Red raspberries link up a value chain that boosts farmers' incomes

As the saying goes: sow a grain of millet in spring, and harvest ten thousand seeds in autumn. Only through hard work in spring can one reap a bountiful harvest in autumn. Recently, I came to Lixin Village, Xiaojia Township, Fuyu City, Jilin Province, and found that several farmers here farm in a very simple way: they use no farm machinery, no seeds and no chemical fertilizer. What crop are they actually growing? With this question in mind, I interviewed them.

In the field, several villagers could be seen planting saplings. This is prime time for planting crops, so why were these villagers planting saplings? A farmer of short stature, full of energy and looking over 50, said with a smile: "Others plant crops, I plant trees. This brings in much more income than growing crops." The speaker was Sun Shilin, a villager of the village. Speaking of the saplings he was planting, Sun Shilin said: "The sapling I grow is called red raspberry. Because of its rich nutritional value, people praise it as the 'golden fruit.' This fruit sells at a high price and is in great demand. Once the berries ripen, the economic returns are considerable."

The red raspberry is a fruit rich in SOD enzyme and vitamin C, and is known as the anti-cancer "ruby." Because red raspberry fruits must be picked by hand, the cost is very high. Therefore, the economic returns from red raspberry cultivation and deep processing are relatively high, and there is considerable room for development. The sharp-witted Sun Shilin set his sights on growing red raspberries. Sun Shilin told me that every year around this time, he goes to Shenyang and Heilongjiang, where red raspberries are grown, to work, and in this way investigates the economic returns of red raspberries on the side. After careful observation and study, he found that red raspberries, which ripen every year in June and July, are cold-resistant, drought-resistant and tolerant of poor soil, making them very suitable for planting in the woodlands and on the hillsides of his hometown. The fruit has a unique aroma and natural pigments; its sugar content is similar to that of the three major fruits - apples, pears and citrus; its amino acid content is higher than that of apples and grapes; and it is rich in vitamin E and selenium. Because its nutritional components and juice yield are superior to all fruits, Europeans and Americans call it the "noble fruit." A single red raspberry plant can bear 3 kg of fruit, and one hectare can produce 15,000 kg of red raspberry fruit, which sells for 8 yuan per kg. Sun Shilin did the math and found this was a sure-fire big profit. So this year he invested 60,000 yuan and planted 3.5 hectares of red raspberry saplings.

Excerpted from the "Songyuan Daily"