What makes strawberries from this place the national leader? The answer is here
Starting from Dandong City in Liaoning Province, China's largest border city, the reporter drove to Donggang City on the banks of the Yalu River, passing strawberry greenhouses that flashed by outside the car window from time to time. Although the strawberry supply season is now in its late stage, farmers can still be seen busy inside the greenhouses, and brokers coming to Donggang's townships to buy strawberries are also endless. Through their hands, Donggang strawberries are sold across the country and even to Europe and the United States as well as Japan, South Korea and other countries.
In recent years, Donggang's strawberry industry has developed rapidly. With policy and financial support from the government above, leading enterprises, cooperatives, and growers below joining forces for development, plus the strong assistance of scientific research and technology, and the protection provided by inspection and law enforcement and quality testing, this industry has formed a standardized, large-scale, and industrialized development model, rising abruptly and leading the nation.
“From top to bottom, we develop the strawberry industry with passion”
——From introducing foreign varieties to becoming China's largest strawberry production and export base, from a century of cultivation history to being the “China's No. 1 Strawberry County”, Donggang's strawberry industry leads across the board in indicators such as area, output, and output value
“I planted strawberries in 6 greenhouses. From planting in September of that year to fruit production beginning in December, strawberry supply can continue until June of the following year. Over one production cycle, the income from the 6 greenhouses is more than 600,000 yuan. I have grown strawberries for 5 years and am full of affection for them.” said Chi Linguo, owner of “Chi Family Strawberries” in Mamulin Village, Helong Township. In addition to wholesale and retail and running a “farm stay”, he now also runs an online micro-store.
As the planting scale expanded, Chi Linguo's entire family became involved in strawberry cultivation and operations. In his words: “Now we are practicing family-style management and operations.”
According to Liu Zuoren, director of the Donggang City Rural Economy Bureau, Donggang has nearly a century of strawberry cultivation history. At present, the city's strawberry planting area reaches 168,000 mu, with an annual output of 410,000 tons and an annual output value of 4.2 billion yuan. The city has 90,000 strawberry-growing households, nearly 200,000 people employed across the entire industry chain, and farmers' per capita net income reaches 6,000 yuan. “It can be said that Donggang strawberries lead the nation across the board in indicators such as area, output, and output value, and the strawberry industry has become an important pillar industry of Donggang's agricultural economy.”
Sun Lijun of Lijiadian Village, Yiquan Town, is a well-known large-scale strawberry grower. The strawberries grown by his family are large, delicious, and good-looking, attracting neighboring farmers to come and seek advice. “On ordinary days, everyone exchanges and compares with one another to see whose strawberries are better. Chatting about strawberries and growing strawberries has become the topic we talk about most often.” Now, Sun Lijun expands strawberry cultivation and strengthens management by renting land and hiring workers.
In addition to fresh consumption, more than 100 fruit processing enterprises in Donggang have developed strawberries into high-value-added products such as canned goods, jam, juice, and quick-frozen strawberries. “We have our own strawberry planting base, and we also make contract purchases from farmers every year, accounting for 60 percent of the company's processing demand.” said Wang Jiao, deputy general manager of Liaoning Guangtian Food Co., Ltd. In certain years when adverse market conditions are encountered, the company always adheres to contract purchases from farmers, in order to protect farmers' enthusiasm for planting and maintain the vitality of Donggang's strawberry industry.
“A good geographical environment and superior climatic conditions give Donggang a natural advantage for developing the strawberry industry. From the municipal party committee and municipal government at the top down to the rural areas of each township, we pursue strawberry development in everyone's awareness and do strawberry work with passion, all so that the strawberry industry can become an industry that enriches the people.” said Zhu Liande, deputy mayor of Donggang City.
During the interview, the reporter heard such a story: back then, in order to open up the development situation for Donggang strawberries, the government personally contacted sales outlets. In order to load more strawberries, they removed all the seats from the van, simply wanting to help farmers sell for more money. Now, the development of Donggang's strawberry industry has gradually matured. From growers, brokers, cooperatives, and family farms to leading enterprises, all operating entities develop in coordination, forming a complete industrial chain.
“Our growers are all technicians”
——From “borrowing” foreign technology to leading the world in strawberry technology, from establishing the country's first strawberry science and technology research institute to accelerating scientific and technological breakthroughs, achievement transformation, and full coverage of township-level science and technology training, Donggang's strawberry industry has mastered core technology
As a herbaceous berry fruit, strawberries are inherently fragile and relatively difficult to grow. Good varieties and scientific cultivation methods directly affect the appearance, taste, and yield of strawberries. Only scientific, standardized, and large-scale production can achieve good quality and good benefits.
“To enrich the soil, we crush corn stalks and return them to the field. To prevent soil compaction, we hardly use chemical fertilizers, but instead use farmyard manure such as horse manure.” The reporter visited multiple strawberry greenhouses, and growers told the reporter the same practices.
The reason farmers can develop scientific planting habits comes from Donggang's industrial development approach of “revitalizing the industry through science and technology”. As early as 1991, Donggang City established the country's first county-level strawberry research institute. As the strawberry industry continued to grow, in 2013 they also established the Liaoning Strawberry Science and Technology Research Institute, based in Liaoning, the only one in the country, and first-class internationally, integrating strawberry scientific research, technology promotion, seedling production, and research and development of fresh-keeping packaging technology.