Qiongzhong green oranges enjoy a bumper harvest; a man from Hebei in his sixties ventures to Hainan alone to plant them

Yang Chunzhu, a grower at the Zhonglang green orange base in Wanling Town, Qiongzhong Li and Miao Autonomous County, inspects the orchard.

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"Qiongzhong green oranges are officially being picked and hitting the market today!" On October 10, the Zhonglang green orange base in Wanling Town, Qiongzhong Li and Miao Autonomous County, was bustling with excitement, as the 2015 Qiongzhong green orange picking ceremony was held here, and Yang Chunzhu, a grower at the base, was grinning from ear to ear. This year is another bumper harvest year!

This year happens to be Old Yang's 10th year of growing the fruit. Over the past 10 years, with the strong promotion of the local government, Qiongzhong green oranges have become more and more famous, and the price of Old Yang's fruit has gotten better year after year!

Coming to "venture to Hainan" at nearly 50 to grow Qiongzhong green oranges and earn his "first pot of gold"

Old Yang is from Hebei. In 2004, when he was already nearly 50 and always wanting to accomplish something, he took early internal retirement from a decent local work unit, then came to Qiongzhong with two buddies to try his luck. At first, he set up a pig farm and became a "pig keeper," but unexpectedly ran into a market downturn and lost money for 6 years in a row.

The turning point came in 2006. That year, the land that had previously been used to grow star fruit became vacant, so Old Yang and others took over the land and switched it to growing green oranges.

"At the time, Qiongzhong green oranges were already quite famous for being sweet, juicy and thin-skinned, and they were Hainan's first trademark certified as a geographical indication. I was optimistic about the prospects of Qiongzhong green oranges, so I switched to growing them," Old Yang recalled.

Old Yang said there were two other reasons: this orchard land had uniquely favorable conditions - it was adjacent to the Dabian River, with ample water, and a large temperature difference between day and night, which helped increase sugar content, making it the most golden section for growing Qiongzhong green oranges; and he had his own pig farm, which could provide organic farmyard manure for circular agriculture, which was very good for the fruit trees and the soil.

With the "favorable timing" of green oranges' far-reaching fame, plus the many "favorable geographical" conditions of the base, Old Yang's green orange business developed smoothly.

In the autumn of 2010, the orchard's first batch of green oranges hit the market, and Old Yang made more than 200,000 yuan that year. At the age of 55, Old Yang dug up the first pot of gold in his life, and was worthy of his lofty ambition to "venture to Hainan" at the age of 49.

Provincial and county "12th Five-Year Plan" encourages the development of tropical specialty agriculture

If the early stage of Old Yang's green orange business was mainly self-reliance, then starting in 2011, Old Yang increasingly felt the local government's support for the green orange business, and his green orange business therefore flourished.

On March 3, 2011, the outline of Hainan Province's "12th Five-Year Plan" was released. According to the "12th Five-Year Plan," it was necessary to "always adhere to the strategic thinking of making the resolution of the 'three rural issues' the top priority of the whole province's work, and advance the modernization of tropical specialty agriculture."

In Hainan's tropical specialty agriculture, the south has mangoes and rubber, the north has lychees and wampee, and the center also has its own specialty good product - Qiongzhong green oranges.

Once you grasp your own characteristics, you find the direction in which to apply your efforts.

Qiongzhong's "12th Five-Year Plan" clearly pointed out: "In accordance with the province's plan to build a national tropical specialty modern agriculture base, and in combination with our county's mountainous characteristics, focus on developing rubber, betel nut, green oranges... and other tropical mountainous specialty industries that suit Qiongzhong's actual conditions."

Many local government support policies; green orange business flourishes

A sound plan cannot be separated from strict implementation.

During the "12th Five-Year Plan" period, Qiongzhong successively introduced practical policies to advance the development of Qiongzhong green oranges. According to statistics from the Agricultural Technology Center of Qiongzhong Li and Miao Autonomous County, in 2013 alone, the county invested 4.5 million yuan in pesticide and fertilizer subsidies and post-disaster assistance to growers.

"The county subsidizes fertilizer and pesticides according to standards every year, and this alone saves me at least 10% of my expenses every year!" Old Yang said, counting on his fingers.

At the same time, starting from January 1, 2013, Qiongzhong allocated 200,000 yuan each year to carry out technical training and guidance for green orange growers throughout the county, improve the standardized management level of Qiongzhong green oranges, and promote the upgrading of the Qiongzhong green orange industry.

"At key time points such as flowering, fruit setting, and fruit expansion, you can see staff from the agricultural technology station coming down to deliver technology and give us professional guidance. It's very useful, and it makes people feel very warm!" Old Yang said.

Also starting from January 1, 2013, in order to encourage growers, Qiongzhong gave a one-time reward of 50,000 yuan to orchards that obtained pollution-free product, green food or organic agricultural product certification.

Old Yang had his own method for growing fruit. Unlike others who mainly used chemical fertilizers, because there was a pig farm in the orchard, Old Yang built a biogas digester and mainly used farmyard manure biogas slurry to fertilize the fruit trees. Therefore, the fruit grown was large and sweet, the fruit trees had few pests and diseases, and the soil was fertile and not compacted.

Having tasted the sweetness of support policies, Old Yang was very cooperative and had recently submitted application materials for pollution-free product and organic agricultural product certification. Once approval passed, the pollution-free green oranges that his orchard focused on would have certification, and could sell for an even better price!

Moreover, every year during the green orange picking season, the Qiongzhong County Party Committee and County Government hold a "Qiongzhong Green Orange" picking ceremony, invite media coverage, invite capable merchants to make contact and discuss cooperation, and also organize fruit farmers to participate in domestic food expos, strengthening brand promotion for Qiongzhong green oranges and opening up sales channels.

And so, this year's picking ceremony was chosen to be held in Old Yang's orchard. Old Yang stood on the hilltop, looking at the fruit trees whose branches were bent by the abundant fruit, and his heart bloomed with joy.

Full of entrepreneurial drive, a man in his sixties like a young man

On one side are mature trees laden with fruit, and on the other side are 200 mu of young seedlings that have not yet borne fruit. In a few more years, when the seedlings grow up, all 320 mu of green oranges will bear fruit, and an annual output value of 2 million is not a dream!

Thinking of this, a gratified smile appeared at the corners of Old Yang's mouth, and he also hoped the government could continue to provide caring policies so that his business would get better and better.

Old Yang said that when he decided to grow green oranges back then, it was to let this high-quality fruit develop better and let more people enjoy its deliciousness. Looking at it now, with government support and his own efforts, his original entrepreneurial intention had been realized.

"I feel very happy! Because I still have a salary after retirement, entrepreneurship is not for money. The spiritual satisfaction brought by entrepreneurship is what truly makes people feel joyful!"

Old Yang's children had come to the base several times and always felt that an elderly man still farming was too hard. Old Yang said: "But I don't feel it's hard. I think the feeling of doing one thing well is very meaningful and very satisfying!"