Returning home to grow vegetables and start a business again: what are the prospects for vegetable cultivation?

On April 22, walking into a vegetable base in Group 5 of Shiyan Village, Shiyan Town, a "sea of vegetables" came into view. In the fine rain, the glossy vegetables looked fresh and tender, full of vitality.

The base owner, Zhou Lei, had just returned from delivering vegetables in Dianjiang. His face was full of joy, with no trace of fatigue: "Both truckloads of vegetables sold out. Tomorrow I'll keep going."

"It's all thanks to him that the village's land hasn't gone to waste, and the left-behind elderly have work too," said Yu Lihe, the village Party branch secretary, gratefully.

Zhou Lei, 34 years old this year, is from Shiyan Village, Shiyan Town. In 2014, after working away from home all along, he took all his savings and returned to his hometown, leasing more than 250 mu of land to grow vegetables.

As a white-collar worker, he had jumped out of the farm gate, so why did he turn back and become a vegetable farmer? Relatives and friends were quite puzzled, but Zhou Lei was unwavering. Because deep in his heart, he had always kept a secret.

In the year his father passed away, their plain and simple life was broken. The family's pillar was gone, while his younger brother was still in school and his mother was often ill, so life became straitened. Neighbors extended helping hands one after another, letting him feel care and warmth and helping him get through the hardest period. "These things may seem trivial, but I have always kept them in mind."

Later, he went out to work. Relying on his diligence and steadiness, he entered management, with a monthly income of more than 6,000 yuan, and his work and life were stable.

When he returned home for the Spring Festival in 2013, he saw large tracts of land lying waste, while only the elderly, the weak, women and children remained in the village. The villagers who had helped him back then were not living as well as one would hope. He took it all in and kept it in his heart, and before long, the idea of returning home to grow vegetables sprouted.

"The state strongly advocates developing agriculture, and the village's infrastructure is gradually being improved, so doing agriculture should work," Zhou Lei persuaded his relatives this way. Another reason was to be grateful to his hometown and repay those who had helped him.

In 2014, the vegetable base was established. The workers were all people from the village, including 3 poor households in the village, more than 30 people in total. "Thanks to him, last year my family finally shook off poverty," said villager Yu Changqing. Zhou Lei took good care of the villagers, arranged easy work, and everyone had an income of nearly 1,000 yuan a month, and life became regular.

What moved village Party branch secretary Yu Lihe most was that at the end of last year, when the annual rent was about to be paid, the vegetable base had only just gotten on track. The early investment had used up all of Zhou Lei's savings, and he had even borrowed money. He had thought the rent might have to wait until the next year, but Zhou Lei borrowed money everywhere and scraped together more than 150,000 yuan to settle the villagers' rent. "I knew they wouldn't press me, but people must keep their word. First be a good person, then do things," Zhou Lei said.

"I must grow vegetables well to repay everyone's help," Zhou Lei told the reporter. In the two years of growing vegetables, the town government and the agriculture committee helped him build production paths, and the district supply and marketing cooperative and town agricultural machinery personnel provided free technology and fertilizer. Village officials and villagers were all very supportive... At present, his vegetables are mainly sold to Chongqing's three major wholesale markets as well as large supermarkets in Dianjiang, Fuling, Jiangjin and other places, and there is no worry about sales at all.

"At present, I am preparing to establish a cooperative. I want to adopt a base plus farmers model, where villagers only handle growing and I handle sales, leading villagers to increase income and become rich," Zhou Lei planned this way.