Vegetable cultivation drives rural development

A villager ploughs the land with a ploughing machine. [Photo/WeChat account of Kaiyang county]

This year, Ercun village in Longgang town, Kaiyang County, Guiyang, introduced a number of cooperatives and enterprises and transferred over 200 mu (13.33 hectares) of idle lands to develop cucumber, Chinese cabbage, and other vegetables in a "cooperative + base + farmer" model. This initiative has allowed local residents to work near their homes and increased their incomes.

"My family not only received rent from leasing out 5 mu of land, but I also got a job near home. I can take care of my family and have a stable income. It's wonderful," said a local villager surnamed Yang.

According to the base manager, local cucumber cultivation uses drip irrigation equipment, allowing the water-fertilizer mixture to be precisely delivered near the roots of the crops. This meets the crops' needs for water and fertilizer while effectively reducing the occurrence of pests and diseases, further ensuring the quality and yield of the cucumbers. Thanks to advanced planting techniques, the expected yield of cucumbers from this batch exceeds 5,000 kilograms per mu.

In addition, every step from plowing, film covering, and trellis building to harvesting requires manual labor. Cucumber cultivation this year is expected to create over 1,500 jobs.

Moving forward, Ercun village in Longgang town will continue to explore more distinctive agricultural projects, focus on industrial development, and make full use of the land. Additionally, the village will keep expanding sales channels to bring high-quality agricultural products to broader markets, thereby increasing villagers' incomes and increasing agricultural efficiency.