Organic tomatoes produce “wealth fruit”

Sunshine shines brightly, walking into the planting greenhouse in Pangwangyi Village, Huangqibao Street, Fangzi District, Weifang City, Shandong Province. The round, plump, and red colored organic tomatoes are adorned with vines, protruding from the green branches and leaves.

When it comes to organic tomatoes from Pangwang Village, people from ten miles and eight villages couldn’t help but give them thumbs up. Sheng Weiping, Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Huangqibao Street, said that the tomatoes grown in Pangwang Village are deeply loved by consumers, and the village has also launched the “Pangwang Yipin” brand, driving the people to embark on the road to prosperity.

Pang Wangyi Village Party Branch Secretary Zhou Shunzhi said, “Our village has a flat and fertile land. Since the 1990s, there has been a tradition of growing tomatoes. However, in the past, each household managed to grow their own tomatoes, with varying quality and scale. The people are tired and cannot earn much money.

Zhou Shunzhi led the village committee to conduct market research and found that organic agricultural products often exceed demand. Although the cost of organic planting is more than twice that of ordinary planting, the benefits exceed three times. So, they identified organic planting as the development direction.

In order to achieve large-scale planting and standardized management, the Party branch of Pangwangyi Village organized growers to go out to learn advanced technology, established Xingpang Fruit and Vegetable Planting Professional Cooperative, organized villagers to grow organic tomatoes in groups, explored the industrial development model of “Party branch+cooperative+base+farmers”, and provided farmers with “one-stop” services such as seeds, procurement, packaging, and sales. For the convenience of sales, the cooperative registered the “Pangwang Yipin” brand and passed organic certification. It also held 5 tomato picking festivals, and the tomatoes in Pangwang Yicun quickly gained popularity.

In order to further expand the sales channels of tomatoes, growers have embarked on the path of agricultural supermarket integration and e-commerce sales. The cooperative established cooperative relationships with large enterprises in the city and sold tomatoes to major cities such as Beijing and Qingdao.

The path of organic cultivation and brand building is the right one, “said Sheng Weiping. The street also supports Pangwang Village very much, hardening the roads and supporting the construction of tourism and sightseeing service facilities, helping to improve the picking experience and develop the leisure tourism industry.

Nowadays, “Pang Wang Yipin” tomatoes have become the pillar industry in the village. Zhou Shunzhi calculated an account: “Currently, there are over 150 greenhouses built in the village, with an annual output of 2.3 million pounds of tomatoes and a sales revenue of 15 million yuan. Tomatoes have truly become the ‘happy fruit’ for farmers to become rich and increase their income.