Premium strawberries bring good returns, helping farmers increase income and achieve prosperity

Walking into the greenhouse of Jumei Strawberry Picking Manor in Nanshebiya Village, Jinhe Town, Saihan District, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, rows of seedlings are lush and green, growing vigorously, and each strawberry is large and bright red, delicate and tempting. These strawberries are tended by two young people born in the 1980s, one is Pan Yulong, a college student who returned to his hometown to start a business, and the other is his good friend Wang Weijiu.

Pan Yulong is from Nanshebiya Village. After graduating from Inner Mongolia Economic and Trade College with a major in civil engineering and construction in 2012, he worked for 3 years. By chance, he met his good friend Wang Weijiu, who was born into a strawberry-growing family in Dalian. The two hit it off with shared interests and decided to work together to build a career.

Although his family objected, Pan Yulong still decided to start his own business under pressure. In September last year, they contracted 5 greenhouses covering a total of 12 mu of land, all planted with the queen of strawberries - Benihoppe. Pan Yulong said that the biggest characteristic of Benihoppe is its good quality and high technical requirements, and technology is Wang Weijiu's strong point. His family has a 30-year history of growing strawberries and has rich experience.

So they bought seedlings back from Dalian, sparing no cost and taking careful care of them. Last winter, our city experienced a rare smoggy weather event in history. Because of insufficient light, the strawberry seedlings became sick, which required timely supplemental lighting. He installed 30 275-watt light bulbs in each greenhouse and provided supplemental light for 4 hours every day. Electricity alone cost more than 2,000 yuan extra.

Because of snowfall in early winter and cold weather, he used a boiler burning coal to raise the temperature, which also cost 15,000 yuan. Later, he also encountered problems such as the head of the rolling shutter machine suddenly freezing and breaking, and they solved these difficulties one by one. They strengthened management and promptly ventilated the strawberries, and the strawberries grew vigorously. Because no chemical fertilizers were used and all farmyard manure was used, with scientific fruit thinning, their strawberries grew naturally, with large fruits, bright red color, beautiful appearance and good taste, and were deeply welcomed by customers.

Excerpted from "Hohhot Evening News"