Understory hazelnut planting broadens the path to increased income and prosperity

Recently, at the Ping'ou large hazelnut planting demonstration site in the Fourth Management District of Yaluhe Farm under Heilongjiang State Farms, the author saw seedlings growing vigorously and red adzuki beans in the woods thriving. This is a microcosm of the farm's efforts to further adjust its industrial structure, explore new paths for understory economy, and broaden income-increasing channels for workers.

Relying on its abundant forest land resources and forest ecological environment, this farm guides workers to vigorously develop understory planting such as edible fungi and Ping'ou large hazelnuts, and to develop aquatic resource farming such as river crabs, fish, and geese to increase income and achieve prosperity. To do a good job in planting Ping'ou large hazelnuts, farm grower Leng Zibao introduced 20,000 Ping'ou large hazelnut seedlings from Tangyuan County, Heilongjiang Province, with strong cold resistance, a wide planting range, a high survival rate, early fruiting, large fruit shape, high yield, and a long lifespan, to develop understory planting.

Leng Zibao happily calculated his economic account for us: the hazelnut trees can propagate seedlings in the second year, with an average of 2-3 seedlings per tree, and about 250 seedlings per mu. From the fourth year to the seventh year, the annual income from seedlings propagated per mu can be around 10,000 yuan. Ping'ou large hazelnuts enter the fruiting period after three years, and can enter the high-yield period in the fourth year. The high-yield period lasts as long as 50 years, with an average yield of more than 500 jin per mu. At a price of 15~20 yuan per jin, the income per mu can be around 6,000-10,000 yuan. Combined with the sales income of fruit and seedlings, it can reach 15,000 yuan, and the economic benefits are quite considerable.

This farm also actively introduces and promotes superior varieties, new technologies, and new models suitable for understory planting and understory breeding, hires experts to train and lecture for growers and breeders, further improves the technical level, theoretical level, and practical ability of growers and breeders, enhances the quality of understory economic products, and provides strong scientific and technological support and technical guarantees for the development of the understory economy.

Song Xiaowei