Authentic Salty Land Cherry Tomatoes: Chen Jushi of Qigu Achieves Success After 8 Years

“How can you grow cherry tomatoes in soil where even weeds won’t sprout?” The Zhongliao Tribe in Qigu is not far from the sea, and its soil is particularly saline, making cultivation extremely difficult. Chen Jushi and his wife, who returned to their hometown from elsewhere, improved the soil quality through persistent trial and error, and finally succeeded in growing fragrant and sweet “Jade Girl” cherry tomatoes. Combining this with the nearby tourist draws of Salt Mountain and the Salt Museum, they opened their fields for free fruit picking to promote agritourism. The Qigu District Office has also listed the orchard as one of the local tourist attractions and held a press conference on the 18th to promote it.

Chen Jushi once ran a record store in downtown Tainan, but as times changed, business gradually declined. Seventeen years ago, he closed the shop and had previously grown guavas in Houying, Xigang. Eight years ago, seeing his family’s farmland lying fallow, he resolutely returned to farming. In the early days, the area also grew sugarcane and sweet potatoes, and there were contract-growing arrangements for tomatoes used exclusively by Kagome. But as soil salinization worsened, farming became increasingly challenging.

In the early days after returning home, nobody believed he could achieve anything by farming on saline-alkali land. He and his wife chose to grow cherry tomatoes and sought advice everywhere. For the first three years, they focused on improving the soil quality and reducing the salt content. Gradually, their cherry tomato yield increased, and the tomatoes they grew were especially sweet. Chen Jushi said that after the harvest season ended every April, he would flood the fields to allow the salt to settle. By September, when it was time to replant, the seedlings would absorb a bit of the salt, which made the tomatoes even sweeter, with sweetness levels consistently testing above 10 degrees.

The couple maintains their just-over-two-tenth-acre field on their own. As they practice toxin-free cultivation, management is labor-intensive, and hiring help is not cost-effective. With just the two of them, the yield from harvesting is limited, so they decided to attract visitors from nearby tourist spots to come pick the fruit themselves, gradually building a reputation. They also provide free cherry tomatoes to schoolchildren in the surrounding area.