A Chinese Farmer in Seychelles

Sun Ping， a graduate from Shanxi Agricultural University， had probably never dreamed of making a big fortune out of farming after he graduated in 2005. His first two jobs had something to do with agriculture. He worked for a seed cultivation company and then sold agricultural machines before he switched to a sales job for a real estate company. But he soon became sick of the job， for now and then he had to dine and wine with clients. That was a life he disliked strongly.

His life changed in February 2007 when he received an invitation to attend his brother’s wedding in Republic of Seychelles， an island country in the western Indian Ocean north of Madagascar. Sun Ping’s brother was an IT engineer working for a local IT company and he was going to marry a local girl. Someone from the bridegroom’s family must be present in compliance with the local tradition. So Sun Ping set out on his overseas adventure.

Seychelles， a member of British Commonwealth of Nations， is composed of 115 islands. Discovered by the Portuguese in the early 1500’s， the islands were claimed by the French in the mid 1700s but were taken by the British in 1794. Seychelles were a crown colony from 1903 until 1976， when the country gained its independence. Located deep in the ocean， it is about 1，500 kilometers from Kenya in the west and 2，800 kilometers from India in the east.

After a flight of more than 30 hours， Sun Ping arrived at Mahé， the largest Island in Seychelles. He thrilled to what he saw. The paradise nation is like a natural botanic garden. Of the more than 500 rare plant species， about 80 can’t be found anywhere else in the world. The black parrot， the signature bird of the island nation， is really amazing. Sun felt he was in paradise.

Victoria， on Mahé Island， is the capital. Sun found it is really amazing. There is only one movie house， one post office， one bus termination， one set of traffic lights. If you choose not to visit shops and museum and church， it takes you about 30 minutes to wander through the whole downtown. He thought it was the world’s smallest capital.

Seychelles is a world-famous tourist destination. With a population of about 80，000， the nation receives more than a billion US dollars as tourism income per year. The lifestyle is delightfully causal and entertaining. Even the president is dressed in a short-sleeve shirt to meet foreign guests. On weekends， the capital is empty. People go to beaches.

Allured by the life there， Sun Ping wished to stay and lead a life free of stress. With the help of the sister-in-law， Sun Ping managed to stay. But he was worried where to find a job. During the early days of his stay， his brother and sister-in-law often took him to fish. Sun Ping was surprised by the rich seafood he could catch. For a while， he treated himself with seafood which was extremely expensive back in China. But soon he was sated. When he went to a local market to buy vegetables， he was astonished to find that vegetables were very expensive. He learned that fresh fruits and vegetables were all flown in from Australia and European countries.

It occurred to Sun Ping that he could make big money by running a vegetable farm. He became excited. He soon managed to rent a site on a small island. The government has strict rules about farming and ecological protection. He was not to use any pesticides， herbicides and chemical fertilizers or he might be thrown into jail. He learned that some foreigners had tried to plant vegetables but they had failed.

However， Sun Ping， a graduate of agriculture， had a solution ready: intercropping. He knew some vegetables emit special odors that drive away certain special insects. He would grow more than one vegetable species in the same field so that special odors of some vegetables can drive away insects that haunt some vegetables. He would also grow some spices. These plants are natural pesticides. And he could use guano as natural fertilizer， which is abundant on the isle. All he needed to do was to hire some hands to move guano to his farm fields. As soon as it came to hiring some help， he ran into an unexpected problem. Rich and carefree local residents would never stoop to do such farming work. For a few days， Sun Ping failed to find anyone willing to do the job. Again the family came to help. With the help of his sister-in-law， Sun Ping found a group of black people from Tanzania. They were willing to work as farm hands for Sun.

Sun Ping hired about 20 young workers and began to build his farm. They built living quarters， leveled the fields， built irrigating ditches， and sew the seeds. And in a few days， the seeds germinated. The farm fields showed a fuzzy green. In August 2007， his farm turned out the first batch of about 1，000 kilograms of tomato， spinach， cabbage. The produce sold like hot cakes in the capital. Local restaurants and supermarkets rushed to buy his fresh vegetables. In the first year， Sun Ping pocketed $300，000.

The local climate is a huge help Sun Ping’s vegetable enterprise. Back in China where seasons are distinct， you can only produce certain vegetables in certain months or you need costly greenhouses. In Seychelles， all the plants are huge thanks to ample sunshine and rain. Vegetables from his farm are huge too.

In the autumn 2008， Sun Ping introduced a special towel gourd from China， which local people had never seen before. Many people came to his farm to admire towel gourds which are more than 3 meters long on stands. And the towel gourd is popular with local people and foreign visitors. For a while， Sun’s towel gourd was the most favorite on the market. To satisfy the market demand， Sun expanded his farm to 20 hectares. Naturally he went through a lot of red tapes before he finally got the government approval.

He set up a cosmetics company that offers a special skin-protection lotion based on the towel gourd. The lotion can be applied to the skin to make it smooth and white. The lotion is exported to countries such as South Africa， UK， Portuguese， and Saudi Arabia.

Sun Ping enjoys his farming life. Evening is the best time of a day. He finds a place by a pond near his vegetable farm and lies down. He watches stars， fireflies and listen to frogs croaking， crickets singing. Memories of his childhood years come back. Due to stresses that haunted him when he held down a sales job for the real estate company， he had gastritis and migraine. These diseases are now all gone. He is now as strong as a boxer.

In an interview with a reporter in October 2010 when he was back in China on business， Sun Ping boasted that he is a multimillionaire. What makes him more proud is that now he has found a way of life which is green and very close to nature.□