In order to promote the development of demonstration area for rural revitalization along the West River, villagers have made full use of water and land resources, developed vegetable industry on a large scale for better employment to push forward rural revitalization in Taihe Village, Xujiadong Town, Suxian District, Chenzhou City.

After a spring rain, at the vegetable planting base in Taihe Village, various fresh and green vegetables are growing vibrantly under the sunshine. More than 20 villagers are busy in picking cabbages.

Luo Feng, director and party secretary of the Taihe Village, told the reporter: “In the work of rural revitalization, we focus on industrial development and the village collective economy, leasing the transferred land of farmers to enterprises. The vegetable base adopts the mode of the vegetable enterprise plus farmers, aimed at driving all villagers to increase employment and income.”

At the beginning of this year, the vegetable planting base in Taihe Village transferred the land of 300 mu (20 hectares), and planted vegetables of about 100 mu (about 6.67 hectares). At present, it mainly grows such varieties as cabbage, water spinach, amaranth, etc. The base ensures the continuous supply of fresh vegetables throughout the year by adopting staggered planting, which means planting different fields on a farm over a period of several weeks, in contrast with simultaneous planting wherein all fields are planted over a period of a week or less.

Luo Feng said: “We have about 30 villagers working on the farm every day. They pick fresh vegetables of 1,500 to 2,500 kilograms every day, which then will be sent to the agricultural wholesale market.”

Most of the workers in the base are women and the elderly in the village. During the morning, baskets of cabbage are picked, packed and loaded in an orderly manner. Villagers earn money from these fresh and delicious seasonal vegetables.

Li Hongying, a villager of Taihe Village, said: “The vegetable base in Taihe Village does good for our elderly. We can make 1,000-2,000 yuan per month while taking care of children. The land can also bring us rent every year.”

Taking advantage of the development of the demonstration area for rural revitalization along the West River, the base will continue to expand and enrich the planting varieties, so as to push the fruit and vegetable industry into a strong “engine” for the promotion of rural revitalization.

Luo Feng told the reporter: “In the next step, our base will continue to expand the planting areas and extend the industrial chain. We will also build a 5G modern seedling farm in our base, and invest in the cold-storage distribution center in the later step. On the basis of expanding the planting area, we will combine with culture and tourism to create a modern agricultural industrial system, integrating tourism, sightseeing, picking, experience and research.”