The China Daily has published a short article about a Belgian entrepreneur who runs a chemical fertilizer company in Xinjiang. The newspaper writes that Danny Decombel, 59, set up the company in 2006. After graduating in animal husbandry in Belgium, Decombel began working for a Chinese-American joint venture in Shenzhen in 1988 and several other companies in Guangdong and Fujian, being promoted from technician to senior executive. When the company he worked for was facing closure in 2005, he decided to move to Xinjiang after a customer told him that the region is widely applying drip irrigation technologies, which means there is a huge demand for water-soluble fertilizer. “I have visited a lot of farmers in northern Xinjiang since 2005, speaking with them about the efficient use of water-soluble fertilizer. I found they recognized many of my ideas,” Decombel said.
“It turned out I was right to start the business in Xinjiang,” he said. “I think there is no place other than Xinjiang that could have given me such an opportunity”. While having success in northern Xinjiang, Decombel faced obstacles in expanding the market in the south of the region. “Many farmers in southern Xinjiang had not yet started using drip irrigation technologies when I planned to expand my business in 2011,” he said. He did not expect that the fertilizer, which was suitable for the land in northern Xinjiang, would fail to suit the land in the South due to the complicated soil types. His team finally found the best solution after intensive research. His company now sells 20,000 metric tons of chemical fertilizer each year, and it is used across approximately 10,000 hectares of farmland in the region.
His latest project is promoting the Belgian Blue cattle breed in China. “The Belgian Blue is a treasure of our country. I’m very confident since I have seen so much development in China over the years,” he said. “I will work until I’m 70 to fulfill this goal,” Decombel told the China Daily.
