Village Devotes Half of Farmland for Growing Tobacco

Source from:  Laiwu Municipal Government 05/31/2005

Xigouya Village in Miaoshan Town of Laicheng City in east China's Shandong Province has devoted about half of its 750 mu (50 hectares) of cultivated farmland for growing tobacco, as a way of increasing the income of local farmers. Laicheng City boasts nearly 5,000 mu (333 hectares) of tobacco plantations. In conducting soil test, technicians dispatched by Laiwu Tobacco Company in the region discovered that the soil in the mountainous Xigouya Village is of a very high quality and is suitable for growing tobacco on a large scale. Upon learning the discovery, the leadership of the village decided to give priority to tobacco growing in the village by designating all plots chosen by the tobacco company for growing tobacco, and by providing water and electricity supply equipment for growing tobacco "free of charge". Computed by a rate of 800 yuan (96 U.S. dollars) per mu, the village can earn some 300,000 yuan (36,000 U.S. dollars) from tobacco growing alone annually, a relatively high level of income for a mountainous village in the region. Because of the high quality of soil, Laiwu Tobacco Group has established a large-scale tobacco seedlings development base in Xigouya Village covering an area of 12 mu (0.8 hectare). Presently, 220,000 tobacco seedlings are being developed in the base. Upon completion of the whole process of development, the tobacco seedlings will be removed for transplantation in fields. Enditem