In the land of Qianzhou, there is a kind of prickly golden wild fruit - prickly pear, its vitamin C content is much higher than other fruits and vegetables, known as the "king of vitamin C". However, due to the sour taste and difficult to swallow, no one cared about it for a while.
In Guizhou Chuhao Agricultural Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Chuhao Agriculture), located in Shuicheng District, Liupanshui City, prickly pear has become the absolute protagonist. On the production line, the prickly pear has been transformed into a prickly pear sparkling water, prickly pear original slurry and other products, which are deeply loved by consumers once they are listed. The "King of Vitamin C" shows the charm of the "C-position" debut.
From "small transparent" to fragrant and sweet, on the road of accelerating agricultural modernization and new industrialization, the Liupanshui prickly pear industry is full of vitality.
Multiple "fashion forms" of one wild fruit
On the production line of the Chuhao Agricultural Workshop, the golden prickly pears are transported to the production equipment through the conveyor belt to be pressed into juice, and the conveyor belt at the other end slowly sends out bottles of prickly pear drinks.
Founded in March 2018, Chuhao Agriculture is an enterprise integrating prickly pear planting, scientific research, production and sales, with an annual production capacity of 120,000 tons of prickly pear, kiwifruit, bayberry and other agricultural products and 84.06 million liters of vegetable and fruit puree and beverages.
How to transform the prickly pear, which is covered in thorns and has an unpleasant taste, into a product that consumers are willing to accept is something that Wang Xinying, director of Chuhao Agricultural R&D Center, and his team have been thinking about.
In November 2020, after countless experiments, Wang Xinying led the team to develop the first new prickly pear series - prickly pear sparkling drink, which quickly became a work that aroused discussion among young consumer groups. Subsequently, she and her team successively completed the formulation research and development of a variety of products such as prickly pear gummies, prickly pear biscuits, prickly pear lozenges, prickly pear preserved fruits, prickly pear black tea, and prickly pear craft beer. Through the empowerment of scientific and technological innovation, in 2023, the output value of Chuhao agriculture will exceed 300 million yuan.
"Scientific and technological innovation is the top priority of enterprise development. Qian Pin, chairman of Chuhao Agriculture, is full of confidence in the future development. He said that in recent years, Chuhao Agriculture has strengthened cooperation with scientific research institutes such as the Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Agricultural University, and established a research and development team with high-end scientific and technological talents such as doctors and masters as the core. Up to now, the company has 18 products, 20 patents and more than 40 trademarks. "The products have been sold to first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, and the market response is very good. ”
Not long ago, Chuhao Agriculture was also selected as the seventh batch of national key leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization, Guizhou Province's 2022 "specialized, special and new" small and medium-sized enterprises, and the first batch of "16+1" agricultural products (food) deep processing and high-growth enterprises in the province.
As one of the 12 advantageous industries with agricultural characteristics in Guizhou Province, prickly pear was written into the No. 1 document of the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee in 2023. The document pointed out that it will concentrate on building regional public brands of well-known agricultural products such as tea, prickly pear and chili. Qian Pin said that Chuhao Agriculture will continue to strengthen the construction of scientific research talents, help the research and development of prickly pear products, continuously improve the industrial chain, further enhance the added value of prickly pear products, and expand the prickly pear industry.
The story of helping farmers behind an industry
In Liupanshui, prickly pear is a wild fruit that grows in the deep mountains, and it is also a "rich fruit" that helps farmers increase income.
"I announce, announce the official launch of the prickly pear procurement work!" With an order, on August 18, 2023, the purchase of more than 40 acres of prickly pear fresh fruits in Shuicheng District was fully launched, and a convoy composed of dozens of acquisition vehicles and work vehicles slowly drove out of the parking lot of Chuhao Agriculture and headed towards Yezhong Township. At the centralized acquisition point of prickly pear in the launch village of Yezhong Township, a series of acquisition work such as basket loading, weighing, registration, and handling were carried out in an orderly manner.
It is reported that from August 18 to late September 2023, Chuhao Company will collect all the receivables and return the granules to 23 townships (towns and streets) in the district at a unit price of 6 yuan/kg, continuously releasing a new strong impetus for industrial development.
"My prickly pear hanging fruit area is about 5 acres, as long as the management is good, the yield of one acre of prickly pear can reach nearly 3,000 catties. In the past few days, more than a dozen relatives and friends have been invited to help with the picking. Jiang Chengkou, a large planter in Huangdedi Village, Luoduo Village, Yingpan Township, Shuicheng District, said.
