Xinhua News Agency, Lhasa, May 5 Title: What is the "taste" of strawberries at an altitude of 4300 meters? The reporter takes you to the "roof of the roof of the world" to taste
Xinhua News Agency reporters Zhai Yongguan and Chen Shangcai
On the Western Tibetan Plateau at an altitude of 4,300 meters, the land is barren, mostly sand and gravel, saline and alkali land and Gobi Desert. In addition to drought-tolerant red willow and pangong willow, many plants are difficult to grow. However, in shiquanhe town in the Ali region of the Tibet Autonomous Region, bright red and sweet strawberries can thrive here and sell for a good price.
What exactly does strawberries look like at high altitudes? How does it taste? At the turn of spring and summer, the reporter came to the Ecological Agriculture Industrial Park in Gar County, Ali District, just in time for the strawberry "harvest season".
Yang Huali, a farmer from Henan, displays her strawberries at the Gar County Eco-Agriculture Industrial Park in Tibet's Ali region, April 10, 2022. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Fan
Pick a pot of strawberries, rinse with water, take out the fullest one, bite down, the juice overflows, and the taste between the lips and teeth is full of sweet and sour taste. Shi Nengpei, a technician in the ecological agriculture industrial park, told reporters that because of the high altitude here, the temperature difference between day and night, the long sunshine time, and the higher sugar content of strawberries, it is more sweet to eat.
According to reports, at present, the park has planted 5 greenhouses of strawberries, the annual income of this item alone is 500,000 yuan, in addition to planting 8 greenhouses of grapes, peaches, cherries and other fruits, some fruit trees have begun to hang fruit. "Between the fruit trees, we also planted cabbage, coriander and artemisia annua, which worked very well." Shi Nengpei said.
A picker displays strawberries at the Eco-Agricultural Industrial Park in Gar County, Ali Region, Tibet (mobile phone photo, April 10, 2022). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Shen Hongbing
The reporter learned that the ecological agriculture industrial park covers an area of 1,000 acres, with 165 solar greenhouses, 66 five-membrane arch sheds, and intelligent linkage greenhouses and cold storage. Here, more than 30 varieties of vegetables, fruits and flowers and seedlings thrive, and the park will produce more than 600 tons of vegetables in 2021, which is extremely rare for the remote Ali region.
The park was able to be built thanks to the support of the Shaanxi Tibet Aid Task Force. After several years of exploration and practice, Gar County Ecological Agriculture Industrial Park has become a modern facility agricultural base integrating scientific and technological demonstration, skill training, employment transfer, fruit and vegetable supply, and income increase.
"The development of the park has brought significant economic benefits to the local people." Li Jiqiu, a cadre of Shaanxi Tibet Aid, introduced that the park implements the operation mode of "corporatized operation management + cooperative service drive + farmer and herdsman part-time training", which not only teaches the masses planting techniques, but also promotes the continuous increase of income of the masses, and the cumulative employment of 13,100 people from 2019 to 2021 will be solved.
Ecological Agriculture Industrial Park of Gar County, Ali Region, Tibet (Drone Photo) Courtesy of Shaanxi Tibet Aid Task Force
Rob, a farmer and herder working in the park, is a dark-skinned, shrewd and capable man who left his hometown early in Menshi Township, Gar County. After several years of study, he has fully mastered the cultivation of watermelons, strawberries and peppers and the management and care of greenhouses, and now earns 6,000 yuan per month.
"My son is in middle school in Shiquanhe Town, and my daughter is in primary school. In order to make my family's life better, I also want to learn more planting techniques, and in the future, in addition to raising yaks, I can also grow vegetables and sell vegetables. He laughed.
Next to the vegetable glass greenhouse is a demonstration greenhouse of smart flowers. "There are more than 100 varieties of flowers and plants, and many residents, tourists and merchants come to buy every day, and the business is very good." Li Ting, the owner of the greenhouse, said.
Workers pick tomatoes at the Gar County Eco-Agriculture Industrial Park in The Ali Region of Tibet on August 1, 2018. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Rufeng
Eating sweet strawberries and watching various potted flowers and plants compete with each other, making people feel full of spring, completely forgetting that he is in the "roof of the roof of the world" Ali.
"Ali can now not only plant trees, but also produce fruits and vegetables such as watermelons and strawberries, and in the peak season, it can supply more than 60% of Ali's market demand." Liu Jiang, the person in charge of the park, said proudly, "The fragrance of this fruit and vegetable is not only the 'taste' of modern agricultural science and technology, but also the taste of the strivers chasing their dreams and the happy new life of the plateau!" ”