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Farmers benefit
Workers sort Xinjiang grapes used in winemaking.
Although Xinjiang is blessed with favorable natural conditions, farmers didn't benefit much from growing grapes in the past.
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Workers sort Xinjiang grapes used in winemaking.
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"Although grape output increased in 2005, the earnings just balanced my expenses because no big enterprises offered a proper price," said Zhang Chengli, a farmer in the 152nd Regiment of the Eighth Division.
Things changed when Changyu and the XPCC began to cooperate on growing grapes three years ago.
The corp's Eighth Division has a team to manage the vineyards, while Changyu gives guidance to growers to insure grape quality, then buys the grapes at proper prices.
"Farmers are expected to have doubled the income they receive from growing cotton - this year, each family will have an income of 40,000 yuan on average," said Tan Jianxin, deputy chief of the Eighth Division.
"The grape growing area at our division is expected to reach 5,330 hectares next year," said Tan.
Changyu is also using new technologies at its Xinjiang vineyards including gravity-fed irrigation with water from the Tianshan Mountains, resulting in a cut in cost of 3,000 yuan per hectare and considerable reductions in use of local water.
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