Trucks, spuds, miracle of e-commerce comes to aid of rural poor

今日郫都

       Two trucks, loaded with 30 metric tons of potatoes, could recently be seen trundling down the mountain where the village of Huopu in southwestern Sichuan province is located, aiming to bring in cash to fund poverty-relief work for local farmers and longer term change for the residents.

Villager Le Wu said he and his family were busy digging potatoes for days.

       "We expect to harvest 7.5 tons of potatoes," he said, adding that they used to walk half an hour to sell the potatoes, carrying the sacks on their shoulders, because there was no road to reach the village. The highest unit price they got for the crop was 0.7 yuan ($0.10) per 500 grams.

         Then the local government worked with some companies and other groups to help increase the sales of farmers by introducing e-commerce earlier this year. Now, deals can be made at the village directly and the potato price was increased to 0.8 yuan.

         "Our agricultural products got on the high-speed express of e-commerce," said Jice Ciha, Party chief of the village.

         "We have seen the promise of wealth for the future."

Children play a 'hawks catch chicken' game at Sichuan's Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture.[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

       According to the plan, more than 3,000 tons of potatoes will be sold out through e-commerce, helping to increase income for over 500 farmers' families.

      Besides potatoes, the village also set up a greenhouse and cooperatives focusing on strawberries and other things, to develop the local planting industry, he said.

        The cooperatives gave impoverished families 20 shares each and better-off families 10 shares each. Products will be sold on the already-established marketing channel. They also provided free agricultural training classes for villagers. As a result, one villager is confident he could shake off poverty this year. About 0.11 hectares of his farmland was built into greenhouse, another 0.09 hectares is under construction.

        The cooperative provided both funds and technology, he said. To fight against poverty, Huopu village is also on its way to developing rural tourism, featuring displays of the tradition and costumes of the Yi ethnic group.

        The first bed-and-breakfast in the village opened in August this year, equipped with tableware made of handmade lacquerware and other decorations featuring the ethnic group.

        It's also selling traditional food such as pickled cabbage and potato soup, tuotuo meat (salted meat) and tuotuo chicken. Local officials said the village will also renovate parking lots, toilets and guideboards later.

Zhanqi village in Chengdu is famed for its newly opened square with its ancient architecture.[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

        The province of Sichuan has made its own, substantial efforts, against the wider backdrop of the nationwide initiative for targeted poverty relief. Officials say there have been many other achievements, besides the shining example of Huopu village.

         During the National Day holiday in October, Gao Demin, Party chief of Zhanqi village in Chengdu, the province's capital city, said he could barely find the time to eat his lunch. Tourists have come for miles to visit the newlyopened square with its ancient architecture, where traditional handicraft workers sold cloth shoes, bean paste, Sichuan embroidery, and other popular wares.

         Yi Fengyang, Party member of the village, said the new hot spot provided an exhibition platform for the handicraft workers, job opportunities for villagers and attracted more visitors to boost the regional economy.

         The number of visits to the village reached 400,000 between January and July and the revenue of the village reached about 4 million yuan, data from the government showed.

         Ranging from projects to grow the sales of agricultural products to developing tourism, Sichuan has set a golden example for others to revitalize their villages and bring wealth to the rural population.

Fantastic view in Sichuan province's Heishui county. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

         The province said its rural revitalization will focus on industry, skilled workers, culture, its ecology and management. More innovative agricultural business systems have been founded.

The number of family farms and cooperatives in the province has topped 43,000 and 95,000 respectively. Leading companies involved in agriculture have now exceeded 10,000, statistics showed.

（news source：CHINADAILY.com.cn)