Succulent Sensation

New technology brings a breath of fresh air to local rural development

- Li Xiaoyu

Thanks to her smartphone, Liu Qing can now earn 500,000 yuan ($77,200) a year. Just six years ago, such income was a distant dream for the female farmer, who was raising her children alone in her hometown in Gengwei Township in Shuyang County, Jiangsu Province in east China. Due to the lack of local job opportunities, her husband had to move to the city for work, where he just earned an annual income of 20,000 yuan ($3,088). But now, like many other local farmers, her dream has come true, thanks to a powerful weapon: succulents.

Leveraging local resources

For years, Gengwei paid little attention to developing industry due to its lack of suitable facilities and, above all, its limited access to transport. Villagers could only rely on rice and wheat cultivation to support themselves. But traditional agriculture has long lost its appeal to young farmers, many of whom had to migrate, like Liu’s husband, leaving behind a “ghost village.”

In contrast, Yanji, a neighboring town, has experienced rapid growth in recent years, thanks to horticulture and e-commerce. In 2014, despite the opening of a provincial road that finally linked the two towns, which are separated by a river, the road to prosperity remained closed to Gengwei. “Yanji already held a large share of the national horticultural market. It was hard for us to follow their lead,” said Qiu Jiancheng, Secretary of the Gengwei Township Party Committee.

In the following year, however, the town shifted its focus for rural development, establishing a private horticultural farm of 30 million garden plants, including succulents. The farm offers its 150 employees, all recruited locally, the opportunity to explore the beauty and delicacy of these succulents. But more importantly, they have enjoyed the benefits brought by the plantation.