The Regretless Life of "vegetable King"

"I am not afraid to bear hardships and refuse to admit defeat. I must do something if I am sure of it."

In 1966, Chen Mingli was born into a poor family. The whole family of six lived on their father's salary.

He still remembers the bitter events when he was in primary school. "in order to buy a Xinhua dictionary, his father borrowed it from the east of the village to the west of the village, but he didn't raise the money." In 1983, because his family was poor, Chen Mingli dropped out of junior high school for only a year and a half and went home. He cried all night.

The suffering of poverty gave him a strong desire to shake off poverty and become rich. In 1985, he began to try to grow arched greenhouse vegetables. For many days and nights, he groped painstakingly, experimented again and again in his contracted land, and failed to start all over again. Long-term practice has made him gradually become an "soil expert" in greenhouse vegetable cultivation.

In 1987, Chen Mingli planted 32 arched tomatoes and 9 arched cucumbers with a gross income of more than 5000 yuan.

In 1991, the 25-year-old Chen Mingli built a winter-warm greenhouse on his own land, making it the first in Laiwu.

In 1993, Chen Mingli became a well-known "vegetable king" and was the first 10,000 yuan household in Caojiazhuang village with a per capita income of only a few hundred yuan. Chen Mingli, who refuses to admit defeat, said: "once I know the way, no matter how difficult it is, I will stick to it to the end."

Love agriculture for agriculture--

Let farmers enjoy the "science and technology package" and lead us on the road to prosperity.

Chen Mingli was saddened to see that his peasant friends lacked skills and information and were still wandering around in poverty. In March 1998, Chen Mingli raised funds to set up an agricultural science and technology service station.

In order to convince people, Chen Mingli conducted experiments in his greenhouse; set up a science and technology library and agricultural science and technology screening room to organize and learn the latest agricultural science and technology at any time; set up a soil and fertilizer laboratory to test soil for farmers free of charge and provide a basis for formula fertilization; and set up a science and technology service telephone at home to respond to any request for field guidance.

Over the years, Chen Mingli has promoted 44 improved varieties of corn, wheat, cotton and soybeans with high quality and high yield, totaling 218000 mu, more than 80 excellent vegetable varieties such as cucumbers and tomatoes, totaling 126000 mu, and set up plant hospitals. comprehensive prevention and control of crop diseases and insect pests, plant protection area of more than 120000 mu, popularizing and covering more than 200,000 people in several townships.

In 2007, the National Law on Farmers' Professional Cooperatives was just promulgated. Chen Mingli, together with 20 greenhouse vegetable growers in Gaozhuang Street, Laicheng District, established the Mingli characteristic vegetable planting Cooperative in Laiwu City, which is the first professional vegetable cooperative in the city.

In order to better demonstrate and drive, in 2009, Chen Mingli transferred 53 mu of land from Weijiawa and Caojiazhuang at the price of 1000 yuan per mu and invested more than 1.56 million yuan to establish a high-standard vegetable planting demonstration base.

Cooperatives have become the "engine" for local farmers to increase their income and become rich. Today, in addition to having more than 300 mu of its own base, the cooperative also absorbs 217 members. The annual dividend of the cooperative has lasted for 8 years since 2008, and the number of dividends has grown from 20, 000 yuan to more than 360000 yuan.

Abide by honesty--

"when you sell vegetables, you should be conscientious, and never let a mouthful of unsafe dishes come to the table."

In Chen Mingli's eyes, vegetable growers are not only talking about technology, but also a work of conscience. They must be honest and not inferior, otherwise they will harm people.

In Chen Mingli's co-operative base, pick a cucumber casually and eat it without even washing it. Chen Mingli's requirements for the quality and safety of vegetables have reached a stringent level.

On one occasion, six members secretly used herbicides in order to save time and labor. After the verification of the situation, Chen Mingli resolutely refused to buy the celery of the six members, and the six members earned more than 6000 yuan per mu less than the obedient members, and had a big quarrel with the cooperative for this reason. Even so, Chen Mingli never wavered.

In recent years, the cooperative's vegetable trademarks such as "Lulemingli" and "celery" have been widely recognized. In 2015, "Lu Lai Mingli" was awarded as a famous trademark in Shandong Province, and has successively certified 9 pollution-free vegetable varieties, 14 green vegetable varieties and 1 National Geographic indication certification. the certified area of pollution-free vegetable base is more than 10, 000 mu, and the certification area of green vegetable base is 3600 mu.

To fight the disease--

"if God can let me live five more years, I will certainly turn Mingli into a well-known cooperative in the country."

In 2014, due to years of hard work and irregular life, Chen Mingli suffered from stomach cancer. But after only two days in hospital, Chen Mingli insisted on leaving the hospital to attend an international vegetable fair in Shanghai. In the face of dissuasion, Chen Mingli insisted: "I know my illness is not good, but the opportunity is rare. If I don't come this time, I may never have a chance again." As a result, he drove his own car and pulled a truckload of vegetables to Shanghai to participate in the exhibition.

In the same month, Chen Mingli went to Jinan to participate in a national agricultural forum. After the meeting, Chen Mingli went to the provincial hospital for gastroscopy, and the result was not optimistic. The doctor said, "his stomach is full of tumors and must be completely removed." The family signed with tears and the operation lasted more than 6 hours.

Chen Mingli stayed in the hospital for nine days and insisted on being discharged. Because his base is always in his heart. His food is his life.

Due to the reaction to chemotherapy, Chen Mingli often vomited to collapse, and his weight plummeted from 85 kg before the illness to 45 kg. Suffering from great physical pain, he never gave up the co-operative or the land he loved. He often goes to the base after 5 o'clock in the morning and comes home at eight or nine o'clock in the evening. At the base, he often clutched his stomach, and the pain was so painful that the members could not help but wipe away tears.

In the past two years, he has undergone two major operations and six chemotherapy. But during this period, as long as he is not hospitalized, he is still at the base day and night, watching the growth of vegetables, holding meetings for employees and arranging the size of the base. After his illness, he seemed to be in a race against time, always afraid that something could not be done, and that there was not enough time. "Dad, don't worry about your food and get well. I'm begging you. " His daughter Chen Xiurong advised him more than once.

"daughter, I've survived so many hardships that I haven't done enough until today. If God can let me live five more years, I will certainly turn Mingli into a well-known cooperative in the country. " Chen Mingli said, holding his daughter's hand.

In October 2016, Chen Mingli's life entered the countdown. He talked to the members and made the final arrangements. "whether I am here or not, I must plant the land well and manage the vegetables well. this is the greatest help to me." The members left in tears.

On October 17, Chen Mingli died of illness at the age of 50. When he was dying, his last wish was to go back to the base, to take a picture in front of each greenhouse, and to keep the land in his mind forever.