Greenhouse vegetable farming helps Xingtai villagers realize their dream of prosperity
On February 20, in the vegetable greenhouse north of Zhaizhuang Village, Neiqiu Town, Neiqiu County, villager Li Liyong was busy tending the plants. "I started working in the greenhouse on the third day of the Chinese New Year. The vegetables are growing well, and I don't dare delay a single day!"
Zhaizhuang Village is a small village with only 85 households and 400 people. Over the years, the village's collective economy has been weak, and apart from farming their own small plots of land, the villagers had no other income. "How can we make our fellow villagers' wallets fatter?" In the autumn of 2012, village Party secretary Li Junhai set his sights on greenhouse vegetable farming.
After consultation among the village's two committees, and after leading everyone to visit and learn from nearby villages with large-scale facility vegetable operations, the village began building vegetable greenhouses and established the Neiqiu County Xianzhongxian Vegetable Planting Cooperative, absorbing villagers as shareholders through capital and land.
Transferring land, building greenhouses, hiring technicians, finding sales channels... Over the past few years, through the joint efforts of the village and cooperative members, the scale of greenhouse vegetable farming in the village has continued to expand. Today, the village has built 23 cold greenhouses and 3 warm greenhouses, with tomatoes, cabbage, green beans, cauliflower and other vegetables available year-round without interruption, with an annual output of more than 13,000 kg.
"Right now, these vegetables in the greenhouses produce nearly 1,000 jin per day, mainly sold to vegetable wholesale markets in Xingtai, Shijiazhuang and other cities within the province, as well as in Shanxi and other places." Li Junhai stood at the edge of the field, pointing to row after row of greenhouses. "Last winter the temperature was low, and the tomatoes ripened late, missing the peak sales period during the Spring Festival. Each greenhouse earned 20,000 yuan less. Even so, compared with traditional farming, each mu of land can still bring in at least about 14,000 yuan more per year."
Today, the people of Zhaizhuang Village are even more interested in growing greenhouse vegetables. Li Junhai said that during the Spring Festival, people kept asking to join the cooperative. "This year, we plan to continue expanding the scale, build several high-standard solar greenhouses, attract more villagers to join the cooperative, and lead all the villagers onto the road to increased income and prosperity!" Li Junhai said.