Ma Lujun Opens the Door to Prosperity by Growing Jujubes
On October 30, the reporter came to Hutuo Village, Longquansi Township, Xingtai County, to interview Ma Lujun, a skilled farmer who had found prosperity. Dressed in camouflage, he was leading several workers in building a new water storage tank at the foot of the hill.
"All the jujubes have been picked this year. The more than 40,000 jin harvested were bought up entirely by merchants from Shanxi, selling for more than 200,000 yuan." Ma Lujun led the reporter to the storage room and brought out his own "Ziguan Jujubes" for the reporter to taste. These jujubes are the size of eggs, with a crisp and sweet flavor.
"This is a new variety introduced from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and it is very popular on the market." Ma Lujun told the reporter that local wild jujubes sell for 1 yuan per kilogram, while his "Ziguan Jujubes" can sell for 10 yuan per kilogram, and he does not even have to worry about finding buyers.
"Besides a good variety, you also need good management: watering, pest control, grafting, pruning... not one of these can be skipped. There is endless work on the hill all year round." Ma Lujun said that the biggest and hardest task of all was bringing in water. For this, he built 3 large water storage tanks on the mountain plot, dug two deep wells, put up more than 500 m of electrical wiring, and installed 5 water pumps. Now the more than 40 mu of mountain land has all become irrigated land, putting an end to relying on rain from the sky. In order to transport the jujubes out of the mountains, he also built 1 km of dirt road.
"In these five years, I have already invested more than 200,000 yuan in infrastructure construction on the mountain plot. Now the state contracts mountain land to villagers on a long-term basis. Only with this good policy did I dare to invest money in the mountain plot." Ma Lujun said that he already gets up at 5 o'clock every morning and works on the mountain plot for more than ten hours at a stretch. Once, to speed up a project, he lived up on the mountain for a whole month. Only those who can endure hardship can prosper - this is Ma Lujun's recipe for wealth.
Seeing that Ma Lujun had made money growing jujubes, many nearby villagers came to visit after hearing of his success and expressed their willingness to grow them too. "If my fellow villagers are willing to grow them, I will provide the grafting stock for free." Ma Lujun said that only with scale can we become bigger and stronger. To this end, he established the Ziguan Fruit Professional Cooperative. He plans to turn the mountain plot into a pick-your-own orchard, open a farmhouse restaurant right at his doorstep, and lead his fellow villagers to prosperity together.