One PPT wins over a former classmate, and the two join hands to grow yellow chives
The two partners discuss matters while growing vegetables.
"Back when I first looked for 4 partners to invest in growing yellow chives, none of them dared to take it on. I never expected one PPT would make an old classmate commit to working together on the spot." Recently, in Caofang Villager Group, Linggetang Village, Qingfeng Town, Yongchuan District, Xu Guangcheng, head of Chongqing Taozhu Ecological Agriculture Co., Ltd., looked at the verdant vegetable plots, his pride showing plainly.
Almost missed out on a good piece of land
Xu Guangcheng is from Luzhou, Sichuan, and graduated in 1988 from Southwest Agricultural University with a major in plant protection. In the past he worked in agricultural technology management at some agricultural companies. Although his annual salary was not low, he always wanted to start his own business.
By chance, Wu Zhijun, a principal staff member of the Qingfeng Town Agricultural Service Center and a village official stationed in Linggetang Village, recommended to him a piece of land in the village's Caofang Group. "A lot of yellow banyan tree saplings used to be grown here after the land was transferred. Although it is overgrown with weeds right now, the land is good land."
"Old Wu is very sincere. He called me, while I was growing organic rice elsewhere, no fewer than 100 times." In March last year, Xu Guangcheng came to Qingfeng Town to inspect. "As soon as I walked into the grove, I could not see anyone at all. The previous management was too extensive, and there were too many weeds." At first glance he did not take a liking to this piece of land. However, after picking up a hoe and digging in the field for a while, he changed his mind. "I did not dig up a single piece of tile or stone. The soil is quite fertile."
He immediately decided to rent this piece of land and grow yellow chives.
An unforgettable years-long friendship
"I had grown yellow chives elsewhere before, so I know its economic value, and I also know that its early-stage investment is large and its technical content is relatively high," Xu Guangcheng said. Fertile soil is the primary condition for growing yellow chives, this high-end vegetable, and funding is also an important part.
Before signing the land lease contract, Xu Guangcheng sent cooperation proposals to 4 friends one after another, but the other parties either did not understand the characteristics of yellow chive cultivation and feared risks, or did not know his style of doing things well enough and feared disputes in partnership.
Just when he had nowhere to turn for help, Xu Guangcheng received a call from his old classmate Xiang Laishu. "Old Xiang and I were classmates for all 3 years of high school, starting in 1984. He has been in the construction industry for many years. Although we usually each busy ourselves with our own affairs, over these more than 30 years we have greeted each other from time to time and gotten together during festivals and holidays."
Learning that Xu Guangcheng was troubled by limited funds, Xiang Laishu said readily: "The construction industry is not easy to do now. I wanted to change careers several years ago. Send me a PPT to take a look."
"Yellow chives can be stir-fried with shredded pork, stir-fried with dried tofu, stir-fried with eggs, used as dumpling filling, cooked in soup, or served cold; the market in Chengdu, Beijing and other places is not bad..." Soon, a PPT containing detailed materials such as the uses, nutritional value, and cultivation models of yellow chives was sent to Xiang Laishu's email. Soon, the old classmate replied: "Let's do it together!"
Soon, they established Chongqing Taozhu Ecological Agriculture Development Co., Ltd. "'Taozhu' is taken from Fan Li at the end of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. He was not only a politician and military strategist, but also a successful merchant, Duke Taozhu, whom the common people call the God of Wealth and the Sage of Commerce," Xu Guangcheng said. They transferred more than 250 mu of land, with an expected total investment of 3 million yuan, and the two each contributed part of the funds. Xu Guangcheng understands technology, and he is mainly responsible for cultivation technology management; Xiang Laishu has little time to come, so his wife helps manage the finances.
Mutual trust means fewer disputes
To avoid unpleasantness, the two not only hold regular summary meetings every month to announce all expenses and construction progress one by one, but also hold review meetings to bring discovered problems and shortcomings to the table for discussion.
"This both deepens trust and avoids keeping grievances unspoken," Xu Guangcheng said. Last year, because there was too much rain, the yellow chives could not be transplanted out. Fortunately, the radishes, leafy lettuce and other crops planted as a remedy had already been harvested and sold.
He introduced that because yellow chives, like ginger, require digging deep furrows and are even more meticulous in management, needing two rounds of earthing up, and after growing to a certain height and having their leaves cut, they need to be trellised, there are many technical tasks and a lot of labor is needed. "This piece of land is about 150 mu. Income from yellow chives will certainly not be small. We hope even more to apply for a green food trademark and make this yellow chive industry bigger," he said.