Sun Baiqian Grows Watermelons and Happily Embraces Golden Dolls on the Road to Wealth
On the morning of August 3, laughter and cheerful voices filled Sun Baiqian's watermelon greenhouse in Moushan Village, Moushan Town, Yuyao, Zhejiang. Inside the greenhouse, the green melon vines were extremely lush, and under the dappled sunlight, the ground was covered with emerald green watermelons. Outside the greenhouse, more than 10 farmers were racing each other to load the round watermelons onto a large truck by the roadside, preparing to send them to the fruit wholesale market in Shanghai.
Sun Baiqian, 55 years old this year, is a major grain grower in Moushan Town. How did he suddenly start selling watermelons? Sun Baiqian revealed the answer to the reporter: "Originally I planted 160 mu of rice. At the beginning of this year, I invested 300,000 yuan to renovate the farmland facilities on 110 mu of it, set up greenhouses, laid drip irrigation facilities, and switched entirely to growing the high-quality variety 8424 watermelon." Sun Baiqian said happily, "The total income from these 110 mu of greenhouse watermelons can reach 200,000 yuan!"
"As early as the first half of last year, I contacted sales channels for watermelons through relatives and friends in Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou. Sales of this batch of melons in these three places will account for more than 70% of the total. Now I can sell as many melons as I have. If you want to buy my melons, you must make a phone appointment in advance. From picking the first batch of melons in May to now, I have picked three batches of watermelons totaling 350,000 kg." Speaking of the sales channels for this batch of watermelons, Sun Baiqian was quite proud. He told the reporter that in addition to being sweet and full of water, the biggest feature of 8424 watermelons is their long fruiting period, allowing harvests all the way until October. Just as he was speaking, Sun Baiqian's mobile phone rang. It turned out that Manager Huang from Shanghai Zhenxing Fruit Wholesale was calling to ask him for melons.
When talking about his experience in this structural adjustment, Sun Baiqian suddenly became very talkative: "For farmers, the key to agricultural structural adjustment is to accurately gauge the market. I failed a few years ago when I blindly raised shrimp and bullfrogs, and suffered big losses because I did not understand the market well. This time I learned my lesson. I spent more than two years conducting preliminary research, and also systematically studied greenhouse watermelon cultivation techniques, and hired an agricultural technology expert from Wenling as a consultant. The leaders of the Moushan Town Party Committee and government also cared about me very much and came to my door many times to help me solve practical difficulties. The agricultural technicians from the town's agricultural economic office are even regular guests here, providing me with technical support."
Before long, the large truck was already full of watermelons. The driver gently started the vehicle, carrying these melons and Old Sun's hopes slowly into the distance. "As long as we accurately identify market demand and adjust the industrial structure in a timely manner, our farmers' incomes will definitely increase," Sun Baiqian said to himself.