Cultivation of red chili peppers aids in rural vitalization

Farmers pick small red chili peppers. [Photo by Liang Shaoting for chinadaily.com.cn]

The farmland in Shizhai village, Maji town, Dingtao district of Heze city in Shandong province, is blazing red. Workers scatter amongst the fields, busily picking, transporting, weighing, and loading the small red chili peppers.

"The chili market is doing well this year, with an estimated average income of about 4,500 yuan ($631) per mu (0.06 hectares). I leased 2 hectares of farmland for cultivation, expecting an income of about 130,000 yuan," said the farmer Shi Wenxue.

Shizhai village has about six large-scale growers like Shi, with a total cultivation area of over 26.7 hectares. 

"Our village actively promotes the 'cooperative + base + farmer' model and guides villagers to grow on a large scale. At the same time, we actively liaise with purchasers, pickles factories, and vegetable wholesale markets to expand sales channels and ensure price advantages." said Shi Shenggang, secretary of the Party branch of Shizhai village.

In combination with the practical conditions of each village, Maji town has developed characteristic industrial cultivation according to local conditions, promoted scale cultivation, transfered 2800 hectares of land, newly established 23 relevant cooperatives, built 14 "one village, one product" villages, and six villages with famous local products. (Edited by Huang Junyao)