Leisure agriculture is flourishing in Huangmei, with good momentum for development
With rolling flower seas set against green mountains, visitors feel as if they are traveling through a painting - this is the first impression Huangmei County in Hubei gives people. Huangmei County has vigorously developed leisure agriculture, building 50 leisure agriculture parks (manors): the Rose Valley in Liulin Township, the Osmanthus Garden in Kuzhu Township, the Cherry Blossom Garden in Shanmu Township... These distinctive leisure agriculture parks (manors) combine planting, sightseeing, leisure and dining, receiving 270,000 visitors a year, driving employment for more than 2,000 people, and increasing per capita annual income by 6,000 yuan. The primary, secondary and tertiary industries are gradually integrating here.
Ecological orchards enrich farming families
The climate and geographical conditions of eastern Hubei are very suitable for fruit growing. To develop leisure agriculture, Huangmei County has in recent years strongly supported the development of high-efficiency fruits such as blueberries and grapes.
Walking into the Hubei leisure agriculture demonstration site - Fuyuan Grape Ecological Manor - one sees neatly arranged grape trellises covered with verdant grape vines, heralding another bumper grape harvest this year.
"I grow more than a dozen quality domestic grape varieties here, and I also use techniques such as physical pest control, micro-drip irrigation, and soil testing and formula fertilization. The grapes grown taste good and fetch high prices." Zhan Guoping, the manor's manager, said that after the first batch of Fuyuan grapes went on the market in 2011, they sold for 10 yuan per jin, twice the price of ordinary grapes, and many villagers wanted to follow suit and grow grapes. While driving farmers' income growth, Zhan Guoping also invested in building a red wine production line and an underground wine cellar. Today, "Fuyuan" ecological grape wine, dry red, dry white and other beverages have gained some renown, and also won a "Gold Award" at the 11th Wuhan Agricultural Expo.
Farmers transfer their land to "Fuyuan" and, in addition to receiving land transfer fees, can also normally come to the vineyard to do planting, harvesting and processing work, earning a daily wage of 100 yuan. Every year's grape-picking season is their busiest time. "Income is much higher than before!" said an old farmer working in the vineyard with a smile.
Tingqian Town, an ancient post station town, is a township that combines mountainous area, reservoir area and old revolutionary base area. In recent years, 6,000 mu of blueberries have been planted on hills and barren mountain land. "The original ecological soil here is good, suitable for blueberry growth, and the quality is especially good," said Huang Zhiye, Party secretary of Tingqian Town.
According to reports, Tingqian Town's blueberry industrial park integrates blueberry planting, deep processing, sales and scientific research. In 2015 it was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture as a small berry demonstration base, and in the future it will become an important blueberry production area and fine-processing area in the country. This place has also become a good destination for people's leisure. Whenever blueberries bloom, visitors climb the hills to admire the flowers; when blueberries bear fruit, visitors come to pick them, initially achieving the integrated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries.
Rice-shrimp co-cropping boosts income
While characteristic fruits must be developed, food security must also be guaranteed. How can grain farmers' incomes be increased? Huangmei County has thought of quite a few ways. To improve the returns of grain growers, they joined hands with Hubei Hongma Modern Agriculture Comprehensive Development Co., Ltd. to build a rice-shrimp co-cropping base, releasing shrimp fry into the seedling fields to share the same land and water with the rice seedlings. By the end of the first year, both results and income gains were already seen.
Li Qing, director of the Huangmei County Agricultural Industrialization Office, introduced that because the water source comes from the nearby lake, the crayfish grown in the rice fields are crystal clear and bright. Every weekend, visitors come to the fields under farmers' guidance to catch shrimp, and then ask farm households to cook them. Eating the "Hongma" rice produced here and tasting quality crayfish has become a pleasure for visitors.
Caishan Town has fertile land and abundant water surfaces. The town scientifically uses its rich natural resources and feed resources, gives play to the role of capable people, follows the development path of "one town, one product; one village, one specialty," and through forms such as skills training, leading by large households, and typical demonstrations, inspires farmers to use lake fields and water surfaces to develop distinctive aquaculture. In 2015, the number of large households in the town raising shrimp and eel on more than 160 mu reached 318, producing a total of 800,000 kg of crayfish and 300,000 kg of shrimp fry. At the same time, on top of the original eel and shrimp varieties, they also developed lotus-silkworm-fish and hairy crab farming on 1,596 mu, and it is expected that in 2016 the town's income from distinctive aquaculture is expected to exceed 10 million yuan.
In order to better tap the potential of combining characteristic industries with leisure agriculture, Huangmei County has leveraged its resource advantages and also turned its attention to tea.
Eastern Hubei has a long history of tea cultivation. Nuobuyuan on Ziyun Mountain in northern Huangmei County is one of the most completely protected natural forest parks in Hubei Province. In Nuobuyuan there is a terraced ecological tea garden, where the planting, picking and processing of tea are all done by hand. People who come here can taste the limited organic tea treasure of this place - "Ziyun Qingfeng Tea." This tea has slender tips and a lingering delicate fragrance, and is one of the representative green teas. In recent years, Huangmei County has also introduced yellow tea and white tea. At present, the yellow tea and white tea planting base in Tingqian Town has reached 5,000 mu.