How did capable woman Chen Chunlan lead her fellow villagers onto the road to prosperity?
Recently, when this writer visited Chunlan Family Farm in Qinglong Village, Shanghe Town, Tongnan District, I saw workers picking vegetables in the fields, while others were loading seasonal vegetables onto trucks... a bustling scene.
A few years ago, Qinglong Village had high mountains and narrow gullies, with dry yellow weeds growing all over the hilltops and gully bottoms. Now, under the leadership of Chen Chunlan, this "capable woman," the villagers have set up a cooperative, cleaned up land that had been abandoned for many years, and transformed more than 10 barren slopes into over 3,000 mu of land, planted with melons, fruits and vegetables. The village's mountain land has been put to use, and the villagers' wallets have grown fuller. "As long as you are willing to use your head, even barren hills can become 'treasure'!" Chen Chunlan said with a smile.
According to Chen Chunlan, in 2010, she returned to her hometown for the Chinese New Year and saw the mountains lying barren with no one planting them, which she found very regrettable; added to the fact that her parents were elderly and her son was young and needed care, she resolutely returned to the village, took out all her "savings," and decided to turn the barren mountain slopes into a "treasure bowl."
At the start of her business, Chen Chunlan integrated land resources by transferring land for rent and by taking land as shares. Using local conditions such as soil and climate, she planted vegetables, melons and fruits suited to mountain land, including pumpkins, watermelons and caitai (baby mustard greens). In 2013, Chen Chunlan established the Mountain Vegetable Share Cooperative, which has now developed large-scale planting of more than 3,400 mu. With two seasons of vegetables a year, summer can produce pumpkins and watermelons, while winter produces caitai and zha cai (pickled mustard tuber). In 2015, the output value of vegetables, melons and fruits reached more than 7 million yuan.
Today, the affiliated households and large growers developing in coordination with the cooperative, together with the villagers who transferred land and earn pay through labor, have all joyfully felt the changes brought by the cooperative and tasted the sweetness brought by putting wasteland to use.
"In the past, Qinglong Village was barren hills everywhere, but now they have all become our 'treasure land'!" villager Chen Yongrong told this writer beaming with joy.
"In the future, I will further transform the barren hills, expand the scale, and let more villagers join the cooperative and get on the road to prosperity!" Chen Chunlan said full of confidence.