Wenjiaping villagers are tomato-savvy
2023-09-20 20:09:59
By Shen Yuan, Yichang International Communication Studio
These days Wenjiaping Village in Changyang, Yichang, boasts an impressive average annual household income of 400,000 yuan (approximately US$55,000) – and it owes its good fortune to tomatoes.
Situated at an elevation of 1,200-1,600 meters, Wenjiaping Village faced multiple difficulties in the past with its vegetable farming. Many of its crops turned out to be scarcely profitable.
Then, in 2008, the village began to plant tomatoes on a large scale. In 2015, some of the villagers visited Shandong, Inner Mongolia and other places to improve their knowledge of tomato cultivation techniques.
In 2017, Wenjiaping Village began installing greenhouses and adopted water-drip irrigation and fertigation technology – a system whereby fertilizers are applied via the irrigation network, so that the plants absorb them when they uptake water.
The new technology cuts costs by heavily reducing the use of organic fertilizers and obviating the need for pesticides. Since the technology is automated, labor costs are also reduced by 50 percent.
What’s more, the capacity of greenhouses to retain heat allowed the villagers to extend their tomato harvest period through to November.
Technology is one thing, marketing another. Careful research allowed Wenjiaping Village to spot a gap in the market – the period when Ningxia tomatoes are no longer available and Inner Mongolia tomatoes have yet to hit the market.
The villagers also studied the preferences of consumers in different market segments. They found that customers in Shanghai and its surrounding areas prefer a sweet taste, so pink tomatoes sell well there. Customers in Nanjing, Changzhou, Wenzhou, Quzhou and other places like less sweet tomato varieties, such as red tomatoes.
Villagers adapting their planting new varieties of tomatoes accordingly. They found that the back areas of the shady and ventilated plots is more suitable for pink tomatoes while middle and high altitudes are more suitable for red tomatoes.
Wenjiaping Village now has nearly 10,000 mu (666 hectares) of land planted with tomatoes and is achieving an annual output value of about 180 million yuan.
Photo by Publicity Department of the CPC Changyang Municipal Committee.
These days Wenjiaping Village in Changyang, Yichang, boasts an impressive average annual household income of 400,000 yuan (approximately US$55,000) – and it owes its good fortune to tomatoes.
Situated at an elevation of 1,200-1,600 meters, Wenjiaping Village faced multiple difficulties in the past with its vegetable farming. Many of its crops turned out to be scarcely profitable.
Then, in 2008, the village began to plant tomatoes on a large scale. In 2015, some of the villagers visited Shandong, Inner Mongolia and other places to improve their knowledge of tomato cultivation techniques.
In 2017, Wenjiaping Village began installing greenhouses and adopted water-drip irrigation and fertigation technology – a system whereby fertilizers are applied via the irrigation network, so that the plants absorb them when they uptake water.
The new technology cuts costs by heavily reducing the use of organic fertilizers and obviating the need for pesticides. Since the technology is automated, labor costs are also reduced by 50 percent.
What’s more, the capacity of greenhouses to retain heat allowed the villagers to extend their tomato harvest period through to November.
Technology is one thing, marketing another. Careful research allowed Wenjiaping Village to spot a gap in the market – the period when Ningxia tomatoes are no longer available and Inner Mongolia tomatoes have yet to hit the market.
The villagers also studied the preferences of consumers in different market segments. They found that customers in Shanghai and its surrounding areas prefer a sweet taste, so pink tomatoes sell well there. Customers in Nanjing, Changzhou, Wenzhou, Quzhou and other places like less sweet tomato varieties, such as red tomatoes.
Villagers adapting their planting new varieties of tomatoes accordingly. They found that the back areas of the shady and ventilated plots is more suitable for pink tomatoes while middle and high altitudes are more suitable for red tomatoes.
Wenjiaping Village now has nearly 10,000 mu (666 hectares) of land planted with tomatoes and is achieving an annual output value of about 180 million yuan.
Photo by Publicity Department of the CPC Changyang Municipal Committee.
