Walking into the strawberry garden of Youguangxiang in Huaba Village, Gunan Street, Qijiang District, a sweet fragrance comes to the nose. In the warm spring greenhouse, a ridge of strawberries is full of life and grows happily.
You Guangxiang is a native of Wansheng Economic Development Zone and has been engaged in strawberry cultivation for many years. In 2019, he took his wife and children to Huaba Village with his family, and with the help of the local village branch and the two committees, he built 29 strawberry planting greenhouses covering an area of 40 acres.
Strawberry Garden located in Huaba Village, Gunan Subdistrict, Qijiang District. (Photo by Liu Xueqiu)
"In order to help me develop the strawberry industry, Gunan Street not only gave me a three-year reduction in land rent, but after the greenhouse was built, in order to facilitate access, the street also funded the construction of a sidewalk, and the experts of the Street Agricultural Service Center often came to the strawberry farm for technical guidance." Yu Guangxiang said gratefully. All the hardware facilities are in place, and Yu Guangxiang has more confidence in growing strawberries.
Yu Guangxiang inspected the growth of strawberries. (Photo by Liu Xueqiu)
"The most suitable temperature for strawberries to grow is between 10-25 degrees Celsius, and in winter the greenhouse should be guaranteed to be above 10 degrees Celsius." During the planting period, You Guangxiang recruited more than 10 villagers from Huaba Village to work in the strawberry garden, and he taught the villagers planting techniques such as leaf picking and fruit repair by hand, so that these villagers gradually became experts in growing strawberries. At the same time, their income has also increased through migrant work, "the villagers who work are paid by the hour, and each person earns about 1500 yuan per month." Yu Guangxiang said.
Strawberries that are about to ripen. (Courtesy of Huaba Village)
It is understood that the strawberry garden in Huaba Village, Gunan Street, will achieve mass production in 2020. In the autumn of 2021, 200,000 strawberries will be planted, including red face, Christmas red, Sui zhu, etc., and the fruits have been hung. "This year's strawberries are almost ripe, and it is expected to be picked before the New Year, and it is expected to produce 3,000 pounds of strawberries per mu this year." For this year's harvest, Yu Guangxiang is full of expectations.