Blueberry harvest brings joy to fruit farmer, orchard covering about 120 mu welcomes a bumper crop
Recently, this writer visited a blueberry orchard covering about 120 mu at Yuanshan Farm in Xia'ge Town, Chaohu City. Strolling through it, the branches were laden with green and red berries, a truly delightful sight. The orchard owner, Wang Fulong, has been engaged in blueberry cultivation for several years and is a thorough expert.
“Blueberries are known as the ‘queen of fruits.’ Planted, they bloom and bear fruit in the 2nd year, but the yield is small; in the 3rd year there is a certain yield; only in the 5th year do they enter the full-production period. It is a plant that requires plenty of patience before you can wait for the harvest.” Wang Fulong became eloquent as soon as he started talking about blueberries.
In 2012, Wang Fulong resolutely chose the “rare” industry of blueberry cultivation. At the time, people around him were not optimistic; everyone felt blueberries were hard to grow, the cultivation cycle was long, and it would take several years of investment before any harvest could be seen. Even if they were grown well, demand in the surrounding market was not great, and sales channels became a problem. But Old Wang did not retreat because of the well-meaning advice of those around him, and firmly set out on the path of blueberry cultivation.
In the first three years of blueberry cultivation, there was only input and no output. Old Wang was not afraid of hardship or fatigue, but the shortage of funds was truly worrying. Then an accidental opportunity completely solved Old Wang's funding worries. Sun Yiyuan, a client manager at the Xia'ge Sub-branch of Chaohu Rural Commercial Bank, passed by the blueberry orchard during a grid-based visit and struck up a conversation with Wang Fulong, who was inspecting the blueberries' growth in the field. After learning of Wang Fulong's funding difficulties, Sun Yiyuan went back and looked up detailed information online about blueberry cultivation, then visited again to conduct a detailed investigation of Wang Fulong's production and operation situation, and then made a decision Wang Fulong could hardly believe: to issue Wang Fulong a Jinnong Yidai · Funong Card with a credit line of 100,000. With this easy-loan card, he could borrow and repay at any time within the 100,000 yuan limit.
“For something you have set your mind on, no matter how hard it is, do not give up. As long as you persist, someone will come to help you!” Looking back on the early days of starting his business, Wang Fulong felt this deeply. “Now the orchard has entered the full-production period and has stable sales channels, and it will get better and better. But if not for the help of the Rural Commercial Bank, our blueberry orchard might not have survived the first three years. You have to understand, 100,000 yuan with no collateral and purely on credit--even your own brother might not be willing to lend it. This 100,000 yuan from the Rural Commercial Bank not only gave me financial support, but also gave me encouragement!” Wang Fulong smiled as he finished speaking, a smile so confident and firm.