Source: People's Daily - Yunnan Channel Original draft
Soft and sweet, it bites like pineapple, the ripe taste is like a mango, and there is a lychee-like aftertaste in the mouth after eating... This is the taste of the tropical fruit Shakya, unique taste and nutritional value, loved by consumers, the market price remains high.
Shakya is delicious, but the Shakya fruit tree is very "squeamish" - its growth requires a warm climate and suitable precipitation, it is not tolerant of frost and cold, and it needs to be pruned every third and fifth...
In Yun County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province, there is such a woman, rooted in the mountains, did not hesitate to bear millions of yuan in debt, rented land to plant 500 mu of Shakya, and spent 7 years "taming" the "squeamish" Shakya fruit trees, from a Shakya planting "Xiaobai" to a well-known expert in the industry.
Her name is Yang Qing, she is 43 years old and is known as "Sister Shakya Fruit" by Shakya growers.
Now, looking at the Shakya fruit trees all over the mountain, when talking about the hardships and ups and downs along the way, Yang Qing's eyes will burst with tears...
Yang Qing's Shakya planting base. Photo courtesy of interviewee
"This girl is afraid of neuropathy"
Yang Qing's family lives in Mengmeng Village, Aihua Town, Yun County. In her early years, because her family was poor, she went out to work at the age of 16.
Twenty years ago, Shakya was rare in inland cities, and even in developed coastal cities, it was expensive.
Yang Qing, who was working in Guangzhou at that time, accidentally tasted the taste of Shakya and became deeply interested in this delicious and expensive fruit.
After returning to his hometown, after years of hard work, Yang Qing accumulated some savings and started his business in 2016 - Planting Shakya.
Yang Qing was quite ambitious, renting 500 acres of land, the rent was 350-500 yuan per acre, and she rented it for 20 years.
Yang Qing picking the fruit of Shakya. Photo courtesy of interviewee
The land rent was cheap, and Yang Qing chose the planting base on a mountain far away from the people, and there was no village within a radius of several kilometers. Previously, although the climate here was suitable for growing tropical fruits, due to inconvenient transportation, lack of water and drought, not to mention the "squeamish" Shakya, even the common local sugar cane, the villagers were reluctant to plant, preferring to leave the land deserted.
"This girl is afraid that she has a neuropathy and comes to plant fruit trees in places where such birds do not." Seeing Yang Qing's stubborn choice, the villagers were not optimistic.
Yang Qing does not believe in evil.
Transportation was inconvenient, so she spent money to repair and pave the dirt road from the village to the plantation base; Without water, she spent money to bring water from the South River below the mountain.
In order to introduce excellent varieties, she did not hesitate to go to the coastal areas to learn Shakya cultivation techniques, and spent a lot of money to introduce excellent varieties to graft branches.
Coupled with the cost of management and care, the cost of an acre of Shakya fruit trees costs nearly 10,000 yuan.
Shakya fruit trees have a growth cycle and can only bear fruit after at least three years. The money was invested one by one, and soon, the savings were spent, and Yang Qing was also saddled with millions of yuan in debt.
Yang Qing packs harvested Shakya fruit. Photo courtesy of interviewee
On a rainy night, the wind blows over the roof
Difficult, far more than imagined.
"At first, I thought that if I planted it, I would bear fruit." What Yang Qing did not expect was that after the real planting, the "squeamishness" of the Shakya fruit tree exceeded imagination: the sky was sunny and watered every day, and the ditch had to be combed in time during heavy rain to prevent the roots from being soaked by water. Planting should be grafted, weeding should be done to prevent pests at ordinary times, artificial pollination should be used for flowering, fruit should be thinned and bagged for hanging fruits, and pruning and pressing strips after picking ...
Although a few workers were hired, everything was technical work, and Yang Qing needed to take it with him. She simply built several huts with asbestos tiles in the base, and her food and accommodation were in the base.
There are no shops in front of the base and no shops behind the village, and there are graves around. Yang Qing is usually afraid of the dark, and she is alone at night, and at first she fell asleep unconsciously every night in fear.
"A girl's family, not looking for someone to start a family to live a good life, but to come to this barren mountain to plant fruit trees." For Yang Qing's choice, her mother didn't know how many times she nagged. But after saying that, he felt sorry for Yang Qing, and his mother also lived in the base with Yang Qing.
One night in 2017, the wind was fierce, and after a while, torrential rain poured, and the asbestos tile roof was also blown away by the wind, and the mother and daughter could only run to the chicken pen to hide from the rain.
The debt is growing, and the day of the fruit is far away.
"There is no social circle, the money is sweaty in the hand, the clothes are reluctant to buy, the food will be on the line, and the workers' wages must be guaranteed first." Sitting in the base office, recalling the hardships of the entrepreneurial process, Yang Qing's eyes turned red as he spoke, and his voice began to tremble...
Shakya fruit planted by Yang Qing. Photo courtesy of interviewee
"Grit your teeth and insist, go forward, maybe there is a rush"
"If you give up, the previous investment will be wasted; Gritting his teeth and insisting, he may still have a head to go forward. After thinking about it, Yang Qing made a vacant land in the planting base, relying on raising chickens for cash flow to support Shakya planting, and raised thousands of chickens at most.
Finally survived to the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2022, the first batch of 100 acres of shakya fruit trees that hung fruit ushered in a bumper harvest, but they did not want to encounter the epidemic again. In the March picking season, the goods could not be transported out of the county, and every day he watched the ripe shakya fruit hanging on the branches, and the wind blew off one, Yang Qing was anxious.
There is no way, Yang Qing can only use the most stupid way to reduce the price and sell it in the local market and the circle of friends.
Painstaking people, the sky does not fail. By the March 2023 picking season, Yang Qing had planted more than 200 acres of fruit hanging fruit from the Shakya fruit trees, harvesting more than 100 tons.
"At present, the varieties of hanging fruits are mainly pineapple shakya, which is very popular in the market, and the price per ton is 2.8-35,000 yuan." After surviving the difficult period, Yang Qing's Shakya cultivation business is on the right track. Her Shakya fruit is in short supply in the market and is exported to first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Now, walking into the busy group, you can see Yang Qing's planting base from a distance, a large green mountain. The villagers who were not optimistic about her before gave a thumbs up: "I can't see it, this road is really out of her way." Of course, Yang Qing also has more energy to run his life and harvest love.
Yang Qing accompanied the Shakya fruit tree and lived in the mountains for 7 years, and her mother also lived with her for 7 years. Behind the success of his career, Yang Qing is very sober: "Without the company of his mother, these Shakya fruit trees cannot be planted. ”
In the Shakya planting community in the province, Yang Qing's Shakya planting technology is well known, many growers will visit her base to learn, and she is often invited to Yuanjiang, Yuanmou, Gengma, Shuangjiang and other places to teach planting techniques.
"It's not easy to do agriculture, and you have to 'pay tuition' every step of the way. Do one thing every year, but learn every year. Yang Qing did not stop there, she built a cold storage at the base and started a new stage of entrepreneurship: "Drive the surrounding people, provide their own sales channels, and help more fruit farmers in Yunxian sell agricultural products..."