Across China: Poor Chinese spin straw into gold

Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-23 20:58:59|Editor: Mengjie
Video PlayerClose

NANNING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Like a story collected by the Brother's Grimm, rice farmers in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have found a way to spin straw into gold.

Modern farming machinery has replaced working cattle, leaving farmers with a surfeit of straw, a once valuable resource that both fed and cushioned the cattle after a long day in the fields.

Instead of wasting the straw, the resourceful villagers decided to spin it into rope, making the cattle fodder into a cash cow.

He Yuanzhi, a rice farmer in Chengbei Township in Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County, recalls that in days gone by he would anger many passersby when he burned his waste straw.

"After harvesting my rice, I burned the straw as it had no use and would have affected the new rice if I left it in the paddy fields," he said.

After speaking with poverty reduction officials, He purchased two machines in February that spin straw into rope. With a stint as a machine worker at a brick plant, the new task came easily to He.

Soon, he found he could not make enough to meet demand.

"The ropes are popular with marble and tile makers, and gardening companies also use them to tie turf rolls. So demand is not a problem," he says.

Hezhou City, 70 km away from Chengbei, is the largest hub in China for artificial stone production.

Over the past three months, He has sold 400 rolls of rope, pocketing over 5,000 yuan (726 U.S. dollars). He plans to order another 10 machines.

The rope business has little outlay costs and low risks, a perfect opportunity for poor families to make money and play an active role in their own prosperity, according to Xiao Fang, a poverty reduction township official.

The township has over 1,200 households under the poverty line, 23 percent of the population. The local government plans to help 500 of them improve their financial standing this year, part of the wider commitment by the central government to lift all of China's poor out of poverty by 2020.

The township government plans to purchase 50 rope machines to rent to those who cannot afford to buy one outright.

The rental fee will be used for public services, such as infrastructure construction, says Xiao.

A machine will cost around 100 to 200 yuan a year to rent, and 750 rolls of rope can generate 6,000 yuan with just one hectare rice straw. This can all be done just in our spare time after the main farm work is done, she says.

Even machine operators, those hired by the people who rent or own the machines, can earn a good wage of around 80 yuan a day. This means they can take home 8,000 yuan a year even if they just work 100 days in a bad season, she says.

One issue is balancing the raw material with demand for the final product.

"Our clients order by the truckload, so we need a large amount of straw every day," He says.

This is not a problem, however, as the spinners are cooperating with rice harvesters and nearby farmers to source the straw for their rope business.

"The government will help with the coordination, as a lot of people will be involved. Maybe we'll cover some harvesting expense for them in return," said Xiao.

While in the fairy tales the straw was spun into gold, today in Guangxi it is helping the underprivileged spin their troubles away.

TOP STORIES
EDITOR’S CHOICE
MOST VIEWED
EXPLORE XINHUANET
010020070750000000000000011100001363085221