Sea Dyke Village Celery

Sea Dyke Village Celery

　　Sea Dyke Village in Jinkou Town, Jimo City, Qingdao, has a total of 169 households and 556 residents, with 600 mu of arable land. The village focuses on developing its specialty celery industry. In 2010, the celery planting area exceeded 420 mu, accounting for 70% of the total arable land, and 105 households were engaged in celery cultivation, making up 62% of the total number of households in the village. The village’s total agricultural income was 2.6 million yuan, with celery industry revenue reaching 1.95 million yuan, accounting for 75% of the total agricultural income. The net income per mu of celery exceeded 10,000 yuan, and the per capita net income of the village was 10,800 yuan, which is 25% higher than the town’s average.

　　Sea Dyke Village has a long-standing tradition of growing celery. The exceptional quality of Sea Dyke Village celery benefits from the village’s unique maritime geographical location and its soil and climatic conditions. The celery produced here is emerald green in color, with tall, upright plants, solid and crisp stems. When young, it resembles jade; when mature, it stands like a verdant tree. Its flavor is refreshingly fragrant and invigorating. In 2010, it was awarded the title of “Famous, Specialty, and High-quality Brand of Qingdao.” Subsequently, relying on the “Jinkou Jade Sprout” brand and guided by market demand, the village expanded its planting base with a focus on standardized production, promoting the shift of celery cultivation toward standardization and scale. This approach increased land productivity and farmers’ incomes.

　　The village established a celery industry professional cooperative. As many as 120 households joined the Sea Dyke Celery Farmers' Professional Cooperative, accounting for 71% of the total number of households in the village. Celery production evolved from individual household operations to cooperative and corporate management. It expanded from simply bundling celery to include grading, processing, and packaging into boxed products. This development has also driven celery cultivation in 14 surrounding villages. Thanks to the village’s leadership, Jinkou Town has now developed over 5,000 mu of celery planting bases.

　　At the same time, various levels of city and town government have provided strong support for Sea Dyke Village’s development of its “one village, one product” celery industry, implementing incentive policies for the construction of celery bases. Infrastructure supporting the bases has been improved, with water and electricity delivered directly to the planting plots. For contiguous clusters of 10 or more winter-warm greenhouses, each greenhouse receives a subsidy of 10,000 yuan. Additionally, interest-subsidized loans are provided to greenhouse growers, with each winter-warm greenhouse eligible for a 20,000-yuan loan.