Migrant worker's fruitful endeavor

Lai introduced the trickle irrigation system to her farm, and uses organic fertilizer fermented from the waste of chickens and pigs she raises on the farm.

"Organic fruit is more expensive, and organic farming can also help protect the local environment," said Zhou Ruxi, a 44-year-old farmer and Lai's husband.

"In fact, we explore the skills of pruning, grafting and fertilization ourselves to ensure the trees suit the local environmental conditions," Lai said.

Lai, a self-taught agricultural technician, introduced greenhouse to the orchards, covering the trees with plastic film to protect the fruit from the sun, rain and the cold air in the mountains.

Huang Shuimo, a township government official, said: "Lai's experience has been spread widely in three neighboring towns, and has benefited hundreds of farmers. Lai is every active in helping the other farmers."

More than 240 families in four towns, including Baisha, now plant cumquats. The annual sales revenue last year in the four towns hit 460 million yuan, up 5 percent year-on-year. The average annual personal disposable income of local farmers in the area has risen from 4,000 yuan in 2007 to nearly 20,000 yuan now.

Li Yuming, 68, who picks cumquats in Lai's orchard, said: "I am very glad to work here on a daily basis. The more work I do, the healthier I am."

Li has farmland in a nearby village, and four children working in Guilin, a well-known tourist city. She works eight hours a day, picking about 150 kilograms during the harvest season, for which she receives a free lunch and 100 yuan per day.

Before 2008, the daily payment for a fruit picker like Li was only 13 yuan. The sharp rise in labor costs ever since has been a headache for Lai.

"I have no choice but only to ask them to pick the bigger fruit. About 30 percent of the smaller fruit is left to rot, because they are cheaper and cannot cover the costs of picking and transporting them to the market," said Lai.

"The local government is seeking investors to build workshops to collect and process the small fruits to make them into juice and preserved fruits," said Huang Shuimo.

Lai registered the trade mark for her cumquats and green tea, gained export certificates in 2012, and set up the a cumquat association with local farmers in 2013, when she started selling the cumquats to Southeast Asia, Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as through the Internet.

Her elder daughter, who studied human resources management at a university in Tianjin, helps her to manage the e-commerce sales.

"I hope my daughter can inherit my business, and continue to serve local people. Our roots are here," Lai said.