With bright spring sunshine, the contiguous potato seedlings blanket the field. Planters in Hualu Village, Longshan County were busy helping potatoes sprout from the plastic films.
“We planted over 150 mu (10 hectares) of potatoes, with 67 households involved in. This year, we planted Xinjia No.2 potato seedlings introduced from Inner Mongolia. The potatoes of this variety are more delicious and should be very popular,” said Yang Shengli, a seasoned farmer.
Yang Shengli introduced that the minimum yield of potatoes per mu (0.067 hectares) is 2,500 kg. Last year, the market was good, with a wholesale price of around 1.4 yuan. The gross profit per mu of output value exceeded 7,000 yuan, and the net profit reached 4,000 yuan.
“We don’t worry about the sales of potatoes. Some potatoes have already been reserved by some merchants. We are preparing to develop markets in other places if the benefits are good this year,” said Jin Chuanshuang, Party secretary of the village.
Potato planting, with a large area and high yield, which is one of the important ways for farmers in Hualu Village to increase income. The potato planting demonstration base in this village are planted with Xingjia No.2 potato seedlings, and the potatoes will come onto the market at the end of April. After the harvest, this part of the land will be used to grow corn and vegetables.
Hualu Village also grows other crops such as lilies, rice, and sweet potatoes. More than 1,000 mu (66.67 hectares) of lilies were planted last year, with a production value of nearly 20 million yuan, which has driven many people to increase income.
In recent years, Longshan County has increased support for agricultural machinery cooperatives and large growers, actively guided locals to adopt a green ecological rotation planting model, and carried out the agricultural plant quarantine work. It has also developed a modern green agricultural industry in a high-quality way and helped rural revitalization.
