Vegetable industry development gives Zhang Xiaoling more drive

Zhang Xiaoling inspects the growth of cucumbers in a vegetable greenhouse.

The "Ten Full Coverage" project has brought earth-shaking changes to South Village in Pingdiquan Town, Chayouqian Banner, Ulanqab City, but one thing in the village has not changed, and that is the tradition of growing vegetables. Now, South Village's average income per mu of land exceeds 10,000 yuan. And all of this starts with a woman named Zhang Xiaoling.

The 59-year-old Zhang Xiaoling speaks quickly and frankly: "'Ten Full Coverage' changed the look of the village and also changed my family's environment. The office of our vegetable professional cooperative and the guest rooms prepared for buyers are like something situated in a garden; even the buyers who come say it is great."

"Vegetable growing truly became the village's industry in 1999. That year, the government connected us with buyers from Shenzhen, and we signed an order for 50 mu of Chinese cabbage at a price of one mao and three fen per mu. At harvest time, the vegetable price rose directly to two mao and eight fen. We got a taste of the benefits right away, and the next year the order increased to 150 mu, so the whole village gradually began growing vegetables."

Zhang Xiaoling was the earliest municipal-level agronomist, and every year she participates in training sessions large and small to broaden her horizons. In particular, every year in mid-October, she always attends the national seed conference held in Beijing, and each time she brings back vegetable seeds with good sales prospects. She first takes them home for trial planting, and if the results are good, the next year she plants them in her own fields, and only in the third year does she recommend them to the villagers.

Example is power, and the villagers of South Village all followed Zhang Xiaoling in growing vegetables, with incomes rising sharply. "After 'Ten Full Coverage,' the cement road reached our doorstep, and there is a supermarket too. With a better environment, more buyers come to purchase vegetables, and with Sister Xiaoling's guidance, we are even more confident," said 53-year-old Chi Xiulan with a smile.

The "Ten Full Coverage" project changed South Village's environment and also drove the development of the industry, and Zhang Xiaoling has even more drive. At present, the village's vegetable planting area has reached more than 3,000 mu, accounting for more than half of the village's cultivated land area. To solve the sales problem, the village built a vegetable trading market covering 30 mu, with an annual vegetable trading volume of up to 15,000 tons and a transaction value of 9 million yuan.

"Since 'Ten Full Coverage,' the town has further increased its support for us. Next, our village plans to carry out deep processing of vegetables, achieve direct farm-to-supermarket connection, build a brand, and let people eat our pollution-free vegetables directly in supermarkets," said Zhang Xiaoling.