After graduation, the Anqing boy returned to his hometown to plant "fairy grass" and wanted to be a different farmer.

If it were not for a field visit, it would be hard to imagine that a university student would return to his hometown to work as a farmer after graduation. after more than three years of struggle, he would have become the local "king of Dendrobium"-- setting up a demonstration base for planting more than 20 mu of Dendrobium. At the end of December, along the rugged mountain path, the reporter came to Nanchong Village, Zhifeng Township, which is more than half an hour's drive away from Susong County. The base is surrounded by mountains, and clusters of Dendrobium, known as "the first immortal grass in the world", grow here. He Zhiwei, who is only 25 years old, is the master of this piece of Dendrobium.

He Zhiwei is busy in the greenhouse of Dendrobium.

Despite the opposition of his family, he returned to his hometown for farming.

The reporter learned that after graduating from the pharmaceutical engineering major of Xinhua University in Hefei in 2012, he Zhiwei decided to use the knowledge he learned to return home to start a career.

"I grew up fond of orchids and was particularly interested in agricultural cultivation, while the climatic conditions of the Dabie Mountains had a natural advantage in agricultural development compared with other parts of the country. I happened to be an intern at a Dendrobium development company in Lu'an before graduation. During my internship for more than a year, I had the opportunity to come into contact with Dendrobium, and I became more and more interested in this orchid herb. " He Zhiwei said with a smile. "although I graduated at that time and found a job with a good salary for my professional counterpart, I decided to go back to my hometown to engage in agriculture." He thinks that in order to engage in agriculture, one should put oneself into the field.

But when he said the idea of going back to his hometown to plant Dendrobium, he was immediately opposed by the whole family. He Zhiwei said, "if you do what you like, you will not regret it later."

In July 2012, in the face of opposition from all his relatives and friends, he Zhiwei returned home with a dream and began to grow Dendrobium. He first investigated the current situation of the growth of Dendrobium and found that there were no villagers to plant it on a large scale, so he decided to give it a try. He forcefully borrowed more than NT $100,000 from relatives and friends to buy back raw materials such as Dendrobium seedlings and pine bark.

Keep the clouds open and see the moon bright

In early 2013, he Zhiwei began experimenting with half an acre of land in his family. At the beginning of planting Dendrobium, because the greenhouse was not strong, it was blown down by the strong wind and suffered continuous freezing rain, resulting in a loss of 50,000 to 60,000 yuan. It was a big blow to him, and his family advised him to stop as soon as possible. "other people come out of the mountains with a monthly income of several thousand yuan, but his son still goes back to his hometown to work as a farmer and fool around." In the face of the cynicism of the villagers, he Zhiwei was once very confused. But he was not defeated by setbacks, so he bought Dendrobium again and continued to experiment with planting. "for the first time, it is normal for something to go wrong."

With experience and lessons, he Zhiwei made improvements in the greenhouse technology, from the construction of the greenhouse to the maintenance of seedlings, a little grope to complete. Take care of this land like a child every day, never tire of it, and enjoy it. Where there's a will, there's a way. After a year of exploration, he Zhiwei was familiar with the growth characteristics of Dendrobium and mastered the planting technology. The yield of half an acre of Dendrobium could reach more than 100 kilograms per mu.

With the experience of trial planting, he Zhiwei moved forward more boldly. In 2013, with the help of the two village committees and his friend Li Xiaofa, he transferred more than 20 mu of wasteland in the village in two batches and built more than 30 Dendrobium sheds. Gradually, he also changed from a layman to a half-expert. Last year, the county introduced a subsidy policy, which brought him "timely rain".

Long-term planning of harvest season

He Zhiwei took the reporter into one of the greenhouses. Open the insulation curtain, rows of green plants come into view. The reporter saw plastic plates neatly placed in the greenhouse, leaving only pedestrian paths in the middle, and each plastic plate had more than 20 Dendrobium trees.

"this is Dendrobium candidum, and this is Dendrobium Huoshan." He Zhiwei introduced in detail the characteristics and planting essentials of all kinds of Dendrobium. He pointed to the "soil" in the flowerpot and said mysteriously, "this is soilless cultivation. The 'soil' for planting Dendrobium is made up of sawdust, pine bark and other substrates. This is imitating the original growth environment of Dendrobium. In the eyes of others, Dendrobium is just a grass, but in my eyes, it is as precious as a child. "

He Zhiwei said that Dendrobium has very strict requirements on temperature and humidity. When it is hot, he spends most of his time in the field, observing their growth, measuring temperature and humidity, and sometimes getting up in the middle of the night. In winter, the temperature of the greenhouse is always controlled within the range of technical requirements.

"Dendrobium has been planted for more than three years, and some have grown to 20 or 30 centimeters long and have reached a mature harvest period. the period from winter of that year to before flowering the next year is the best harvest time for Dendrobium. According to the current market price, excluding the cost, it is expected to earn hundreds of thousands of yuan. " He Zhiwei said lightly.

"only by playing a good quality card can the market segment cope with the low-price competition in the market." Although he Zhiwei is still a newcomer, he Zhiwei has a clear position, so at the beginning, he Zhiwei chose Huoshan Dendrobium, which is difficult to cultivate but high in nutrients.

"despite the fact that Huoshan Dendrobium is only 89 centimeters long, the output is low and the price is not cheap." He Zhiwei said, "Huoshan Dendrobium dried products 150 yuan per gram, far higher than the market price of ordinary Dendrobium candidum 20 yuan per gram, the economic benefit is considerable, and the market response is good."

Because of his interest in e-commerce, he Zhiwei currently uses the "online and offline" model to promote products. He has set up online stores on Taobao and Alibaba, and the market has expanded little by little from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, with customers all over the country. Now seven or eight villagers in the village are also making preparations for the large-scale planting of Dendrobium. He Zhiwei is duty-bound to act as a technical guide to answer the villagers' questions. The villagers also changed the previous prejudice of "college students still go home to work for agriculture" and praised him as a hardworking and intelligent college student.