"Flower Girl" makes villagers' money bags swell
Jiao Congcong in Daying Village, Luancheng District established a flower base to provide employment opportunities for elderly villagers
The flowers are being tended.
The villagers are pulling grass in the flower base.
Article/Picture Cui Hong, reporter of Yanzhao Evening News
She used to be an ordinary flower girl in the flower market. After 15 years of unremitting efforts, she has not only become the head of the flower base, making the planted flowers beautify the provincial capital, but also providing employment opportunities for local villagers, making their money bags swell. She is Jiao Congcong of Daying Village, Yehe Town, Luancheng District, a girl who runs hard on the road of "flowers".
The job is easy and I earn a lot every day
Yesterday, I walked into the No. 1 shed of the Youth Flower Base in Daying Village, Yehe Town, Luancheng District, and the eye-catching green broke into the reporter's eyes. There are only tens of thousands of small flower pots on the ground, about every five or six hundred pots form a "group", one pot next to another, full of vitality. Looking further into the distance, you can see the golden, yellow, orange and orange, green leaves and colorful flowers, and the yellow and green colors are pleasing to the eye.
In the green "ocean", Guo Xiumei, a 60 year old villager from Daying Village, and several other villagers were sitting in the saddle, bent their heads and busy. "I have worked here for five years. This is Chuanhong, and that is Marigold in the distance." While talking, Guo Xiumei did not stop her work. She told reporters that when she was free, she would ride an electric bike for about 10 minutes to the flower base, or water, or plant seedlings, or install pots, or pull weeds like that day. "If you are a day laborer, you can earn about 60 or 70 yuan a day. If you are a contract laborer, you can earn about 200 yuan a day on average, and you are not tired at all." Guo Xiumei said with a smile that the flower base is very close to home. Not only can you take care of your family at ordinary times, but also your working hours are very flexible: "If you have work at home, you can be busy at home. If you don't have work, you can come here to work. Anyway, there is work all year round." Guo Xiumei said that every time she works, she can look at the green leaves and smell the flowers, and she is happy.
"The staff of our base are all villagers of Daying Village. More than 30 people are needed in busy seasons, and more than 10 people are needed in slack seasons to maintain the normal operation of the base." Jiao Congcong, the head of the flower base, said that the base has no hard work, so this is to provide employment opportunities for people in their 60s and 70s in the village, so that they can earn money without leaving the village and support their families, It also realized its own value.
By chance, I decided to stay with flowers
Speaking of the original intention of planting flowers, Jiao Congcong said that it was just a chance and she made this decision.
Jiao Congcong, the post-80s generation, graduated from a normal university in the provincial capital, which may be due to her personality. After graduation, she chose to work as a salesperson. One day in 2008, my colleague asked Jiao Congcong to go to the flower market together. I thought it was an ordinary shopping trip, but it turned out to be the beginning of her "flowers" journey.
"That was my first time to go to the flower market." Recalling the scene of visiting the flower market more than ten years ago, Jiao Congcong still remembers it vividly. She told the reporter that on the same day, wandering in the sea of colorful flowers, the fragrance of flowers overflowed, making people relaxed and happy, and she loved it instantly. "At that time, I thought that if I could work in such an environment, it would not be too good. So, I decided to sell flowers when my brain was hot." Jiao Congcong smiled sheepishly.
Jiao Congcong is an activist. She soon quit her job at that time and devoted herself to the flower industry to start her "flower career".
It is easy to make decisions, but difficult to implement them. Where can I sell it? What kind of products do you sell? Where is the source of goods? A series of problems are in front of us. However, Jiao Congcong is a man of great perseverance. As long as he has made a decision, he will move forward bravely. "It's easy to rent a stall, but the location is not very good." Jiao Congcong said that with a stall, the next step is to purchase. She only knew that most of the vendors' flowers came from Qinhuangdao City, but did not know the specific location. So Jiao Congcong searched on the Internet and called to ask. Finally, in April 2009, Jiao Congcong got on the train to Qinhuangdao alone. "I was lucky, and the place I found was just the source of goods." Jiao Congcong said, and then she bought gardenias worth about 10000 yuan, which were sold out in about a week after being transported back to the provincial capital. "I didn't make money for the first time, but I didn't lose. I'm satisfied," Jiao Congcong said jokingly. Since then, she has become a "flower girl".
