Develop selenium-rich melons and fruits and bring the whole village to get rich

Zhang Chengyun picks grapes in the greenhouse

As the weather gradually turned cooler, the reporter saw in a greenhouse, a figure wrapped in heavy clothes and walking with a disabled right leg between grape plants and vines. He is Zhang Chengyun, the "entrepreneurial star" of Xijie Village, Renfeng Town, Jiyang County.

"despite the fact that my feet and legs are not very convenient, my work is still very exciting. At present, our cooperative has established cooperative relations with some melon and fruit dealers, and has also carried out publicity on the Internet. Recently, many merchants have taken the initiative to buy at home. There are more sales channels than before, and the products are not worried about selling." Zhang Chengyun said happily. The cooperative mentioned by Zhang Chengyun, that is, the professional cooperative of Lingyun melon and fruit planting in Renfeng Town, has an inextricable bond with Zhang Chengyun, which began six years ago.

One day in March 2011, when Zhang Chengyun was standing at the top of the greenhouse, he slipped and fell from the greenhouse more than 2 meters high, causing a comminuted fracture of the knee in his right leg. He was able to walk on the ground only after half a year of recuperation, but he was permanently disabled. In 2012, Zhang Chengyun had just recovered from his leg injury, but his wife was paralyzed by cerebral thrombosis due to taking care of herself and taking care of the greenhouse. A year later, the newborn grandson was found to be congenital blindness. For three consecutive years, it never rains but it pours. There are three disabled people in the family.

The stubborn Zhang Chengyun was not knocked down by the immediate difficulties. On the one hand, he patiently took care of his sick wife and blind grandson, on the other hand, he hired people to run the greenhouse. During this period, he found that there are many melon farmers with disabilities like him, whether they work in the greenhouse or sell watermelons, the hardships paid by ordinary people are unimaginable.

As a result, he went to four other families with disabled people in the village to discuss the establishment of a melon and fruit cooperative composed of disabled farmers. On May 24, 2013, the Lingyun melon and fruit professional planting cooperative in Renfeng Town, which is composed of five families with disabilities, was set up, which means not to fall in the ambition of Lingyun, to meet the difficulties and to jointly realize the entrepreneurial dream.

Over the past three years, with the development of cooperatives, the number of farmers in cooperatives has expanded to 15. "one of the most basic conditions for joining our cooperative is that there are disabled people at home, and we need to work together and help each other to find a way out and development for the selenium-rich melon and fruit industry." Zhang Chengyun told reporters while looking at the information of cooperative members.

In 2016, cooperatives, under the guidance of the Renfeng town government and the town watermelon association, uniformly adopted the new trademarks and packing boxes provided by the association, and made use of Renfeng watermelon e-commerce platform to sell selenium-rich watermelons, resulting in a situation of prosperous production and marketing of selenium-rich watermelons. This has become the best year for Renfeng selenium-rich watermelons since the cooperative was established.

The deeds of Zhang Chengyun and the professional cooperative of melon and fruit cultivation in Lingyun Town, Renfeng Town, which he initiated, have been talked about locally in Renfeng Town. At the end of 2015, Zhang Chengyun was named as a pioneer for the disabled in Jiyang County and received 20,000 yuan in entrepreneurial encouragement.