Sharing the planting experience of large-scale vegetable grower Deng Xiyang

    Comrade Deng Xiyang is from Xingang Village, Xingang Office, Xihu Management District. He is 36 years old this year, has a high school education, and currently serves as production manager of the Huazhong Green Fruit and Vegetable Fresh-keeping Processing Factory. 

A few years ago, Deng Xiyang worked in transportation elsewhere, traveling year-round between major cities such as Guangzhou and Changsha. Astute as he was, while helping transport goods for vegetable wholesale markets elsewhere, he discovered that every year in May and June, bitter melon was relatively scarce and prices were higher in wholesale markets in Guangzhou and other places. When he learned that the local Xihu area was suitable for growing bitter melon, he signed a contract with a trader at the Guangzhou Jiangnan Farmers Market to supply 40,000 kg of bitter melon. He then returned to his hometown, raised funds, bought seeds and fertilizer, and reached an agreement with nearly 70 farming households in Jiushi, Xingang and other villages to grow 180 mu of bitter melon, purchasing at a floor price, with the farmers handling cultivation and him handling sales. Last year, all the bitter melon from the 70 households was sold to Guangzhou, and the average price per kg was 0.12 yuan higher than in the district. 

This year, led by Deng Xiyang, farmers from another seven villages reached planting cooperation agreements with him, growing bitter melon, chili peppers, Chinese cabbage, taicai, radish and eggplant on more than 500 mu, with sales expected to exceed 100,000 kg. Deng Xianzhong, a villager from Chunxiao Village, Xingang Office, planted 2 mu of eggplant this year. Up to now, he has sold more than 2,000 kg through Deng Xiyang, earning nearly 7,000 yuan. Now Deng Xianzhong tells everyone he meets: "Before, my family only dared to plant a few tenths of a mu, just enough for our own consumption, and it was very hard to sell even at the district farmers market. Now it is different. Boss Deng has sales channels, and whatever he tells me to grow, I grow with confidence!" 

Because Xihu has a small floating population, the district's total vegetable consumption is extremely limited. Apart from rice in the fields, the question of which vegetables can be sold and make money has long troubled the broad masses of farmers in Xihu. Since the autumn of 2005, Comrade Deng Xiyang has taken the lead in operating contracted land in the village to develop vegetable production. Because his vegetable-growing skills, especially his chili pepper production techniques, are relatively advanced, and because he not only learned vegetable-growing techniques from Changde, Yiyang and other places but also brought back sales information, he has a relatively accurate grasp and forecast of the patterns of change in the vegetable market. So no matter how the market moves, he can basically respond calmly, and he is especially adept at handling seasonal adjustments. For many years, his contracted vegetable planting has been over 100 mu, with good results. Year-round, red peppers yield about 3,000 kg per mu, and the annual benefit per mu is around 5,000 yuan. Moreover, each place he develops also solves employment for a group of surplus laborers, and he has taught and driven a group of local farming households to develop vegetable production. His footprint in developing vegetables can be found in all 7 offices (towns) in the district. In recent years, he has driven more than 300 farming households across the district to switch from grain to vegetables and develop high-efficiency agriculture, playing a very good leading role in the agricultural structure adjustment of the Xihu Management District, especially in the large-scale development of high-efficiency agriculture.  

After two years of struggling in the market, his customers gradually increased, and Deng Xiyang also found that customers had especially high requirements for vegetable quality. How could fresh vegetables be shipped elsewhere while ensuring quality? In 2007, Deng Xiyang and a local major distributor, Liu Jinsong, invested more than 3 million yuan to establish in Xihu the "Huazhong Green Fruit and Vegetable Fresh-keeping Processing Factory," covering more than 7,000 sq m. The factory leased the entire Xihu grain station for 20 years of use rights, thoroughly renovated and rebuilt the original warehouses, rebuilt 1,800 sq m of rainproof steel-frame sheds, hardened more than 3,000 sq m of ground with cement, built an independent water supply system with a daily water supply of 1,000 tons, added a 250 kV transformer, built a constant-temperature fresh-keeping warehouse of more than 800 cubic meters, purchased a set of vacuum sterilization and refrigeration equipment with internationally advanced levels, handling 100 tons of fresh vegetables per day, added a 100-ton electronic weighbridge, and laid 180 m of underground cable. 

As production manager of the Huazhong Green Fruit and Vegetable Fresh-keeping Processing Factory, Deng Xiyang established a "three-pronged" business strategy. First, order-based floor prices, following market conditions. Reach agreements with farmers, establish orders, purchase their fruits and vegetables at floor prices with no ceiling, and remove farmers' worries. The order area has now reached more than 2,000 mu. The fruits and vegetables include more than 10 varieties such as Chinese cabbage, chili peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and red caitai. Second, share-based cooperation for mutual benefit and win-win results. Farmers use land and labor as share capital, while the company uses fertilizer, seeds and technology as share capital. Farmers are the main body of production, and the company is the main body of processing and sales. They rely on each other and share benefits. Third, company demonstration, radiating and driving development. The company independently operates a 400-mu demonstration base, planting tomatoes, fast-growing leafy vegetables and so on. It sets an example for farmers, and the company's demonstration has driven many farming households. For example, Jiang Guihua in Jiushi Village, Xingang Office, planted more than 100 mu of chili peppers, yardlong beans and cauliflower, and Dai Chonghu in Huangni Lake Village, Yumin Office, planted more than 40 mu of Chinese cabbage, cabbage and so on.