"Blueberry Girl" Zhang Liyuan

Zhang Liyuan Photo/Zhang Yang

Hunan Daily reporter Lei Hongtao Xiao Jun

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Zhang Liyuan, born in 1988, a native of Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Province, studied art and design at university, and is now the head of Liyuan Blueberry Ecological Family Farm and Liyuan Blueberry Professional Cooperative, known as "Blueberry Girl".

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The fruity aroma is full of blueberries again. On July 12, the weather was clear, and many citizens drove to the "Liyuan Blueberry Planting Base" in Yanqiao Village, Yanqiao Town, Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County, to pick blueberries. Wearing a sunhat and a white T-shirt, Zhang Liyuan weaves through the blueberry trees, acting as a narrator for tourists, with a smile on her dark face.

"Our blueberries do not use pesticides, do not apply chemical fertilizers, do not use herbicides, pick them without washing them and can be eaten directly, sweet." Seeing the reporter, Zhang Liyuan sold her "baby".

Chen Yajun, director of Yanqiao Village, said that Zhang Liyuan is now famous in the village, as long as she talks about "blueberry girl", everyone knows that she is referred to.

In June 2012, Zhang Liyuan graduated from Central South University of Forestry and Technology. She studied art and design and worked as an interior designer in Changsha, Nanjing and other places for a period of time. In 2013, she quit her job and returned to her hometown to start a business.

"Growing blueberries is a complete accident." In 2013, Zhang Liyuan's grandmother had an eye problem. Brought up by her grandmother, she looked around for "secret recipes" and found that blueberries were good for vision on the Internet.

She wanted to buy blueberries for her grandmother to try, but found that the fruit was expensive and could not be bought in some places. Zhijiang was not planted at that time, and Zhang Liyuan felt that planting blueberries had a "way of money".

Just do it. Zhang Liyuan immediately rushed to Yunnan, Zhejiang, Shandong and other places to learn blueberry planting technology. In 2013, she sold her family's house and tried to plant 10 acres of blueberry trees.

At first, because of the lack of soil improvement, the blueberry tree died a lot, causing her to lose more than 100,000 yuan. Because of the drainage problem, it also led to the death of some blueberry trees.

Although she encountered financial difficulties and technical bottlenecks, Zhang Liyuan repeatedly lost battles and continued to explore. Instead, she expanded her blueberry cultivation to 30 acres.

"In the early days of entrepreneurship, I borrowed money from friends and family." Zhang Liyuan said that in her difficult time, in order to save labor money, the whole family braved the cold and took half a month to plant 30 acres of blueberry trees.

"When I was about to be overwhelmed, the county labor and social security bureau included me in the 'College Student Entrepreneurship Leadership Program' and gave me financial support." Zhang Liyuan said. The help of government departments has solved her urgent needs.

Today, her blueberry base is getting bigger and bigger, from 10 acres to more than 200 acres... She also established a blueberry standardized planting technology training base and established the Zhijiang Blueberry Science and Technology Research Association.

Zhang Liyuan has her own "blueberry dream": let more people eat sweet and cheap ecological blueberries, and let more neighbors get rich by planting blueberries.

Zhang Liyuan calculated an account for the reporter, this year she has 50 acres of blueberry trees hanging fruit, and the preliminary calculation of gross income is 1.25 million yuan. At present, the sales channels of blueberries are mainly customers who come to the site to pick, and some blueberries can be made of blueberry wine and blueberry juice.

Watching Zhang Liyuan grow blueberries and make money, the villagers were also moved. So she set up the Liyuan Blueberry Professional Cooperative, and some villagers in the village joined the cooperative.

"I saw that her blueberries were selling well, and after making money, I joined the cooperative and planted 30 acres." Yang Shengwen, a villager, said that after he joined the cooperative, the blueberry tree became his "green bank".

Watching the villagers also grow blueberries to get rich, Zhang Liyuan said that her heart was sweeter than eating blueberries.