A few years ago, the village’s collective economy was weak, with only a few tens of thousands of yuan, and many villagers chose to go out to work. 

 

In 2022, the village established a collective transportation cooperative with the help of a fluorite mining project, achieving a collective economic income of over one million yuan. In 2023, the collective economic income of the village reached over 2 million yuan.  

 

Given the single industrial structure, the village took the best of barren hills to develop planting industries. About 70 mu (4.67 hectares) of barren hills were transferred to plant soybeans, corn at the beginning of 2023. This year, villagers planted the Fo-Ti.

 

Last year, the yield of corn per mu (0.067 hectares) in the village reached over 500 kg, but the market price was only about 3 yuan per kg, and the income per mu (0.067 hectares) of land was less than 1,500 yuan. The yield of potatoes per mu was about 1,000 kg, and based on last year’s market price of 3 yuan per kg, the income per mu is only about 3,000 yuan. 

 

“This doesn’t even include seeds and fertilizers, plus labor costs, the benefits are even worse. Last year, due to bad weather, both of them were at a loss.” Peng Jianxin, the village secretary, calculated the profit while saying that although the terraced fields are close to roads, the slop exceeds 25 degrees, leading to inefficient manual plowing and transportation, and thus the relatively high cost.

 

By contrast, planting Fo-Ti is a better choice.

 

Surrounded by  mountains, Longguangdong Yao Village is located at an altitude of over 800 meters, with many wild Chinese medicinal herbs grown. The villagers are familiar with Polygonum multiflorum, radix ophiopogonis and Polygonatum odoratum.

 

“Since the wild ones can grow, why can we try planting them?” Peng Jianxin said that choosing Fo-Ti is because it’s easy to manage and has a high survival rate. 

 

“The cost of Rhizoma Paridis and Polygonatum odoratum is too high, and because we lack experience, we are afraid of failure and then we’ll feel sorry for the villagers,” he said.

 

Peng Jianxin added, “including seedlings, organic fertilizer and labor, the cost per mu (0.067 hectares) is about 5,000 yuan, but it can produce 4 to 5 tons of fresh Fo-Ti. 

 

Now, the price of fresh Fo-Ti is 9,000 to 10,000 yuan per ton. In three years, Fo-Ti can be harvested. We will first try planting over 10 mu (0.67 hectares), and it’s expected to increase the income of the village collective by more than 400,000 yuan. 

 

More importantly, Fo-Ti does not require precise management. In the first year, only some weeding and fertilization work are needed. In the second and third years, as weeds are not easy to grow, there is even no weeding work needed, which will greatly reduce labor cost. 

 

This year, the village has signed a guaranteed purchase agreement with an agricultural company in Guangxi province, and so there is no worry about the sales, plus the technical assistance, making villagers more confident.

 

Now, Fo-Ti is growing as expected, and villagers are hoping for sunny days to weed and fertilize. “After the trial is successful, we can promote the planting of Fo-ti,” said Peng Jianxin.