Returning home to start a business is not a dream to drive the villagers to become rich together.

"this year, our cooperative will continue to expand the planting area of Gastrodia elata in Donglu and Qingshui, leading more farmers to shake off poverty and become rich." Recently, he Zhanghai, chairman of Pingan Town Polymeric Gastrodia Science and Technology Professional Cooperative, said in an interview with reporters.

He Zhanghai, 33, who was born in Shuangping Village, Ping an, explored the cultivation of Gastrodia elata in 2011. he not only succeeded in starting his own business, but also led his villagers to shake off poverty and become rich. However, he Zhanghai did not walk easily on the road of planting Gastrodia elata.

Returning home to start a business is not a dream.

Recalling his entrepreneurial road, he Zhanghai has a lot of feelings. In 2004, due to family poverty, he Zhanghai went south to work in Guangdong and gradually became a factory supervisor from an ordinary worker for more than 10 years. Although his annual income was NT $70,000 to NT $80,000, his parents always felt that working abroad was not a long-term solution.

More than 10 years of working career has trained he Zhanghai to be sensitive to business opportunities. In 2011, he Zhanghai returned to his hometown and learned that the prospect of growing traditional Chinese medicine was promising. After understanding the market situation, he decided to give up the opportunity to go out to work to earn money and realize his dream of returning to his hometown to start a business.

"to tell you the truth, to work outside is to work for others all your life. Now that the policy is good, I want to come back and start my own business. After thinking about it, I chose Gastrodia elata. " He Zhanghai said.

Exploring the planting way of Gastrodia elata

After he Zhanghai decided to plant Gastrodia elata, he Zhanghai went to Hubei, Shaanxi, Yunnan and other places to learn the planting techniques of Gastrodia elata. After a year of painstaking study and exploration, he finally mastered the planting techniques of Gastrodia elata and decided to go back to his hometown to carry out the experiment.

"Gastrodia elata is suitable for growing in a cool and humid environment, and it does not need to be fertilized indoors, mainly to control the humidity. Too dry baths will affect growth, and too much humidity will cause tubers to rot." He Zhanghai said that he and his partners looked for suitable planting sites in many ways, and finally found a waste toll station in Wanzhou to buy black Gastrodia elata seeds from Hubei. After preparing enough sand, wood, Armillaria mellea and other materials, he began his entrepreneurial road of planting Gastrodia elata.

But contrary to one's wishes, because the temperature in dog days was difficult to control, most of Gastrodia elata was killed by drought and lost all its money. But he Zhanghai is not reconciled to it. The lesson of failure makes him understand that he Zhanghai must master more scientific planting methods. With the help of relatives and friends, he Zhanghai took the borrowed tens of thousands of yuan to Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province to continue to learn the basic principles of Gastrodia elata cultivation, seed cultivation and mycelium preparation of Gastrodia elata.

"since the outdoor temperature is difficult to control, can we take advantage of the cool and humid conditions of the cave to grow Gastrodia elata?" He Zhanghai thought that there were many abandoned caves in his hometown.

Within a few days, he Zhanghai invited Wu Kengkui, a Gastrodia elata planting expert from the Wanzhou Committee of Agriculture, to inspect and guide him in his hometown. By testing the cave, it was proved that the natural conditions of the cave were in line with the basic conditions for the growth of Gastrodia elata. He Zhanghai bought black-red hybrid Gastrodia elata seeds and strains from Hanzhong and began to plant Gastrodia elata in caves again.

"the use of three-dimensional planting in caves has really worked. In 2012, a total of 5.3 tons of fresh Gastrodia elata was harvested, worth more than 600,000 yuan. Not only that, the cultivated Gastrodia elata has been tested by the state authority, and its gastrodin content is 0.46%, 2.3 times that of the national standard. " He Zhanghai said proudly.

Refeed the neighbors to get rich together.

"A man is not rich when he is rich. I am only comfortable to see the villagers become rich." This is what he Zhanghai thinks inside. As a result, he was secretly determined to teach the cultivation techniques of Gastrodia elata to the villagers, leading more people to the road of getting rich.

In 2012, with the support of the local government, he Zhanghai invested 800000 yuan and took the lead in registering the "Yunyang County Polymeric Gastrodia Science and Technology Professional Cooperative", which provided Gastrodia elata planting technology and seeds to growers free of charge. Over the past few years, cooperatives have planted 3000 mu of black-red hybrid Gastrodia elata in Ping an, Qixia, Shuangtu and other places, adopting the cooperative mode of "enterprise + base + peasant household" unified seed supply, unified management, and unified purchase and marketing. It is estimated that the annual output of Gastrodia elata is about 15 tons, with an output value of 1.5 million yuan.

With his warm blood and unremitting efforts, he Zhanghai has achieved the success of planting Gastrodia elata and won many honors. Now he is leading the villagers to gain a foothold in science and technology, opening the way to start a business and become rich.