This family-style flower planting base is located in Majie Village Lufeng City, Chuxiong Prefecture, 77 kilometers away from Kunming, more than an hour's drive. Walking into the local flower planting base, there are lots of flowers and fragrances in the greenhouses... all kinds of roses are blooming, making people feel refreshed. "Although flower planting is very hard every day, we live in the garden. These roses have brought us a well-off life." Qin Fengcong and his wife, flower growers said happily.
In recent years, many places in Yunnan rely on their own favorable climate, soil, and other conditions to guide farmers to develop fresh-cut flower planting represented by roses, so that the flowers bloom in the land of Yunling and bring a new lifestyle to locals. Mr. Qin and his wife in Qinfeng Town are typical representatives of Yunnan flower farmers. They planted flowers in greenhouses and paved a colorful "road” to a better life.
Laid-off workers meet flowers unexpectedly
The 48-year-old Qin Fengcong was born in an ordinary worker's home in Guangtong Town, Lufeng, Yunnan. After graduating from technical school and working in a state-owned enterprise for more than 20 years, he saw that many people around him have developed a prosperous career by opening restaurants and contracting projects. After being laid off from a state-owned enterprise, Mr. Qin took several laid-off workers and used his welding expertise and work experience to undertake greenhouse design projects in several locations in Kunming. He saw many growers planting flowers. "The more flowers that are sold, the better their lives are getting." At the beginning of 2018, after going to Anning, Jinning and other places to inspect planting technology and business models, on the advice of technical staff of Dounan Flower Electronic Trading Center, he decided to start greenhouse flower planting in Zhangyang Village, Majie Village Committee, Qinfeng Town, where has convenient transportation, suitable climate, and contiguous planting conditions, and he also decided to plant roses that are common in Yunnan.
Turning farmland into a cultivation area
In Majie Village, it took more than 20 years from just planting fresh flowers to also do marketing for fresh flowers, but the flower industry is not a local traditional industry. Around 2000, when the local agricultural industry structure was adjusted, many businessmen from Jinning and other places came to rent the land for trial planting of flowers. However, because of the lack of technical support and mature sales channels, the planting of fresh-cut flowers was not favored, and both the planting and the sales were in trouble. "At that time, fresh-cut flower farmers could only learn by planting, step by step, and there was no market, so they had to pack the flowers in bundles, and then took mini-vans or minibusses to the big cities to sell the flowers or negotiate with flower shops again and again.” Mr. Qin said, “But in the last 5 or 6 years, the situation has improved a lot. In order to let more farmers embark on the road of flower planting, the local government has issued policies and encouraged them to take the lead in building greenhouses for growers. More and more people see business opportunities and become more confident."
In just a few years, through the "base + farmer" operation model, the number of flower planting farmers reached several hundred, with a planting area over 1000 hectares, and the local flower farmers stepped out a new way to develop the rose industry. In the past three years, Mr. Qin and his wife have also started from scratch, relying on their enthusiasm for flower planting and increasingly skilled technology, from the original 14 greenhouses with less than one-hectare planting area to the current 21 greenhouses with an area of 1.3 hectares. "As of now, I have been planting flowers for nearly 3 years, and the experience is considered capable. I have a better understanding of what kinds of flowers are good to sell and which ones are not good. I have basically become a half-expert on the prevention and control of flower diseases and insect pests.” Mr. Qin said with a smile, “As of this year, through continuous adjustment of the planting brand, as of September, the sales have been about 700,000 RMB, and it should be able to exceed 1 million by the end of the year.”
The road to success
Nowadays, beautiful flowers are continuously extending the local industrial chain. “The key to rural development depends on the industry. Only when the industry is revitalized can villagers have more job opportunities and rural areas can gather more vitality.” Mr. Qin said. At present, all kinds of flowers in his base are growing well. In the future, he will continue to introduce and cultivate new varieties, and he will not get tired of the business of flower planting. Speaking of his next plan, he said, “Adjust measures to local conditions and further expand the variety of flowers in the greenhouses. Now 20 greenhouses are planted, and I hope that in the future, it can lead the cultivation of flowers in 100 local greenhouses and form a brand effect.”
Source: www.yn.xinhuanet.com
