Ai Meiyu serves well as the leading goose, guiding farmers onto the road to prosperity
Recently, this writer walked into the Meimei Family Farm in Hongqi Town, Fengcheng City, and was greeted by a bustling scene of labor: more than 20 workers were grading, bagging and boxing freshly picked strawberries, all in good order. Ai Meiyu, the owner of Meimei Family Farm, warmly received us. She said: "These are about to be shipped to Harbin. There are simply too many orders, on average about 750 kg every day, and we really can hardly keep up."
It is understood that Meimei Family Farm was established in April 2015. It now has 8 greenhouses, produces purely green organic strawberries, has an annual output of 56 tons, achieves sales of 1.344 million yuan, and makes a net profit of 400,000 yuan. At the end of 2014, the "Paiye" registered trademark and green food certification applied for by Ai Meiyu passed approval. Thanks to her own brand and excellent quality, Ai Meiyu's strawberries can reach a wholesale price of 34 yuan per kg and are sold far away to major supermarkets in Shenyang, Beijing and other places. Especially in recent years, with the rapid development of e-commerce, a new sales model has emerged: by posting strawberry photos and information through WeChat Moments on mobile phones, the geographical limits of distributors have been broken, the strawberry sales network has been extended to all parts of the country, and the sales price has reached 40 yuan per kg.
The good economic benefits of Meimei Family Farm have greatly stimulated farmers' enthusiasm for growing strawberries. According to statistics, in 2011 the town's strawberry planting area was 110 mu; by 2016 the planting area had grown to 1,700 mu, an increase of 15 times, and farmers increased their income by 64 million yuan. Farmers have tasted the sweetness of growing strawberries, thanks to the planting and management techniques Ai Meiyu provides free of charge to strawberry growers. She always patiently helps solve the difficult problems raised by strawberry growers.
The ever-expanding scale of strawberry planting has also provided a large number of jobs for local farmers. She told us that during the peak strawberry sales season, as many as 60 people work here. All the people who come here to work are local farmers. Each year 400,000 yuan is paid to farmers in wages, and at the end of the year rice, flour, oil and other gifts are sent to each household.
Speaking of her next plans, Ai Meiyu said that this autumn she plans to further expand the scale of strawberry planting, invest 600,000 yuan to build 4 new greenhouses, bringing the total number of greenhouses to 12, and add 8 new jobs, so that Dandong's green organic strawberries will blossom and bear fruit across the country.