Radish became farmer Huang Guangyong's magic weapon for prosperity

Thin and tall, Huang Guangyong is nearly 50 years old. He was originally a migrant worker at a unit in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, China. In the 1980s wave of creating "ten-thousand-yuan households," he resolutely quit his job and returned to his hometown of Yuanzhou Town to start a business. From exploring winemaking techniques step by step to brewing and selling wine, Huang Guangyong earned his "first bucket of gold" with his own skills and diligence, quickly becoming the first "ten-thousand-yuan household" in Boluo County at that time, and was also awarded the "Prosperity through Labor" prize by the Boluo County Party Committee and County Government.

In the early 1990s, the clever Huang Guangyong saw that there was money to be made in agriculture, so he contracted more than 10 mu of land and switched to growing radishes. This matter was also a challenge for Huang Guangyong, but he said that since he had set his sights on it, he had to do it seriously. Because he had no relevant experience and did not understand radish cultivation techniques, Huang Guangyong paid out of his own pocket and ran to the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences several times a year to humbly ask agricultural experts and professors about cultivation techniques.

In the first year of growing radishes, he made 120,000 yuan! In 1996, when Huang Guangyong saw that a sandy islet in Liaowei Village, Yuanzhou Town, was abandoned and no one was farming it, he had the idea of expanding production scale. He contracted this unnoticed "barren islet" and reclaimed more than 200 mu of land in one go, planting more than 100 mu of it with radishes. With the experience accumulated over several years and increasingly solid techniques, the radishes Huang Guangyong grew that year yielded 300 tons, and 70% of the products were exported to the Hong Kong market at relatively good prices, with a profit of 120,000 yuan that year. Huang Guangyong became prosperous by growing radishes, and the Yuanzhou Town Agricultural Service Center guided him according to the situation. Huang Guangyong took the lead in switching his fields to trial planting of several excellent varieties introduced from Guangzhou, such as "Hanbaiyu" and "Baiyuchun," with very good results.

Local farmers often asked Huang Guangyong for advice on cultivation techniques, and every time he explained enthusiastically and also gave them improved seeds for free. He said that he ate at home very few times each week; because he often gave seeds to people who came to ask for advice and resolutely refused to take money, they insisted on treating him to meals to express their thanks. What sells well in rural areas in winter? At present, farmers in Yuanzhou Town plant 3,000 mu of radishes per crop, and Huang Guangyong has also become a veritable "Radish King" in the local area and even in Boluo County.

Radish, in the eyes of farmers, is an unremarkable vegetable, but in Huang Guangyong's eyes, it is a magic weapon for prosperity. Why? This lies in the difference in thinking between people. The editor wants to remind the broad masses of farmer friends that entrepreneurial ideas sometimes exist right beside us; as long as you dare to think, success will not be too far away.