The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that the development of rural characteristic industries should broaden the channels for farmers to increase their incomes and get rich. In Qian Pin's view, this is an important way for enterprises to fulfill their social responsibilities.
"We uphold the concept of 'linking farmers, leading farmers, rich farmers, and strengthening farmers', adhere to the principle of 162,000 rural households, and rely on the characteristic industry - prickly pear, to establish an effective mechanism for the steady growth of farmers' income, and cultivate a number of large agricultural machinery, farmer cooperatives and other new service subjects. Qian Pin said that this mechanism can better promote the organic connection between small farmers and the development of modern agriculture, so that agricultural products can be added locally and further increase farmers' income.
It is understood that at the beginning of 2023, good agriculture will purchase a total of 8,253.24 tons of prickly pear, helping farmers increase their income by more than 49 million yuan, and directly driving farmers to receive 16.2656 million yuan in picking labor fees through the purchase of fresh fruits. At the same time, through the development of the whole industrial chain, it has directly driven more than 200 people to employ people in Chuhao agriculture and indirectly led to more than 4,000 employment, absorbing more farmers to achieve local and nearby employment.
It is worth mentioning that around the planting, management and picking of prickly pear, Chuhao Agriculture also invited well-known provincial agronomic experts to give lectures, staff training in the village, and organize on-site guidance of "soil experts" and "Tian Xiucai" to carry out multi-dimensional and full-coverage skills training, so that scientific planting can better escort production and income.
A brand sails in the "Guizhou goods out of the mountain".
In the Mid-Autumn Festival of 2023, the "Shanshui Family Love Garden" mooncake box of the century-old Tsui Xiangyuan in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province has attracted the attention of consumers as soon as it is listed. The prickly pear mooncakes in the box have been praised by consumers for their novel taste and rich vitamins, making this creative mooncake box quickly out of the circle.
Behind the circle is the vivid practice of exploring the model of "Zhongshan Technology + Liupanshui Specialty" to enhance the added value of prickly pear products.
"Prickly pear has high nutritional value, which is very in line with the life needs of Cantonese people. Liang Binggen, chairman of Chew Xiangyuan Food Co., Ltd., is very optimistic about the prickly pear resources of Liupanshui, and has established close cooperation with Chuhao Agriculture to open up a broad field of cooperation. At the same time, Chew Xiangyuan will provide technological innovation, product innovation, sales innovation and other support for the deep processing products of Chuhao prickly pear to better achieve a win-win situation. ”
It is not only necessary to plant prickly pear, but also to sell prickly pear products well and far. How to make prickly pear enter the field of vision of more consumers?
Back to 7:03 on July 8, 2020, the G2954 train departed on time from Liupanshui Station, and this high-speed railway to Guangzhou South is the first train of the Anliu high-speed railway to open and operate. On the same day, advertisements for "Chuhao Pear" were printed on the high-speed rail platforms along the way, and prickly pear products such as prickly pear sparkling water from Chuhao Agriculture were also boarded on the train. After tasting it, passengers praised it one after another, and "delicious", "unique taste" and "interesting" became everyone's unanimous evaluation of prickly pear products.
In recent years, with the blessing of the convenient transportation network, more than a dozen prickly pear products such as prickly pear beverage, prickly pear puree, prickly pear decoction pieces, and prickly pear dried fruit slices of Chuhao Agriculture have been quickly promoted to South China, North China, East China, Central China, Northeast, Northwest, Southwest and other regions, covering more than 170 urban markets across the country. Many large domestic advertising merchants have thrown olive branches to Chuhao Company, and "Chuhao Prickly Pear" is famous, and sales have increased year after year.
"At the same time, we are also actively exploring the online development model of 'live broadcast + e-commerce', through the construction of a good e-commerce operation center, and the launch of Taobao, Jingdong, Douyin, Pinduoduo and other large-scale e-commerce platform channels, combining 'live streaming' with 'online coverage', and making every effort to expand online sales channels, so that prickly pear products and Guizhou prickly pear can go to a broader market. Qian Pin said.
Guizhou Daily Tianyan News reporter Liu Ying Guo Li
Edited by Gui Rong
Second instance Liu Dinghui
Third trial Sun Qin