Caozhou Quince Opens Wang Youcai's Green Path to Wealth

In the golden autumn season, it is exactly the time when Caozhou quince ripens. A few days ago, this writer came to the Caozhou quince base of Wang Youcai's cooperative in Wangtang Village, Rangu Town, Dingtao County. Just after stepping into the quince orchard, the fragrance of quince assailed the nostrils, its scent drifting far, and the lush branches of the quince trees were all hung with huge quinces, most of which had already taken on a golden-yellow color. Wang Youcai, the person in charge, told this writer that the quinces in the orchard have now entered the harvest season, and customers are constantly placing orders right now, so this year will again be a bumper harvest.

"Caozhou Quince" Has a Long History; Multiple Inspections Led to the Decision That It Was Suitable for Planting

In 2005, Wang Youcai went many times to Heze, Linyi and other places to inspect, and gained a further understanding of the quince market prospects, current supply and marketing conditions and profit margins. He learned that quince is a traditional cultivated tree species in Heze. According to the "Annals of Heze County", "Heze quince began in the Yuan Dynasty, spread widely in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and has a long history of cultivation." Heze was called Caozhou in ancient times, hence quince is also called Caozhou quince or Caozhou smooth-skinned quince. Caozhou quince can be planted except in heavily saline-alkali land, and is an excellent tree species for improving the ecological environment of the west, with extremely broad development prospects and being the most precious economic and ornamental tree species. There is no need to worry about sales channels, and the special benefits are high, far higher than growing crops. He also modestly learned from quince growers the management methods for planting quince: fertilizing four times a year, watering about 10 times a year, and bagging and spraying pesticides 4-5 times. Knowing that quince is easy to manage, high-yielding, in short supply, and that planting quince is a win-win situation, he decided to return home and transferred 2 mu of land to plant 1,200 quince saplings of 2 cm, creating the first precedent for planting quince trees locally. At that time, some people said he was foolish, not planting grain on good land but blindly planting quince trees. However, seeing is believing: three years later, Wang Youcai sold his first batch of quince trees, with a net income of 60,000 yuan.

In the Blink of an Eye, the Quince Trees Grew into Money Trees

It is understood that the whole Caozhou quince tree is a treasure. Quince leaves can be made into quince tea, with considerable sales prospects; Caozhou quince fruit has the advantages of being large, with a regular shape, delicate skin, good color, strong fragrance and thick flesh. The ripe fruit is golden yellow and gives off a rich aroma that lasts a long time. It is an important traditional Chinese medicinal material, and every sale is in short supply; Caozhou quince fruit trees also have a good effect in beautifying the environment, with a long flowering period and a mix of red and green. In autumn, yellow-green quinces press down the branches, and the fragrance is pleasant. They are ideal greening seedlings for parks, tree-lined avenues, factories and homes, and can also be made into bonsai. The economic value of quince trees is very high, and the profits that can be earned are also very high.

In the blink of an eye, ten years passed. Wang Youcai made no fewer than 20 business trips a year to quince bases all over the country to study, and his ever-growing planting knowledge also led the surrounding villagers to wealth. In 2010, under the guidance of the local government, he established Youcai Nursery Stock Professional Cooperative, adopting a method of secondary dividends and voluntary mutual assistance to encourage villagers in his own village and surrounding areas to join. In less than a month, the cooperative grew rapidly, and 220 farming households joined one after another as members. The nursery stock sales volume of Rangu Town also exceeded 30 million yuan. Wang Youcai told this writer, if there is money, everyone should earn it together; one person being rich is not being rich, only everyone being rich is truly being rich. Now, Wang Youcai's quince base has grown from the original 2 mu of land to 300 mu, with 10,000 quince trees of 8-15 cm and 300,000 quince saplings in the base. According to Wang Youcai, before the quinces here even ripened, customers had already come to inspect, and as soon as they ripened, merchants placed orders. In recent years, the quince sales market has continued to broaden. Most customers come from surrounding areas to buy, and in recent years there are customers from all over the country. His quince base has an annual income of more than 2 million yuan, and Caozhou quince trees have, in the blink of an eye, grown into "money trees."

Caozhou Quince Has Prominent Advantages, and the Quince Base Will Be Vigorously Developed

Caozhou quince will become Heze's second characteristic industry after peony. At present, Heze has initially proposed planning to build a 10,000-mu high-efficiency characteristic quince base. Heze is committed to building the cultural brand and new city card of "one flower and one tree ranking first under heaven," broadening the development path of the quince industry, increasing processing capacity, and will issue preferential policies for quince fruit growers to accelerate the pace of industrial development, giving support in funds, land, technology, circulation and other aspects. This also brings good opportunities for fruit growers to develop quince planting.

"Caozhou Quince" has opened Wang Youcai's "green" path to wealth and brought him fortune. Wang Youcai told this writer that in the next step, over the next 5-10 years, he will vigorously develop the quince base and build his own quince base into the largest thousand-mu quince orchard in Heze City, integrating picking, viewing and tourism, processing quinces, and making a series of products such as quince beverages, quince soap, cosmetics, canned quince and quince wine as Heze's specialty products.