Lvsheng Vegetable Specialized Cooperative

Location: the Cooperative is situated in Laosheng village of Gaocheng City of Hebei province. Start from Beijing by car, you can go directly to Shijiazhuang via Jinshi Highway, then take Shihuang highway,and go around 20 km and take the Gaocheng east exit;  go southward along the Dingwei Road for around 10 km; take a right turn at Maqiu and go westward along the Henjing Road for about 3 km; next you'll find Laosheng village. It is roughly a 300-km's ride.

Registration: Built on the Green Agro-product Development Association in Gaocheng City, the cooperative was officially registered in the Administration of Industry and Commerce of Gaocheng City on 15 August 2007. Led by Mr. Guiyong Li, it now has 45 household members, with a funding of 200,000 yuan. The cooperative is qualified to carry out the following activities. First, it may procure and supply agricultural inputs for/on behalf of cooperative members; second, it may procure and supply its cooperative members with other similar units; third, it is allowed to introduce new technology or new varieties, and to organize related agricultural training, technology exchange activities and to provide various information consulting services.

Product: The cooperative operates in a plantation area of more than 200 mu, with a total vegetable output of 1.936 million kg. Cold greenhouses are mainly deployed in spring and autumn. It is estimated that the yearly output of cucumber (whose harvest period starts from April to July in spring and August to October in autumn) amounts up to 1.372 million kg and Baili tomato (whose harvest period starts from May to July) up to 0.605 million kg. The daily cucumber supply is roughly 6,200 kg from 1 April to 20 April, 28,900 kg from 21 April to 10 June, 4,125 kg from 11 June to 10 July, 4,400 kg from 1 August to 10 September and 8,250 kg from 11 September to 20 October; The daily tomato supply is about 11,350 kg from 25 May to 3 June, 20,150 kg from 4 June to 25 June and 6,050 kg from 26 June and 10 July. Additionally, three more villages in Gaocheng City (Guanzhuang, Nanguzhuang and Genjiazhuang ) and two more in Zhao County (Songcheng and Dama village) own an aggregated vegetable planting area of over 6000 mu, on which the cooperative has a noticeable influence. This contributes greatly to the vegetable procurement on a large scale.

Quality: Manuals have been distributed among cooperative members to take the production, quality and marketing under internal control. Besides, thanks to the environmentally friendly technology, the incidence of plant diseases and insect pests is kept at a low level. The less frequent use of fertilizers and pesticides results in better quality vegetables. In the meantime, the cooperative co-funded the Biqing Vegetable Company and Gaocheng City High-tech Demo Farm, producing green-food-certified cucumbers and tomatos on the brand name 'Biqing'. Currently, the cooperative has registered a new brand name "Dehua" which it is preparing to apply for green certification. It is estimated that the green certification is to be granted in the beginning of 2009.