Growing scallions makes the road out of poverty full of sunshine

Wu Chengjun began planting leafy vegetables after harvesting the second crop of scallions.

In the early spring when it is warm one moment and cold the next, the vegetable greenhouses of the "Xinghuacun" scallion planting cooperative in Taipingshan Village, Zhenlai Town, Zhenlai County, are full of lush greenery. Cooperative head Wu Chengjun and the members are busy without a moment to spare, digging up scallions, tying them into bundles, loading them onto trucks and collecting payment; being busy and happy makes them forget their exhaustion. From the start of winter last year to now, they have sold 2.15 million kg of scallions, achieving a strong start to 2016. Each greenhouse brought in 50,000 yuan from just the first crop of scallions; the second crop of scallions is in the thick of peak sales. From winter to spring, the scallion cooperative's overall income exceeded 10 million yuan. "Xin Xinghuacun" scallions have lived up to more than 10 years of painstaking work by Wu Chengjun, growing into a resounding brand, creating considerable output value and changing the lives of the villagers.

Scallion after scallion, greenhouse after greenhouse, have made Old Wu and the members "scallion"-full of sunshine and "scallion"-full of happiness on the road out of poverty toward prosperity. He has also become recognized by the whole village as a "poverty-alleviation pioneer."

As early as 1988, Xinghuacun Tun in Taipingshan Village was still very poor, so Wu Chengjun had no choice but to go out to work. When he saw that farming households in Shandong made considerable income by growing off-season scallions in warm greenhouses, he resolutely returned home and borrowed 20,000 yuan to develop scallion planting. He learned as he planted, first putting up a greenhouse at his own home and planting dried scallions bought in autumn inside it, then selling fresh scallions on the market around the Spring Festival. In just three or four months, Wu Chengjun earned more than 2,000 yuan. Profit is the best teacher; when the villagers saw that Old Wu could produce 3 crops of fresh scallions from one greenhouse in a winter and earn a high income, without any persuasion they all became his followers and took the initiative to join him in putting up greenhouses and planting scallions.

On March 20, 2010, the "Xinghuacun" scallion planting cooperative was officially established. At present, 90 households of villagers have joined the cooperative, with nearly 260 warm greenhouses covering an area of more than 20,000 sq m; in May 2010, the cooperative successfully registered the "Xin Xinghuacun" branded scallion trademark, forming branded, industrialized and large-scale operations. At present, the cooperative has established stable cooperative relationships with large vegetable wholesale markets in the three northeastern provinces as well as Beijing, Tianjin, Qiqihar and other places, and the cooperative's green, pollution-free scallions have become a hot favorite on the market; in July 2015, Old Wu's cooperative invested another 2.71 million yuan to establish a 600-ton greenhouse vegetable planting base of more than 10,000 sq m. After 20 greenhouses were put into use, they injected brand-new momentum into the cooperative's development, and the scale of scallion planting reached unprecedented levels.

In 2015, from planting off-season scallions in the idle winter season alone, the cooperative's per capita income exceeded 30,000 yuan, and scallion planting truly became an industry that enriched Xinghuacun Tun and increased its income. Every day, merchants from all over come in an endless stream. During the Spring Festival period alone, the first crop of scallions sold out at nearly 6 yuan per kg, with more than 10 transport vehicles from various places every day, and daily scallion sales often exceeding 50,000 kg.

After the scallions are sold, Old Wu and the members busily plant vegetables such as baby bok choy, lettuce, celery, cilantro, chili peppers and tomatoes in the greenhouses. In this way the greenhouses are used in cycle, crop after crop, and one greenhouse can create an output value of 100,000 yuan a year, which makes the wallets of the farmer friends in Xinghuacun Tun fatter and fatter and their days better and better.