Rented land, planted flowers, returned home and started business as a flower farmer
In the eight years from 2009 to 2017, Jiao Congcong has accumulated some business experience and customer base. She thought that the business would be better and better, but what surprised her was that because of the low threshold for flower sales, the market competition was becoming more fierce, and the increasingly diversified sales channels, the profit of flower wholesale declined instead of rising.
"I have clients who are engaged in road beautification, especially on holidays, and often ask me to help them contact all kinds of flowers, which is in great demand." Jiao Congcong said that at first she just earned a little price difference, but later thought that it would be better to grow her own flowers than to earn the price difference as a middleman. So, she made another bold decision: return home and start her own business as a flower farmer.
In 2017, in the eyes of some people in the village, Jiao Congcong rented 20 mu of land in the village and devoted himself to building a flower base: morning glory in greenhouse 2 is in bud, peacock grass in greenhouse 3 is in full bloom, roses in greenhouse 4 are in full bloom, jasmine in greenhouse 5 is waiting for flowers to bloom... 7000 or 8000 pots of flowers in greenhouse 6 are the most beautiful: red like fire, pink like glow, purple like smoke, The edge of rose petals is white, which is really beautiful. "I bought these petunias from Shanghai. They were planted in January this year. Now they have blossomed in succession. They have a long flowering period and bright colors, and are very popular with consumers." Jiao Congcong introduced them to reporters while taking care of flowers.
The number of planting greenhouses has grown from one to nine, and the number of planting varieties has expanded from four to more than 30. However, all things are not smooth, especially the road to entrepreneurship, which is full of thorns. A little carelessness will lead to failure. In this respect, the Jiao Cong is no exception.
I have experienced difficulties but never thought of giving up
"For me, the big blow should be in 2017." Jiao Congcong said that at that time, she got an order of 20000 pots of flowers for the park. Because she had just touched planting, the technology and experience were not mature, and the temperature and humidity in the shed were high, causing the grass flowers to jump up several centimeters. Because it does not meet the specified standards, when the other party delivered the goods, they did not even allow the car to unload. "Twenty thousand potted flowers can only be dumped as garbage." Although he was hit, Jiao Congcong never thought of giving up. It was this experience that made Jiao Congcong understand that without good products, there would be no market. So she secretly decided to plant the flowers well.
Since then, Jiao Congcong has borrowed relevant books from his peers and went to the planting base of his peers to learn as soon as he had time. "This kind of flower needs sunshine, which can shine strongly; this kind of flower needs high temperature and humidity, which is more superficial..." Now, when talking about the habits of different flowers, Jiaocong is as familiar as a book.
"Planting flowers is my interest and a profession that I love very much." Jiao Congcong said that planting flowers not only brings her more than 200000 yuan of income every year, but also enables her to gain happiness, growth, experience and responsibility in the process of planting flowers. Whenever she sees her flowers being praised by passers-by, her sense of achievement arises spontaneously. "This is also a reflection of my own value."
At present, the flower base in Jiaocongcong grows nearly one million pots of various flowers. In addition to supplying flowers to the surrounding florists and peddlers, it also undertakes some road and garden landscaping projects. The flower base has gradually become famous. "This year, I'm going to build another intelligent greenhouse, introduce cyclamen, phalaenopsis and other high-end flowers, make the base bigger and stronger, and drive more villagers to increase income and become rich." Jiao Congcong said confidently.
It is reported that in recent years, the flower industry in Luancheng District has taken the market as the guide and the increase of farmers' income as the core, actively changed the agricultural development mode, optimized and adjusted the agricultural industrial structure, accelerated the development of advantageous industries with characteristics, further promoted the high-quality development of the flower industry, constantly improved and strengthened the influence and economic driving force of "Luancheng Flower", and helped the rural revitalization.
The relevant person in charge of Shishi Forestry Bureau said that in recent years, the flower industry in Shishi has flourished, the area of flower planting has increased year by year, and the number of enterprises and stores planting and selling flowers has increased year by year. Moreover, with the continuous improvement of various aspects of the industry, the rapid development of circulation system construction, and the gradual formation of specialized production areas, the flower industry has become a new force that can not be ignored to promote regional economic development in the city, and a sunrise industry that can promote farmers' income.
