Moringa Planting Boom Surges, Dreams of Prosperity Become Reality

The cooperative's moringa planting base;

In Longtang Town, Xuwen County, since the first month of this year, a quiet boom in planting Indian moringa has surged among locals: from just a few mu of initial trial planting two years ago to more than 800 mu now, the speed is astonishing.

High-quality moringa grown by farmers;

What kind of crop is moringa? What are its uses and economic value? How did it win the favor of Longtang Town farmers so quickly? Recently, this writer visited the moringa planting base in Hualin Village of the town and got to know this moringa, which local people have already called the "miraculous vegetable."

Introduced from India by a native who moved away

The person who started moringa planting is Liu Guohai, in his early 40s, originally from Longtang. This businessman, who already holds a Guangzhou household registration and has been navigating the business world for many years, became acquainted with moringa in 2013 in Yunnan through an Indian. After gaining a deeper understanding, Liu Guohai discovered that this plant originating from India has a wide range of effects and uses, and could be said to be a treasure from head to toe: the leaves are a delicious vegetable heart, with a market price reaching 20 yuan per jin; the trunk and root portions can be used as ingredients for making soup, and can also be made into health products that suppress hypertension, diabetes, constipation and other difficult conditions, already recognized by developed countries such as Europe and the United States, and also selling well in the domestic market.

The cooperative's processing production line.

Feeling as if he had found a treasure, Liu Guohai immediately introduced seeds from the Indian and brought them back to his hometown of Hualin Village, Longtang Town, for trial planting, so as to personally experience whether moringa was as miraculous as rumored. At first, he cultivated several dozen moringa seedlings himself and planted them in his hometown courtyard. As a result, he found that moringa adapted very well to his hometown's red soil and quickly grew into tree form in just one or two months. Its leaves and stems, as tender as vegetable seedlings, could really be used to make delicious fish soup, meat soup and other dishes. In particular, after family members and relatives suffering from constipation, hypertension and other symptoms persisted in eating and drinking soups made from moringa, their symptoms were effectively suppressed.

After this experience, Liu Guohai decided to plant moringa. That same year, he contracted 40 mu of land to plant moringa. During this period, from introduction and seedling cultivation to planting management and the entire series of operational procedures, he did everything himself. After two years of exploration, he succeeded: of the 40 mu of moringa planted, there were more than 8,000 trees, with an average yield of 3 tons per mu, harvested once every 3 months, and a market price of 1,400 yuan per ton, showing clear economic benefits.

Planting area exceeds 800 mu two years later

Villagers in the area near Hualin Village were attracted by the moringa planted by Liu Guohai and joined in one after another, each planting a few mu here and a few mu there, and it quickly became a "prairie fire" trend. To date, the planting area in Longtang Town exceeds 800 mu. "Many people still come to buy seedlings, but the cooperative is currently limited by conditions and cannot meet demand," Liu Guohai told this writer.

Passing through a moringa orchard of about 20 mu, this writer saw the owner, Chen Shihu, harvesting moringa for market. "I started planting in the first month of this year, and the growth is very encouraging. So far I have harvested 3 times and sold 60,000 yuan," Chen Shihu said. "Personally, apart from the higher seedling price of 6 yuan per plant, moringa is far more efficient than bananas and galangal, and it is easier to plant and manage, and it also helps change the current single cropping structure."

Liu Guohai introduced that in order to better guide fellow villagers onto the road to prosperity together, he founded the county's first moringa planting cooperative, implementing a new planting management model to ensure that growers realize their "dream of prosperity." At present, more than 800 mu of moringa has already attracted merchants from Zhejiang who specialize in purchasing moringa leaves. It is reported that newly grown moringa leaves are a high-grade vegetable, with a wholesale price reaching 20 yuan per jin, supplied specially to high-end restaurants, and demand is very large. The cooperative is preparing to sign a contract with buyers and launch a special moringa leaf sales business.

"These moringa leaves grow quite fast. Pick them today and in a few days they grow back again. Look, how tender they are, they make you want to eat them just by looking. Combined with their own effects, they are very popular in the market. Once the sales contract is signed, farmers like Chen Shihu can earn over a thousand yuan a month just from selling moringa leaves." In Chen Shihu's moringa orchard, Liu Guohai stroked the moringa leaves, full of longing.

Integrated production and marketing is the ultimate goal

Liu Guohai told this writer that he submitted the moringa he planted for certification by the international SGS authoritative organization. Moringa grown in red soil is richer in selenium, and its quality is clearly a cut above moringa from other places, absolutely giving it a foothold in the national moringa market. "With such uniquely favorable advantages, plus the continuous expansion of the current planting scale, I see hope for moringa processing in Xuwen. Now, the cooperative is investing in building a factory, preparing to produce moringa tea and other health beverages, to better develop the moringa industry," Liu Guohai said.

Recently, the cooperative's factory plans in Xuwen have progressed smoothly. First, it successfully registered the "Sanxuantang" moringa trademark with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce; the product nutrition table is being urgently submitted for approval; and the processing plant located within Youhao Farm has also begun operating.

At the cooperative's production site, this writer saw workers using machines to cut and crush piles of high-quality moringa, then transport them to the processing plant for drying, and then screening and sorting. "This moringa first undergoes preliminary processing and storage. After the official application procedures are completed and the machinery and equipment installation is improved, mass production can begin," Liu Guohai introduced. "The cooperative's ultimate goal is integrated production and marketing. By then, the market will welcome moringa products produced in Xuwen. At the same time, the moringa planted by farmers will have greater economic benefits and risk guarantees."