Red date farming fulfilled Su Zekui's dream of prosperity

Su Zekui, a worker of the No. 8 Company of the 13th Regiment of the First Division of the **Production and Construction Corps, is a native of Yanting County, Sichuan, born in March 1967, who came to Xinjiang to work in 1994. He had a dream very early on, and that was to become prosperous and let his family live a good life. This dream finally came true in 2011. That year, the 40 mu of red dates contracted by Su Zekui reached a total yield of 19,500 kg, sold at 25 yuan per kg, with a net income of 300,000 yuan, and the smile on his face bloomed like a flower.

The family of Su Zekui and Liu Xinghui is an ordinary yet extraordinary household in the No. 8 Company of the 13th Regiment. They are ordinary because they are an ordinary family of three, striving toward their goals with a pair of diligent hands; they are extraordinary because, with tenacity and a heart eager to learn, they became prosperity stars of the No. 8 Company. Their jujube orchard became the regimental commander's demonstration orchard, and every year it welcomed frequent visits from division and regiment leaders.

Su Zekui and Liu Xinghui came to Xinjiang in 1994 to contract cotton planting. But they felt that cotton alone could not make them prosperous. Su Zekui heard that "one mu of orchard is worth ten mu of field." So in 2004, taking advantage of the good opportunity for the company to contract self-use land to individual workers, Su Zekui signed up with the company, signed a self-use land contract with the company, and contracted 40 mu of self-use land. At first he planted fragrant pear trees in the field, but due to poor soil quality, the survival rate was very low, the ground was uneven, and watering was very difficult. Having long planted cotton, they knew nothing about fragrant pear cultivation techniques, and by 2006 they had still seen no benefit at all. So in 2007, Su Zekui borrowed 20,000 yuan from a friend, made the painful decision to cut down all 40 mu of fragrant pear trees, reconstructed the uneven land, and replanted it with red dates. In 2008, all grafting was completed, but when it came time to harvest the dates, he was stunned: all the dates he had grafted were mixed varieties and simply could not fetch a price, so he lost another year.

Su Zekui felt he could not go on like this any longer. The couple went to a bookstore and bought practical jujube tree technology CDs, subscribed to science and technology magazines such as "Red Date Planting Technology Management" and "Rural Science and Technology," and studied and discussed them whenever they had time, investing more than 1,000 yuan each year in cultivation technology books. After the company library was built, he often went to the company to borrow and read books on jujube cultivation. In the winter slack season, they did not idle either, and often went to neighboring jujube orchards such as the 10th, 11th, and 12th Regiments to learn techniques such as jujube pruning and water and fertilizer management. Whenever there was an opportunity, they exchanged techniques with nearby fruit growers, and gradually summed up a set of their own management experience.

In 2009, the Su Zekui couple invited jujube experts from Shanxi, invested 13,000 yuan to regraft gray jujubes and jun jujubes, applied organic fertilizers such as oil residue and sheep manure to all the jujube trees, and applied lime sulfur mixture in advance to prevent pests such as jujube scale insects, red spiders, and jujube fruit flies. That year, the yield was 60 kg of dates per mu. At the end of the year, red date prices rose, and buyers from the interior came one after another to purchase them at 20 yuan per kg. The 40 mu of land produced 2,400 kg of dates, with an income of 48,000 yuan. This let him see hope. He built six rooms in the jujube orchard, added a small four-wheel tractor and a grass cutter, was full of confidence, and his drive doubled, ready to go all out the next year.

The next year, Su Zekui increased investment in the jujube orchard, applying 500 kg of high-quality oil residue and 100 kg of sheep manure per mu. That year, the yield was 180 kg of red dates per mu. At year's end, red date prices climbed to 30 yuan per kg, and net income reached 120,000 yuan. Not only did he pay off his debts, but he also had some surplus, which further strengthened his confidence. He spent 30,000 yuan renovating the house, laying floor tiles, painting the walls, and buying new furniture, giving the home a completely new look. In the third year, although red date prices fell, under their careful management, the year-end income was 200,000 yuan.

Last year, Su Zekui further increased investment in the jujube orchard, applying 600 kg of high-quality oil residue and 150 kg of sheep manure per mu. At year's end, the selling price was 30 yuan per kg, and the family's net income reached 400,000 yuan." He said: "Through several years of study and practice, it has been proven that applying organic fertilizer not only makes fruit less likely to drop, but also gives good fruit shape and good taste, and it is very popular."

This year, Su Zekui's orchard is expected to exceed 25,000 kg of red dates, and the year-end income is expected to be considerable. With only a junior high school education, he summed up three valuable experiences in growing jujube trees through combining study and practice: first, ideological understanding must be in place: keep learning; second, technology must be implemented in place: the technical requirements of each stage must be carried out; third, management must be in place: weed frequently and manage water and fertilizer reasonably. He said this and did the same. Walking into his orchard, one sees rows of neatly arranged jujube trees, uniform in shape, with not a single weed in sight. At the same time, he introduced his experience to other fruit growers without reservation. They all learned his management experience one after another, driving a large number of people to become prosperous and move toward a moderately prosperous life. Now Su Zekui's 40 mu jujube orchard returns 7,200 yuan to the company workers every year.

The Su Zekui couple also have a clever and lovely daughter named Su Yue, who is 16 this year. They often instill in their daughter the truth that only knowledge can change destiny. The parents' eager-to-learn, hardworking, and plain style also influences her all the time. Su Yue also very much likes reading. Every time she does homework, she does not need her parents to urge her and completes it very consciously. The Su Zekui couple bought their daughter a learning machine, downloaded study materials, and whenever they went to Alar or Aksu they bought her extracurricular books. Her academic performance is always among the best in her class.

The Su Zekui couple said full of longing: "This year we have already bought a car and brought the internet home, so we can look up and study red date cultivation techniques online at any time, which is more convenient and quicker, and in the future we can harvest even more hope..."