Graphic | Wang Chaoshuai, Zou Xiaoyan, Zeng Yujuan
Gao Milin, a villager from Hanmei Village, Shuangqing District, witnessed the birth process of Hanmei Ecological Farm, and now, she has been working in the park for 6 years, and will witness the production and listing of local mulberry wine.
"Since the construction of Hanmei Ecological Farm in the village, a lot has changed, and we can also work in the village." On May 8, Gao Milin, who was picking in a mulberry orchard, said.
Sustained learning of crops
In 2018, Li Yun, a young man born in the 80s, led the joint venture to reclaim 4 hectares of idle land in Hanmei Village, and won a lot of funds to build Hanmei Ecological Farm. Up to now, this large area of orchard is mainly planted with mulberries, and some yellow peaches, autumn pears and sweet persimmons are cultivated.
In 2020, the first batch of mulberries hung fruit, Li Yun looked at nearly 60% of the albino fruits in the garden, and he was determined to completely solve the "ginkgo disease" of mulberries in the garden.
Soon, Li Yun went to Yuhang District, Huzhou City and other places in Hangzhou City to learn mulberry planting techniques. He visited the mulberry enterprise plantation, and hired planting technical specialists from other places to come to Hanmei Village to guide how to cultivate mulberry trees. In the past four years, Li Yun has gone to other places to study many times, and finally completely eliminated the mulberry "ginkgo disease" in his own plantation.
"When I choose agriculture, I have to put myself in the right position and concentrate on it, and only by continuing to learn can I make progress and have a more comprehensive understanding of growing crops." Li Yun said.
In August 2023, Li Yun also obtained the certificate of completion of the 2022 Hunan Provincial Rural Industry Revitalization Leader Cultivation "Head Goose" project. As a trainee of the second phase of the "Touyan" project training course, Li Yun studied at Zhejiang University for one year, received high-quality theoretical training and offline practice, and with the careful guidance of his mentor, he has a deeper understanding of modern agriculture, and has now become a well-known local young "field expert" and "Tuxiucai". On weekdays, in Shaoyang City, as long as there is an area where mulberries are grown, he will go to guide him.
Drive the neighbors to enrich the countryside
Walking through the 2.66-hectare mulberry orchard, the villagers have created such an orderly orchard with well-proportioned growth, distinct branches and bright fruits.
In 2018, after reclaiming the Hanmei Ecological Farm, Li Yun found villagers in Hanmei Village who were interested in employment and asked them to help take care of the orchards.
Nowadays, in the Hanmei Ecological Farm, you can often see the busy figures of the villagers, walking through the mulberry orchard, picking baskets of black and shiny mulberries. On April 25 this year, the mulberry orchard ushered in the first round of fruit harvest, and Gao Milin and other villagers were busy inside. When visitors come to pick them, they tell them which trees are likely to be sweeter and which are more sour.
"When the harvest season is over, we have to prune the mulberry trees." Gao Milin squatted down and pointed to the trunk of the mulberry tree. In order to allow the fruit to receive the most sunlight and nutrients, plantation workers cut off excess shoots in September each year.
It is understood that Gao Milin and another villager are long-term workers of Hanmei Ecological Farm, with a monthly salary of more than 2,000 yuan, and other short-term workers are paid on a daily basis. During the mulberry harvest season, up to 13 villagers were hired here, and on weekdays, five people were assigned to take care of the orchard. Last year, Hanmei Ecological Farm spent a total of 80,000 yuan in labor costs.
Expand the market for processed products
Last year, Li Yun and his partners established Shaoyang Shiping Food Co., Ltd., which specializes in fine processing mulberries, and has now developed two products: mulberry cake and mulberry wine. Among them, mulberry wine will be produced and launched in August this year.
Li Yun bluntly said that the mulberry garden tickets and mulberry sales revenue alone are not enough to support the development and growth of Hanmei Ecological Farm. Only by making mulberries into high-value products can high economic benefits be generated.
"In terms of finishing technology, we take the natural health of food as the first priority, and fully consider the market sales prospects, before we are ready to make mulberry wine." Li Yun revealed that he had gone to Anhui Province to find a winemaker to make mulberry wine, and bought dozens of mulberry wine samples in Guizhou Province, Sichuan Province and Changsha City, as well as online shopping platforms for experiments.
When developing their own mulberry wine, Li Yun and the winemaker made a fruit wine with a mellow taste and bright color, and made three kinds of wine to face different consumer groups, namely brewed wine, distilled wine and fermented wine.
"The mulberry cake we make is still in the experimental stage, and the mulberry wine is ready to be marketed. The two products have high economic benefits, and the estimated output value of mulberry wine alone is 1 million. Li Yun said with confidence that in the future, he will also focus on building a local mulberry product brand.
From picking natural fruits to refining, from simple fruits to diverse products, a small mulberry has played new tricks, and the post-80s mulberry growers are also changing from "new farmers" to "Xingnong".
"It is not easy to develop in the countryside, and it is not easy to stick to it for a long time, I am very grateful to Shuangqing District for providing agricultural policies and service guarantees, which have enhanced my sense of professional identity and belonging, so that I have the courage to go further and further on the road of agricultural planting, and I also hope that there will be more young people who are good at learning and specializing in new technologies, actively participating in returning to their hometowns to start businesses, and bringing more hope for the development of rural agriculture in Shuangqing." Li Yun said.
Producer: Fan Tao
Reviewer: Zeng Guojie Editor: Zeng Yujuan Source: Shuangqing District Rong Media Center, Shaoyang CitySubmission Email: [email protected] Legal Counsel: Deng Zhiqing (13037399976)