Major Reform in Citrus Fields, Passion Fruit Draws an Innovative River
Original headline: Gaogang Plants 100 Mu of Passion Fruit, Shareholding System Introduces Modern Agriculture
Recently, Liang Jinjian, Deputy Secretary of the Fogang County Party Committee and County Mayor, visited Gaogang for research, toured the Tongsheng Passion Fruit Orchard in Sanjiang Village, Gaogang, and affirmed the project's construction progress. Photo by Cheng Hao
Luo Xiantong is a villager of Sanjiang Village in Gaogang Town, and he runs a passion fruit orchard in the village. Recently many guests have come to his orchard. Seeing that his Tongsheng Passion Fruit Orchard is gradually yielding a good harvest, growers of sugar mandarin oranges troubled by citrus greening disease all want to come and take a look.
In April this year, the "No. 1 Project" of comprehensive rural reform set off a wave of land consolidation and fund consolidation in Gaogang Town, Fogang County. Luo Xiantong, Gong Yuehua and other friends jointly invested to rent 150 mu of land in the village, established a "Tongsheng Passion Fruit Orchard" and the Tongsheng Passion Fruit Professional Cooperative, and planted passion fruit in contiguous plots. Total output this year is expected to reach 150,000 jin.
"While fully and effectively utilizing land resources, this project also strengthens the diversified development of agritourism. It is worthy of recognition. I suggest vigorous publicity and strive to build the passion fruit planting project into a new path for farmers to increase income and become prosperous," said Liang Jinjian, Deputy Secretary of the Fogang County Party Committee and County Mayor.
Planting 100 Mu of Passion Fruit, Output Expected to Reach 150,000 Jin
Passion fruit, also called longevity fruit or xifanlian, is a tropical fruit. It is easy to plant and easy to manage, bears fruit all year round, and has high nutritional value, with health benefits such as boosting immunity, strengthening the stomach and aiding digestion.
Luo Xiantong introduced that his connection with passion fruit cultivation began during a trip in Guangxi. At that time, he and his business partner Gong Yuehua found that this fruit was widely planted locally and the returns were decent, so the three people decided to introduce the passion fruit variety "Purple No. 3" from Guangxi and learned the cultivation methods for passion fruit.
In April this year, Luo Xiantong rented 150 mu of land in Sanjiang Village at a price of 1,200 yuan/mu and began planting passion fruit in contiguous plots. From seedlings, machinery, labor to materials, about 4,200 yuan per mu needed to be invested at the start of planting. Up to now, investment in the Tongsheng Passion Fruit Orchard has exceeded one million yuan.
In September, the passion fruit in the orchard began to bear fruit. During the Golden Week, the orchard officially opened for sales, with an average selling price of 15 yuan/jin. Luo Xiantong introduced that because two batches of fruit were missed this year, the yield per mu is about 1,500 jin. At present, the orchard's daily output is about 500 jin-800 jin, mainly sold through WeChat Moments, tourist group picking tours and telephone orders. Output falls short of demand, and this year's annual output is expected to reach 150,000 jin-200,000 jin.
Introducing a "Shareholding System": Company + Base + Cooperative + Farmers
He Hao introduced that the original introduction of this passion fruit planting project was to free villagers from the troubles of citrus greening disease and drive Gaogang's farmers to prosperity, and choosing which effective cooperation model to use also became a question everyone kept thinking about.
"Citrus greening disease has hit Gaogang's farmers very hard. In order to promote industrial transformation and advance comprehensive rural reform, we introduced the passion fruit planting industry, hoping that by showing farmers what to do and leading them in doing it, we can free them from the troubles of citrus greening disease and help them increase income," said He Hao, Party Secretary of Gaogang Town.
At first, when passion fruit planting settled in Gaogang, the cooperation form of "company + base + cooperative + farmers" was welcomed by the villagers. The cooperative provided fruit seedlings, technical guidance and related knowledge training to farmers, while Tongsheng Ecological Agriculture Investment Co., Ltd. signed product buyback contracts with farmers according to market trends and bought back at market prices during the mature period, achieving one-stop service from planting to buyback.
Luo Xiantong introduced that once passion fruit planting reaches a certain scale, a shareholding system can be implemented. The cooperative cooperates with farmers. Farmers provide land and plant by themselves, while the cooperative invests. After the finished products mature and are sold, profits are shared according to the investment ratio. For example, if the farmer contributes labor + field rent, the split ratio is 4:6, with farmers taking 40 percent and the cooperative taking 60 percent, but this model requires farmers to provide more than 50 mu of land.
At present, the 150 mu of planting in the orchard has gotten on track. Luo Xiantong plans to start construction and put into production another 250 mu base, including a 50 mu seedling cultivation base. He hopes to use this 400 mu demonstration base as the center to comprehensively promote passion fruit planting in Fogang, and hopes that next year it can drive farmers to plant 3,000 to 5,000 mu, directly generating economic benefits in the tens of millions of yuan. (Reporter/Cheng Hao)