Gaotang County, Liaocheng, Shandong Makes the Most of Three-Dimensional Planting to Boost Incomes

On the morning of March 25, a brand-new red light truck slowly pulled into the Yinuo Nursery Stock Planting Professional Cooperative in Gaotang County. After the truck came to a stop, Chen Yong opened the door and quickly walked over to Liu Mingyong, the person in charge of the cooperative, who was waiting for him. As he shook Liu Mingyong's hand, he said urgently, "Hurry up and load the truck! The Dezhou Heima wholesale market is pressing us hard!"

Chen Yong is a professional vegetable buyer, and he had come to purchase spinach. Spinach prices had been good on the market in recent days, so Chen Yong came here almost every day to haul spinach. "The spinach here is all overwintering spinach, with a long growing cycle, and it is all planted and managed according to green vegetable standards. Compared with greenhouse spinach, it is both cheaper and tastier, so it sells especially well!" Chen Yong explained.

Why would a nursery stock planting base branch out into vegetable growing and attract vegetable buyers from out of town competing to purchase its produce? "In recent years, the nursery stock market has remained sluggish, while vegetable prices have grown steadily. So the cooperative decided to make full use of its land resources, vigorously develop three-dimensional vegetable planting, and seek returns from effective supply." Liu Mingyong's words provided the answer. Because Liuzhuang Village in Qingping Town, where the cooperative is located, has a tradition of growing coriander, Liu Mingyong decided to try growing coriander first. To that end, he made a special trip to Tai'an Agricultural University to "go back to school" and study organic coriander cultivation techniques. After completing his studies and returning, Liu Mingyong first trial-planted 20 mu of coriander in his own nursery stock base. After the coriander hit the market, it won the favor of South Korean buyers, setting a precedent for high-quality vegetables from Qingping Town to go abroad.

After tasting the sweetness of growing coriander, Liu Mingyong decided to expand his vegetable varieties. Last October, he planted 50 mu of open-field spinach. At present, this batch of spinach is at harvest time, and purchasing vehicles are arriving in an endless stream. "The 50 mu of spinach yields 4,000 jin per mu, at an average price of 1.2 yuan per jin. After deducting costs, this single crop of spinach alone can earn more than 100,000 yuan!" Liu Mingyong said. After this crop of spinach is harvested, "Ruifengyuan" winter melon will be planted, and large-scale coriander planting will begin around May 1. "To make the land yield maximum returns, the cooperative matches crops according to the habits of different vegetable varieties, using a ratio of one mu of nursery stock to three vegetable beds or five vegetable beds, and adopts multi-crop rotation to develop three-dimensional planting. It is expected that the income per mu will exceed 10,000 yuan, and after deducting costs, a net profit of 6,000 yuan can be made!"

While vigorously developing green vegetables, Liu Mingyong did not forget his old trade. As a veteran nursery stock grower, he has his own judgment about the nursery stock market. "Affected by the economic situation, the nursery stock market is indeed sluggish now. But as our country's urbanization accelerates, the nursery stock market is bound to welcome its own spring again. In addition, the purple-leaf sand cherry, Xifu crabapple and others specially cultivated by the cooperative are scarce resources on the nursery stock market, and they are sure to seize the market opportunity first."