred mu of barren hills in the village had no one to develop them. It happened that Pingba District had preferential policies to support returning-home entrepreneurship, so I contacted 3 young Party members in the village who were doing business outside and had ideas. In May of that year, we contracted the village's 300 mu of barren hills, preparing to plant fruit trees and develop rural tourism." Liu Xing said that at the time his family more or less could not understand it, thinking that since his business outside was going well, why come back to endure the hardship of clearing wasteland. Clearly he was a "golden phoenix" flying out of a mountain hollow, so why come back to do that work of facing the yellow earth with his back to the sky?
Liu Xing understood that the road of clearing wasteland is full of hardships. The barren hills had been untended for decades, the paths were full of thorns, and ordinarily even if a cow went in, it could not be seen. To cultivate several hundred mu of barren hills well was easier said than done.
"Because the startup capital was limited, most of the money had to be used to pay for land transfer and the later planting of saplings, so in order to save costs, we bought a mower and cleared the wasteland on the slope from dawn to dusk. To save time, we simply set up a simple tent on the slope, and the 4 of us worked solidly there, and finally cleaned up the weeds and shrubs on the slope." Liu Xing told the reporter that from the land transfer in May last year to the end of land clearing in August, the 4 people stayed on the mountain for a full three months. The farm work was hard and tempered their bones and sinews, exhausting everyone greatly, but at last they had taken the first step in clearing wasteland and starting a business.
"During the day, we worked on the mountain; at night, we held Party member meetings in the tent and talked about the orchard's future development." Liu Xing explained that among the other 3 people, one did decoration, one did construction, and one wholesaled vegetables; their family conditions were all fairly good. In order to bring income to the villagers, all 4 of them gritted their teeth and mustered their strength, determined to achieve something.
Once the barren hills were cleared, before Liu Xing and the other three could catch their breath, the season for planting kiwifruit had arrived.
"August is most suitable for planting saplings. If we missed the season, we would have to wait another year, so we had to quickly contact an excavator to re-plow the entire hillside, dig holes, and fill them with cow dung. After working busily for more than half a year, we finally planted nearly 200 mu of kiwifruit saplings." Liu Xing said.
"Kiwifruit bears fruit in 3 years and enters the high-yield period in the fourth year. Next, we plan to plant cherries and other premium fruit trees, develop chicken raising under the forest, and increase investment in infrastructure to lay a good foundation for the orchard's subsequent development." Liu Xing said.
"As long as we succeed, the other villagers will follow suit and start growing fruit trees. By then, our village will be a little hidden paradise where fruit can be picked in all four seasons. On weekends and holidays, the village's agritainment restaurants can gradually open..." Regarding the future development of Dazhai Village, Liu Xing is full of expectation.