Mustard greens cultivate a path to prosperity: Dengfeng farmers vie to become "mustard shred people"

When people mention Dengfeng specialties, many think of mustard shreds. Han Huiqing, a 51-year-old villager from Chen Village, Shidao Township, is one of these "mustard shred people."

Back then, Han Huiqing was just an ordinary farmer "facing the yellow earth, back to the sky"; now, he has a company plus farmer cooperative model specializing in processing mustard greens, and has become a well-known "celebrity" near and far. Recently, a reporter visited Han Huiqing's Shaolin brand mustard shred processing factory to hear about his road to wealth.

A farmer's dream of escaping poverty and getting rich: wanting all his fellow villagers to benefit

Mustard greens are one of Dengfeng's specialty products and enjoy the reputation of being "Dengfeng's number one vegetable." But over a decade ago, mustard greens were not any kind of specialty product in Dengfeng.

Around the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1999, Han Huiqing and several fellow villagers who grew mustard greens began trying to deep-process their own mustard greens and sell them at market. Unexpectedly, as soon as the products hit the market, demand immediately outstripped supply and they sold out completely.

Han Huiqing, who spotted the business opportunity, suddenly gained confidence. After several years of careful exploration, Songying Agricultural By-Products Co., Ltd. was established in 2001. He also registered the "Shaolin" brand trademark, becoming "the first person in the township to give mustard greens a name."

Because the quality of the mustard greens produced was stable and guaranteed, "Shaolin" brand mustard greens quickly sold well in many cities within the province and gradually gained a small reputation nationwide, also becoming a local specialty of Dengfeng. But Han Huiqing was not satisfied with this small achievement; he was determined to seize the great opportunity of rural reform and lead local farmers to escape poverty and achieve prosperity together.

To build mustard green processing into an economic industry, Han Huiqing invested in establishing "Dengfeng City Yingfu Planting Professional Cooperative" to discuss advanced mustard green cultivation experience with everyone. Adopting the company plus farmer model, he planted over 800 mu of mustard greens in Dajindian, Shidao, Junzhao and other townships, driving over 500 farming households.

Chen Village, Shidao Township, Dengfeng City is a provincial-level poverty-stricken village, with a per capita annual income of only 3300 yuan. Han Huiqing wanted everyone in the village to benefit.

Since Songying Agricultural By-Products Co., Ltd. was first established, it has provided many employment positions for the village. Today there are over 50 workers, most of whom are impoverished village households and left-behind women with relatively poor families and no fixed income. Working at Han Huiqing's company now, they can earn an annual income of around 5000 yuan.

Han Huiqing introduced that currently, in addition to processing mustard greens, the enterprise has also added a series of products including chive flower sauce, soybean paste, five-spice fermented black beans, cucumber sauce, and Chinese toon, with various packaging options for different needs. It has successively received honors such as Zhengzhou Leading Enterprise, laying a solid foundation for the company's future healthy development.

A belief in solid, down-to-earth work: integrity first is the "secret" to escaping poverty

During the large-scale mustard green harvest season, because there were no preservation measures, it was easy for produce to pile up, so villagers could only sell their hard-grown mustard greens at low prices to vegetable vendors, who then resold and shipped them elsewhere to earn a margin. This seriously affected the villagers' cultivation returns.

If cold storage for mustard greens could be done well, by reducing long-distance transport losses, improving mustard green quality, and extending the purchase and harvest period, it could increase farmers' income considerably each year. So Han Huiqing found staff from the Zhengzhou Federation of Trade Unions mass work team who were conducting a survey.

After understanding the situation, the work team specifically helped Han Huiqing apply for several hundred thousand in special support funds to build dedicated cold storage, ensuring the freshness of purchased mustard greens and driving up farming household income.

This gave Han Huiqing even more confidence. Han Huiqing said: "With government support, the road to prosperity for us farmers is getting wider and wider." In the future, Han Huiqing has more far-reaching plans: "Take root in rural areas, contract land transferred out by farmers at a high price, then sow uniformly and manage uniformly, striving to cut our neighbors' labor intensity in half and double their economic income."

The villagers say, look at us rural folk doing business - we're quite proper too. Han Huiqing laughs and says he has been constantly exploring and moving forward. He believes that no matter what one operates or what business one does, as long as one works solidly, one can succeed.

When asked about old Han's "road to wealth," he said: "You can't just focus on immediate benefits. Sometimes money comes back quickly, sometimes slowly. But slower is fine - the key is to put integrity first."

Han Huiqing says that whatever he promises others, he must deliver. He does not delay any payments, does not issue IOUs, and settles on the spot. In difficult times, he would rather lose money himself than fail to settle accounts clearly with the farmers who grow mustard greens.

Integrity and perseverance - this is Han Huiqing's "secret to success" in leading his fellow villagers out of poverty and toward prosperity.