Milk Watermelons Become a New Treasure for Farmers in Toksun County to Get Rich

Dong Yueqiang prunes the watermelon vines to ensure good light exposure.

During the May Day holiday, visitors pick watermelons in Dong Yueqiang's greenhouse.

During the May Day holiday, visitors pick watermelons in Dong Yueqiang's greenhouse and return with a full harvest.

The ripe "milk watermelons" make one's mouth water.

The greenhouse is filled with hanging "milk watermelons."

On May 3, Dong Yueqiang, a farmer from Nanhu Village, Xia Township, **Toksun County, was picking watermelons in his greenhouse. He gently patted a watermelon and said, "These 'milk watermelons' are a new treasure for local farmers to get rich."

It is understood that in 2014, under the organization of the relevant departments of Toksun County, Dong Yueqiang went to Northeast China to learn the greenhouse cultivation technique for "milk grapes." After returning to Toksun, he applied this technique to his own greenhouse grape cultivation. Thanks to Toksun's unique climate conditions, the Flame Seedless grape variety he planted had a particularly good taste and high sugar content, and was deeply loved by consumers. In 2015 alone, his "milk grapes" brought his annual income to more than 200,000 yuan.

However, he was still not satisfied with this. There was still a lot of empty space in the grape greenhouse, so he suddenly had the idea of applying the technique for growing "milk grapes" to watermelons. In 2015, he trial-planted watermelons in 3 greenhouses. The taste and quality were both very good, with an annual output of more than 5 tons and revenue of more than 50,000 yuan.

Having tasted success, Dong Yueqiang carefully did the accounts. The "milk watermelons" he planted are planted every February and can mature and go on the market in May, with a short cycle and quick returns. So in 2016, he increased the greenhouse watermelon planting amount to five greenhouses, and it is expected that this year's output will be around 10 tons, which can increase income by around 100,000 yuan.

"The watermelons and grapes I grow do not use any pesticides or chemical fertilizers. I mainly use farmyard manure as the base fertilizer, and use milk mixed with Chinese herbal medicine as another kind of fertilizer for daily watering and foliar fertilizer. So the grapes grown have excellent quality, taste and sweetness, and the price is also higher than others. Now the watermelons in two of my greenhouses have already been reserved by merchants from Urumqi." Dong Yueqiang said happily.

Mr. Han from Urumqi came here this year for the second time to pick watermelons. He told this writer that last year he had bought milk watermelons and grapes in Dong Yueqiang's greenhouse. His watermelons are especially sweet and are also pollution-free, so people can eat them with particular peace of mind. Compared with those watermelons introduced from the interior, he prefers the watermelons here.

According to Dong Yueqiang, he used to grow cotton and some cash crops, and his annual income was only 30,000 to 40,000 yuan. Now his annual income has reached nearly more than 200,000 yuan, several times higher, and the living conditions and quality of his family have also changed greatly.

In the future, he will also continue to vigorously develop high-quality agriculture, so that people can buy with confidence and eat healthily, and use the method of using one point to drive an area to make greenhouse watermelons and grapes bigger and stronger. Not long ago, he also attended an e-commerce training class held in Turpan City, and in the future he will also put his milk watermelons and grapes online for sale.