The watermelon anecdote of Yongchuan, Chongqing: what happened behind it?
“Melon fields and melon soil, melon sheds and melon trellises, green vines and green leaves, selenium-rich watermelons, sweet and cool, happy farming families.” These words describe the selenium-rich watermelons of Xinjian Village in Wujian Town. When it comes to Wujian watermelons, there are quite a few “little anecdotes” as well.
He Li harvesting watermelons.
Clever Wujian people: learning skills while working
About 10 years ago, people from Taizhou, Zhejiang came to Wujian Town in our district to grow watermelons, and the local villagers successfully “learned the craft on the sly” while working for them. Later the Zhejiang people left, but the Wujian watermelon growing techniques were retained. Growers solved the technical problem that watermelons cannot be planted continuously by grafting onto gourd seedlings; they cracked the “code” of watermelons being prone to water damage by switching from gourd rootstock to pumpkin rootstock; when raising seedlings they added plastic film, changing the previous three layers into four layers of “protective film,” greatly increasing the survival rate of the melon seedlings…… Today Wujian's watermelon growing is thriving. This tremendous change not only brought many local villagers back home to start businesses, but also attracted villagers from Weixing Lake and other places to come and grow them.
Unity is strength, and unity generates fighting power. Xinjian Village in Wujian gradually gained an expert compound, the Wujian Watermelon Association, and the Chongqing Yibao Watermelon Planting Cooperative, as well as a “town song,” “Peach Blossoms and Watermelons Enchant the World”: “……Wujian's peach blossoms hold your gaze, Wujian's watermelons sweeten your heart. Wujian's peach blossoms, Wujian's watermelons enchant the world.” Wujian watermelons taste sweet in the mouth and sweet in the heart.
Drawn by the favorable development environment, in 2012 city resident He Li came to Wujian Town and, together with her father He Jiangxiang, started a business in the Hujiazui villager group of Xinjian Village, transferring more than 100 mu of farmland and embarking on the path of watermelon growing.
Improving the soil to raise quality: selenium-rich watermelons win fame throughout Yongchuan
Although He Li had never grown watermelons before, the good atmosphere here inspired her. The mature grafting techniques and the unique soil improvement formula filled her with hope for the future.
Wujian watermelons use the following methods to improve quality: First, they use discarded mushroom bags from the edible fungus base in the Shengshui Lake Modern Agriculture Park as the first choice for improving the soil. It is economical and affordable, and the soil improvement effect is obvious. Second, they apply more selenium-rich fertilizer. Although the cost is rather high, the watermelon quality is good; in particular, the selenium element has anti-cancer and beauty benefits, making it even more popular in the market. Third, they apply more oil residue as base fertilizer and microbial fertilizer to ensure that the second and third crops of watermelons ripen and go on the market for sale. Fourth, the melon growers in the watermelon base organized a watermelon tourism and culture festival on their own; this year is already the seventh edition, and the growers work together to push Wujian watermelons into the market.
A temperature and humidity meter controls the temperature and humidity for seedling raising.
Management needs to be refined; market launch must avoid peak periods
Under the previous weather conditions, Wujian watermelons mostly had second and third crops. That is to say, since the watermelon tourism and culture festival opened on June 8 this year, according to the usual plan, Wujian watermelon pick-your-own experience could continue until the end of August. But two heavy rainstorms in late June this year flooded nearly 20 mu of He Li's greenhouse watermelons. “When it was raining, the melon seedlings still looked green, but once the rain stopped, the sky cleared and the sun came out, the seedlings turned yellow and withered.” He Li said that her melon fields have currently harvested more than 100,000 kg of watermelons, and judging by this year's weather, the yields of the second and third crops of melons will be partially affected.
Through several years of exploration, He Li found that management also needs to be more refined. Generally, one melon-growing household managing 10 mu to 30 mu of melon fields is more suitable. If the area reaches a hundred mu, not only will the investment be greater, but management cannot fully keep up either. At the same time, watermelons must also avoid the peak period when fruits hit the market; for example, as grapes and pears come onto the market one after another, watermelon sales volume and prices are also affected. Therefore, He Li set up a direct sales outlet at Wenqu Square in the city, and many other vehicles passing through Wujian from Luzhou and Guizhou also buy them. At present, He Li keeps watermelon yield at 2,000 kg per mu. She plans to rotate vegetables to improve land efficiency.
It is understood that Xinjian Village in Wujian has 3,000 mu of melon and vegetable area, including a 1,000 mu core watermelon planting area. If calculated at an average yield of 3,000 kg per mu, this year's watermelon output will reach 3 million kg. He Li firmly believes that as residents' consumption levels rise, Wujian selenium-rich watermelons will stand at the forefront of the market, not only letting consumers enjoy the sweet coolness of watermelons, but also bringing the happiness of increased income to farming families.