Vegetable growing expert Li Haiqing, known as the Vegetable King
In the No. 1 Company of the 29th Regiment of the Second Agricultural Division of the Production and Construction Corps, when people mention greenhouse grower Li Haiqing, there is no one, young or old, man or woman, who does not admire her. She is the greenhouse star who won the autonomous region's "March 8th Red Banner Pacesetter" title, the Corps' "Youth Leader in Getting Rich," the Division's "Outstanding Mother," and the Regiment's "Industry Pacesetter." Everyone says it was the regimental trade union's interest-subsidized loans and the "Happiness Project, Assisting Impoverished Mothers" activity that changed Li Haiqing's fate.
In 2003, Li Haiqing and her husband were working in the city. They did not have much money, but life was quite leisurely. However, when Haiqing came home for the New Year and saw the young women who had grown up with her and contracted land, all of whom had gradually become prosperous through years of hard work and were now living in spacious, bright brick houses, Haiqing was moved. She refused to go back to the city no matter what, and wanted to borrow money to contract the company's 20 mu of cotton land. Unconvinced, she said, "I have two hands too. If others can grow crops and get rich, so can I!"
Just as the couple was busy in the fields with spring irrigation, sowing, and thinning seedlings, working hard with their heads down, they learned that the regimental trade union had formulated many preferential policies to encourage workers to grow vegetables in solar greenhouses. Li Haiqing could no longer sit still. She immediately stopped the farm work at hand, dragged her husband along to listen to experts' lectures, and went everywhere to observe and learn. Haiqing was optimistic about the geographical advantage of the suburban economy and was certain that greenhouses had good "money" prospects, so she insisted on converting the cotton field to greenhouses. Her husband became anxious: "You're always eyeing the mountain higher than the one you're on. The cotton is about to bloom and set bolls. Besides, where will we get the money to build greenhouses?"
When the regimental trade union heard about this, it quickly helped the couple obtain an interest-subsidized loan of 30,000 yuan, and led vegetable experts to Haiqing's home to explain the techniques of growing greenhouse vegetables. At this time, it coincided with the launch of the "Happiness Project" activity. After the regimental family planning association learned of Haiqing's situation, it immediately sent her an interest-subsidized loan of 10,000 yuan to support her in building a solar greenhouses. "With your support and help, what do I have to fear?" Haiqing was moved. That year, in July, Haiqing unhesitatingly ran to the cotton field and in one go pulled up 4 mu of cotton plants covered with cotton bolls, and tried to build her first solar greenhouse.
From then on, she and her husband ate and lived in the greenhouse every day. During the day, Haiqing carefully tended the vegetables; at night, she devoted herself to studying popular science books. She attended every session of the regiment's science and technology training. She quickly mastered all the essentials of greenhouse growing, and became a greenhouse "local expert." In the first year, she earned a net profit of 20,000 yuan from this one greenhouse.
In 2005, having tasted success, Li Haiqing went on to build 3 more greenhouses in one burst of energy. She also built a biogas facility beside the greenhouses and raised a group of pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese, and put all the farmyard manure and coarse vegetable leaves and vines into the biogas digester. The biogas slurry was used to irrigate the greenhouse vegetables, and the biogas was used for cooking. Over the year, not only did she save 2,000 yuan, but the pollution-free green vegetables were of good quality and low price, and were very popular with consumers.
Every year, before deciding what to plant, Li Haiqing always carefully analyzed the market conditions for various vegetables and went to seed shops to learn what seeds others were buying and what they planned to plant. She did not follow others in singing the "popular tune" when growing vegetables; she specifically aimed at market gaps and sang the "opposite tune." At the beginning of this year, she found that last year the price of bitter melon was low, and very few people were growing it this year. Seeing everyone rushing to grow watermelons, she was neither anxious nor impatient and intercropped bitter melon in the watermelon field. Before the bitter melon even reached the market, people had already come to her door to pay deposits and order it at high prices. She said: "Once this first crop of greenhouse watermelons is sold out, I'll pull up the watermelon vines. Let the bitter melon climb the trellis. By the time the second crop of greenhouse watermelons ripens, open-field watermelons will also be on the market. Greenhouse watermelons will then be hard to sell, while bitter melon will sell very well... By intercropping bitter melon among the watermelons, I can earn 5,000 yuan more."
Haiqing became famous for growing vegetables. Her greenhouse became a center where young women from near and far connected. Whenever there was a chance, everyone would gather in her greenhouse to discuss the "classics of vegetable growing." She always taught new growers without reservation, and provided tens of thousands of vegetable seedlings free of charge to workers in difficulty Wu Tao, Ma Hong, and Li Min, and gave more than 2,000 kg of vegetables to poor families. Under her help and influence, the company has developed a 150-greenhouse solar vegetable base.
Today, the vegetable greenhouses have become Li Haiqing's "little green bank." The couple not only paid off their borrowings and loans and bought an agricultural vehicle, but also brought her father-in-law and mother-in-law to live in the new house they had built. The whole family, old and young, lives together harmoniously, and their days are getting more and more prosperous.