The Grape King Zhu Guangyu's Planting Story
In golden autumn August, for Zhu Guangyu's family in Hongyan Village, Xiaozhaiba, it is once again a harvest season. His 12 mu of land can yield over 1000 jin of fresh grapes; calculated at a market value of 2.5 yuan per jin, the output value can reach 25000 yuan. Adding the income from grape nursery stock, the family's annual income can reach over 32000 yuan.
From Mason to Major Grape Grower
In 1977, Zhu Guangyu, who had worked as a carpenter and a mason, brought back 11 grape seedlings from his father-in-law's home in the same village and planted them around his house. In the years that followed, every autumn the family could enjoy crystal-clear Crystal grapes. In 1982, Zhu Guangyu built a trellis for the grapes; once the vines climbed onto it, they grew even more vigorously and the grape yield increased, so he picked some to give to relatives and friends. The grapes were delicious, sweet as honey, and gradually people began coming to his door to buy them. More and more people came, and Zhu Guangyu saw a business opportunity to get rich.
To further increase grape production and add more grape varieties, in 1987, through an introduction, Zhu Guangyu bought high-quality grape seedlings such as "Kyoho", "White Banana", and "Red Rose" from ** and other places at high prices, and planted all of his dry land with grapes. Several years passed, and the introduced varieties only grew vines without producing many clusters of grapes, while the original 11 vines bore abundant fruit year after year. In 1992, Guizhou Agricultural College organized experts to conduct a survey in Hongyan and found that this was quartz sandy red soil formed by the weathering of Danxia landform, unsuitable for planting northern grape varieties, yet it possessed the conditions for growing Crystal grapes. So Zhu Guangyu's family painfully dug out the "Kyoho", "White Banana", "Red Rose" and others by the roots and planted Crystal grapes throughout, thus becoming a specialized grape grower and embarking on the road to prosperity.
A Yellowed Account Book
Zhu Guangyu has a yellowed account book recording his experience in developing grape cultivation, in which there is a set of income figures brought by grapes: 1993: 960 yuan; 1994: 1960 yuan; 1995: 4023 yuan; 1996: 4900 yuan; 1997: 10688 yuan... 2006: 25018 yuan... Behind these figures are the sweetness and bitterness of his grape growing and his persistent, resilient determination to prosper.
"The purpose of keeping accounts is to make comparisons, but who knew that the more I recorded, the more confident I became," Zhu Guangyu told reporters. Starting in 1995, his four children entered high school and university one after another, and tuition and living expenses were all paid from grape income. Today, one son and one daughter have graduated from university and started working, and the other two children have secure jobs after graduating from high school. Only he and his wife remain to manage the family vineyard. "It is hard and tiring at ordinary times, but at the thought of the autumn harvest, I feel strength all over," Zhu Guangyu's wife admitted frankly. In 2005, Zhu Guangyu tore down the mud-walled house and spent more than 100000 yuan to build a three-story Western-style house, added a color TV, refrigerator, DVD player and other home appliances as well as a motorcycle, and began using liquefied gas and an induction cooker, living a life like city people.
Setting His Sights on a New Industry
"Remembering his fellow villagers while prospering," Zhu Guangyu, while planting and managing his own vineyard well, has driven and helped other villagers develop grape cultivation. Besides cultivating seedlings for everyone, he often provides free technical guidance on fertilizing, pruning, and fruit thinning. Under his leadership, every household in the village planted grapes, and the villagers thus embarked on the road to prosperity. Now, in Hongyan Village, more than 100 grape growers are immersed in the joy of harvest just like Zhu Guangyu.
At present, Zhu Guangyu has also seen the market prospects for cherry cultivation and is planning to develop cherry planting around the vineyard, improve land utilization, and take the path of three-dimensional planting through intercropping. He believes that in the near future, he will certainly stand out in cherry cultivation and become an enviable "Cherry King".