Retired specialists helping farmers earn more

GUIYANG — Chen Shangju, a 56-year-old agricultural technician, usually begins her day at 5 am working for a cooperative she established in Bijie city, Guizhou province.

Though retired since last year, Chen has a full schedule. In the morning, she drives farmers to the vegetable fields in her minivan; during the day, she teaches planting skills and sometimes negotiates with incoming purchasers; and by the time she drives everyone home, it is often around 10 pm.

Chen used to be a community agricultural specialist in Bijie. In 2016, she set up an agricultural cooperative with local governmental support. She had to teach a lot of people how to plant before they were able to make a living.

Because of her passion for agriculture and sense of duty to fellow farmers, Chen stayed in the business after retirement.

"Sometimes I thought of living a leisurely life, like my retired friends," she said.

But the farmers were earning stable incomes of 2,000 to 3,000 yuan ($280 to $420) a month because of her, so she felt she couldn't just stop what she was doing.

The cooperative is responsible for the planting and management of more than 280 hectares of tea, as well as 20 hectares of vegetables including chile peppers and cabbages.

In all, 57,000 people have benefited from being employed near their homes over the past six years.

Zhang Shangyun, a middle-aged woman, has been working with Chen for six years and has now become a cooperative executive.

"Chen freely teaches what she knows about planting," Zhang said.

Now, Chen plans to expand the scale of the cooperative by inviting new stakeholders.

"Many people don't understand why I work so hard after retirement. I believe the real happiness in life is not taking things easy or making a lot of money, but being able to take care of more people," she said.

In recent years, about 1,700 retired specialists and cadres in Bijie have chosen to share their valuable experience with agricultural projects.

Sun Yong returned to his hometown in Bijie to set up an agricultural cooperative in 2012.

As a result of his lack of experience in planting and management, his 1.33 hectares of grapes did not survive and he almost gave up. Fortunately, he met Chen Lieyao, a retired agricultural specialist, at a grape planting training program organized by the local government.

"He has worked in the agricultural sector for almost 40 years and is willing to share his knowledge with the younger generation. He's in his 80s but always came to the field to teach me how to plant grapes, everything from cultivation, fertilization, pruning and bagging to drip irrigation," Sun said.

His cooperative now produces 200,000 kilograms of grapes a year, employing dozens of nearby residents.

In Guli town in Qianxi county, Guizhou, 100 retired cadres are helping farmers. Through their efforts, vegetable farms covering about 20 hectares have been set up to grow cherry tomatoes and mushrooms in 500 greenhouses.

"Retirees have skills and abilities. They are the treasures of our society. We will enable them to help promote rural vitalization and socioeconomic development," said Chen Jie, director of Bijie's bureau of retired veteran cadres.

Xinhua