Lekang Grapes

Lekang Grapes

　　Hunan Nongkang Grape Professional Cooperative was established in June 2009, with its office located in Xinnian Village, Zhanggongmiao Town, Li County, Hunan Province. It currently has 1,373 members, including 5 group members (namely Hunan Shenzhou Manor Wine Industry Co., Ltd., Li County Zhitai Grape Technology Co., Ltd., Zhuzhou Tianyuan District Wuxing Flower & Tree Co., Ltd., Wuhan Zhou’s Fruit Industry Co., Ltd., and Jiangxi Province Xinyu City Jiangyang Agricultural Development Co., Ltd.), and 1,368 individual members (including 6 from Jiangxi Province, 18 from Hubei Province, and the rest distributed across 13 cities and prefectures in Hunan Province except Yongzhou). The cooperative currently has a grape planting area of 13,076 mu, including 10,957 mu of fresh table grape bases (producing over 26,000 tons of fresh grapes annually) and 2,119 mu of wine grape (spurred grape) bases. It is an agricultural operation organization integrating grape research, breeding of superior varieties, grape cultivation, technical training, agricultural supply distribution, grape sales, and wine production. The cooperative has hired Zhang Yexiang, a senior economist from the Changde Rural Management Bureau, as an advisor for industrial operations and organizational development, and Professor Shi Xuehui from Hunan Agricultural University as its technical advisor. The cooperative has 15 permanent staff members and includes departments such as the Office, Finance Department, Technical Service Department, Marketing Department, and Project Development Department. It has established sound systems including the Members (Representatives) Assembly System, Member Management System, Council Work System, Supervisory Board Work System, Financial Management System, Surplus Distribution System, and Learning & Training System. Personal accounts have been set up for members, and surplus returns are implemented. Since its establishment, the cooperative has been awarded the title of "Advanced Farmers’ Professional Cooperative" by the Changde Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government for multiple consecutive years; it was recognized as a Provincial Model Cooperative for Farmer-Benefiting Projects by the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government in 2011 and 2012; in 2011, it was honored as a "National Youth Demonstration Cooperative" by the Communist Youth League Central Committee and the Ministry of Agriculture; and on June 29, 2012, it was awarded the honorary title of "National Model Farmers’ Professional Cooperative" by the Ministry of Agriculture.

　　The Xinnian Grape Base of the cooperative is a research area for the Ministry of Agriculture’s "Modern Grape Industry System Research and Establishment" project, a demonstration base for industry-university-research collaboration in Hunan higher education institutions, a grape research base of Hunan Agricultural University, and a demonstration base for the "Double Hundred" Science and Technology Enrichment Project of Hunan Agricultural University.

　　The cooperative and its members have successively completed major agricultural science and technology projects in Hunan Province, such as the "Research, Breeding, and Industrialization of New Grape Varieties and Related Technologies," which won the First Prize for Provincial Scientific and Technological Progress; the "Research on Grape Introduction and Efficient Pollution-Free Cultivation Supporting Technologies," which won the Second Prize for Provincial Science and Technology Progress; the "Development of Spurred Grape Product Series" and the "Research on Grape Ripening Period Control Technology and Mechanism," both of which passed provincial scientific and technological achievement appraisals; the "Research on the Breeding, Industrialization Demonstration, and Promotion of New Grape Varieties," which won the First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress from Hunan Agricultural University; and the "Shenzhou Manor" brand dry red wine, which was awarded the Gold Award at the 10th China (Hunan) International Agricultural Expo, among other honors.

　　Our cooperative strictly operates under a "Six Unifications" model: First, unified provision of seedlings to achieve regionalization of superior varieties. Wine-spurred grapes are primarily developed in hilly areas, while high-quality fresh table grape varieties are emphasized in flatland areas. A dedicated seedling information database has been established to ensure traceability. Second, unified supply of production materials to centralize the management of inputs. A general agricultural supply procurement and distribution station and 10 distribution sub-stations have been set up to uniformly provide members with fertilizers and pesticides permitted for pollution-free grape production. Third, unified technical standards. Standards such as the "Pollution-Free Rain-Sheltered Grape Cultivation Garden Establishment Standard," "Standardized Grape Cultivation Production Technical Regulations," "Fruit Grading Standards," and "Pollution-Free Green Grape Cultivation Technical Regulations" have been formulated, and the 'Li County Grape Science and Technology' guide has been published to assist grape farmers. Fourth, unified inspection and testing. The Liuyang Plain Grape Quality Inspection and Testing Center of the cooperative conducts self-regulated testing, and laser-coded numbering is applied to grape sales to enable traceable, information-based quality management. Fifth, unified branding and packaging. The "Lekang" trademark has been registered to enable integrated brand marketing. Sixth, unified organization of sales. A dedicated sales team has been formed, and over 30 sales outlets have been established in major cities such as Changsha, Nanchang, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Nanjing, and Hefei. According to statistics from the County Grape Office, grapes sold through the cooperative account for over 70% of the county’s total grape production, achieving a high market share. The average selling price per jin of grapes for members is 0.3 yuan higher than that of other grape farmers, with per-mu net income reaching around 10,000 yuan.

　　To cultivate and maintain core industrial competitiveness and meet the urgent need for the transition from traditional to modern grape production methods, our cooperative began collaborating with Hunan Agricultural University and core members of the cooperative last February to build the Nongkang Modern Grape Industrial Park in Liuyin Village and Baihe Village, Zhanggongmiao Town. Covering an area of 500 mu, the Nongkang Modern Grape Industrial Park includes 350 mu of connected intelligent greenhouse facilities, 100 mu of a new variety and technology science park, 35 mu of a germplasm resource nursery, and 15 mu for a controlled-atmosphere storage facility and construction land. The park utilizes intelligent management and control systems for temperature, light, air, water, and fertilizer. The total planned investment for the park project is 46 million yuan. Once completed, the park will serve six major functions: research and development of new varieties and technologies, science and technology demonstration and training, cultivation of industrial technology and management personnel, tourism and sightseeing, off-season grape production, and storage and preservation. It will also explore modern grape industry business models and operational mechanisms, providing technical support and institutional guarantees for the sustainable and healthy development of the grape industry. Upon completion and operation, the park is expected to produce over 1,500 tons of high-quality grapes annually, with an annual output value exceeding 30 million yuan. By 2017, the cooperative plans to expand its grape planting area to 50,000 mu, including 40,000 mu of fresh table grapes (20,000 mu under conventional rain-sheltered cultivation and 20,000 mu under delayed cultivation), 10,000 mu of wine grapes, and establish a winery with an annual production capacity of 10,000 tons. The cooperative aims to grow its membership to over 5,000 members, provide employment for over 10,000 surplus rural laborers, and establish the "Lekang" brand grapes and "Yuanyun" brand wine as well-known trademarks and provincial brands in Hunan. The goal is to fully realize large-scale, branded, standardized, and industrialized operations, building the cooperative into a leading, top-tier organization in the province and a nationally first-class cooperative—serving as a modern agricultural management organization that leads grape farmers to compete both domestically and internationally.