Newcomer to village embraces challenges of organic farming

For He Lanlan, investing in locally-grown organic food in Dongshan village, Jiangxi province was a good bet, despite knowing little about farming and having no one support her decision.

"I was the boss of a decent restaurant in a nearby district. No one understood why I left an already successful business to start something I didn't even know about. Also growing fertilizer-free organic food is a process that involves big investment but takes quite a long time to harvest profits," He said.

"But I have faith in the industry, I think the demand for organic food is set to rise in the next few years," He said.

He came to Dongshan village in 2017 for travel, saw business potential in Dongshan's well-preserved ecology and environment, and invested about 300,000 yuan ($43,363) in a trial run growing organic vegetables the next year.

"There were a lot of challenges back then. As a city girl I never truly lived in a village. I couldn't bear bites from bugs and worms. I also needed to face challenges from plant pests, drought or flooding in certain seasons. Although we hired a agricultural professional from a local university, he couldn't come very often," He said.

He said a stable, growing customer base has encouraged her to stick to her new career despite all the challenges.

"Currently most of our clients are from Nanchang, Guangzhou, and other first- and second- tier cities. Most of our customers are aged in their 30s or early 40s who have a high requirement for food nutrition and security. They want healthy food regardless of the relatively higher costs," He said.

According to He, local government has offered both financial and infrastructure support for her to continue the organic farming business in Dongshan village.

Dongshan village, once stricken hard by poverty, is in Wuning county in the northwest part of East China's Jiangxi province. The village is is stepping up efforts to develop businesses based on its good environment and well-preserved ecology.

To date, the village has developed several industries, such as photovoltaic, organic farming and fishing.