Tianma (Gastrodia elata) industry leads the people of Qianxi, Guizhou, to increase their incomes and become prosperous
Pictured: The tianma planting base hidden deep in the green mountains of Minzhu Village.
Pictured: Wu Yonggui and Wu Shixin digging the soil to check on the growth of the tianma.
The tianma is growing well.
Pictured: Wu Yonggui's business license for tianma cultivation.
Approaching Shaping Group in Minzhu Village, Zhongjian Township, Qianxi County, the lush trees are still thriving, ferns cover the ground like a green carpet, and hidden deep among the verdant green mountains is a little-known tianma planting base. These forests and mountains have become the local people's mountains of gold and silver.
Accelerating "ecological development" to attract investment, "targeted poverty alleviation" to grow tianma
Minzhu Village has always taken "ecological development" as its development theme, adhering to the development philosophy of "wanting both clear waters and green mountains and mountains of gold and silver," and has carried out afforestation, planting more than 4,000 mu of walnut economic fruit forest, bringing the forest coverage rate to more than 58%.
In order to let the people reap the ecological dividend and achieve poverty alleviation and prosperity as soon as possible, the village has held villagers' meetings many times to discuss development strategies together. Many people believed that after returning farmland to forest, growing corn was ultimately not a way out, but for a time there was no other solution. Some suggested growing medicinal herbs, but many people did not agree. However, in the mind of the village Party secretary Chen Guanghai, growing Chinese medicinal herbs was a path to prosperity. So he organized the village's two committees to go deep into the mountain forests to investigate, and discovered wild tianma growing in the forest of Shaping Group. This further strengthened his confidence in playing the ecological card of tianma cultivation, so he decided to lead the people in developing tianma cultivation.
But the ensuing difficulties lay right before them. First, the village had no ready funds; second, the road to the group was not wide and not hardened; and no one in the village knew the cultivation techniques. What was to be done? After thinking hard, the village Party branch secretary decided to mobilize capable people from the village to return home and start businesses, using this method to attract investment. After visiting house to house, he learned that the two brothers Wu Yonggui and Wu Shixin from Shaping Group in the village had been contracting engineering projects in Guiyang and had earned more than a million yuan, so he contacted them many times, mobilized them to return home to grow tianma, and promised to coordinate the transfer of forest land for them. The two Wu brothers readily agreed to return home and invest.
Building a base, traveling a thousand li to find experts to teach techniques, and the people gaining real benefits
In early summer, after returning home, the two Wu brothers registered capital and established the company "Qianxi County Zhongjian Township Lishitou Chinese Medicinal Herb Planting Base." They reported to our township leaders many times. With the help of the village's two committees, the two successfully transferred 500 mu of forest land as a tianma planting base, to be planted in three phases. The first phase planted 150 mu, and the second and third phases planted 350 mu. At present, the first phase has been fully completed, introduced the village Party secretary Chen Guanghai.
"Our original intention was to help more people back home get rich. To succeed at one stroke, the company introduced tianma seeds from Xiaocaoba Township, Yiliang County, Yunnan Province, a thousand li away, and paid for experts there to come and conduct soil analysis, so that the villagers would believe this place is suitable for growing tianma. We also hired technical personnel to guide and train the people, teaching the villagers hand by hand how to grow tianma, so that everyone could both make money and learn techniques. They were all very happy!" said Wu Yonggui.
"These two young bosses only hire people from this village as laborers, with the aim of letting the village people work nearby to earn money and take care of the old and young. The labor fee is calculated at 100 yuan a day, which is quite a good deal. Every day, thirty to forty people work on the mountain for them." Many villagers in the village told this writer. "From turning the soil to completing planting, plus various transport fees for Armillaria and germination fungi, a total of 170,000 yuan in workers' wages was paid, as well as seed funds... with total investment of more than 700,000 yuan." Wu Shixin calculated every expense for this writer.
Building roads, demonstrating and leading, guiding the people to prosperity and a moderately prosperous life
"To get rich, build roads first." In order to make travel convenient for the people and dispel the Wu brothers' worries that good tianma could not be transported out, our village first hardened the road to Shaping Group. At present, 2 km has been hardened and opened up, and the remaining 3 km has had its roadbed built and large crushed stone cushion laid. It can be completed and opened to traffic in early November, said Zhang Yizhi, deputy director of the village.
"We are all locals and relatively young. Some villagers do not quite believe it, afraid they will not make money. Now only a few households cooperate with us, each growing a few mu of tianma. They provide the land, the company provides the seeds, finds sales channels, teaches them techniques, and leads them to grow tianma and make money," said Wu Shixin. "The tianma market is good, and in Qianxi we are also the first. Each jin can sell for at least 50 yuan. The 150 mu of tianma planted can yield at least 60,000 jin, with gross income of more than 3 million yuan. After deducting capital and workers' wages, we can still earn more than 1 million yuan. Once we make money, definitely more people will grow it, and by then everyone will become prosperous," said Wu Yonggui confidently.
"Because some people do not believe it and are afraid of failure in cultivation, we are implementing a 'point-to-area' project. First let some people succeed in growing it, then demonstrate and lead other farming households to grow it, achieving full coverage. Now the people have begun to receive real benefits." By 2020, there will be no problem for the whole village to shake off poverty and become prosperous and attain a moderately prosperous life. The village Party secretary Chen Guanghai said happily.