Mulberry cultivation and processing quietly develop, and one mulberry tree forges a path to prosperity

On the mulberry fields just moistened by spring rain, mulberry trees taller than a person stand vigorous and lush; under the emerald green mulberry leaves, reddish mulberries fill the branches, giving off an enticing fragrance that makes one's mouth water... Recently, the reporter walked into the fruit mulberry plantation of the Sihui City Chunzhiyuan Vegetable and Fruit Planting Professional Cooperative in Xinwu Village, Jianggu Town, and saw a large crop of in-season mulberries covering the mulberry branches, just ushering in the best time for picking.

Wu Caigen, head of the cooperative, told the reporter cheerfully that these mulberry trees were the first batch of fruit mulberries she planted three years ago. They are currently growing well, and the yield per mu is higher year after year. "Fruit mulberry trees can bear fruit in the first year after planting, with two harvests a year. After three years they enter the full harvest period and can be harvested continuously for 30 years. In addition to sustained high yields, the channels for generating income are also very broad. Mulberries, mulberry leaves, mulberry roots, mulberry branches and so on can all be sold for money." Ecological planting produces green, good products

Since 2013, Wu Caigen has been developing mulberry cultivation in the areas of Jianggu Town in Sihui and Luoding City in Yunfu City, operating under the model of "cooperative + base + farmers." "At present, our cooperative has nearly 3,000 mu of mulberry fields in Luoding, while in Jianggu we have planted more than 100 mu of fruit mulberries," Wu Caigen told the reporter. The cooperative's scale is still further expanding. It has now opened more than 200 mu of planting base in the Jianggu area of Sihui, plans to build a 400-mu sericulture demonstration planting base within this year, and intends to use about the next three years to build a mulberry planting scale of 5,000 mu.

With such a huge planting scale, would it not be difficult to manage? Wu Caigen confidently shook her head. According to her, the mulberry tree itself is a plant resistant to cold, drought and waterlogging. New seedlings can produce buds one and a half months after planting, and their daily management is also relatively easier and much simpler than that of other crops. "Usually we just loosen the soil in the mulberry fields and do some topdressing work. Once a year we also prune the branches and leaves." Wu Caigen also said that all the mulberry trees currently planted by the cooperative adopt ecological planting methods, that is, using diluted vinegar water instead of pesticides to kill insects, and using organic fertilizers such as peanut bran and cattle and sheep manure for fertilization, to ensure that the mulberry trees are sufficiently ecological and natural in quality.

The whole plant is a treasure, and deep processing broadens its value

Besides being easy to manage, the mulberry tree also has very high economic value. Wu Caigen introduced to the reporter that the whole mulberry tree is a treasure. Not only mulberries and mulberry leaves, but also the roots and branches of the mulberry tree, and even plants parasitic on the mulberry tree (that is, "mulberry mistletoe"), as well as wood-boring insects on the mulberry tree, can all be eaten or used medicinally.

In order to bring out the greatest utilization value of the mulberry tree, since beginning mulberry cultivation, Wu Caigen has simultaneously opened up a path of deep processing. Relying on the brand "Acai Sangtian" that she built, she has brought deep-processed mulberry products to the market, striving to maximize the crop's profits. According to her, at present their cooperative's sericulture planting base in Luoding is equipped with a processing factory that can produce products such as mulberry branch slices, mulberry root slices, mulberry tea, silkworm dropping tea and silk quilts. In addition, they also cooperate with a beverage processing factory in Guangzhou to subcontract the production of products such as mulberry juice and mulberry wine.

After deep processing, mulberry products have more categories, and their economic value naturally rises to an even higher level. Moreover, with a wide variety of mulberry products, their competitiveness in the market is stronger. Wu Caigen also said that in recent years the cooperative has also made use of Sihui's geographical advantage of being adjacent to developed Pearl River Delta cities such as Guangzhou and Foshan to actively promote sericulture products to these cities and further broaden profit margins.

Integrating into sightseeing tourism to extend the industrial chain

In recent years, the sightseeing agriculture model that integrates tourism elements into agricultural development has been carried out impressively in various places, which also let Wu Caigen smell a business opportunity. Last year, relying on the more than 100-mu mulberry fruit sightseeing and picking garden in Sihui, Wu Caigen held the first Mulberry Fruit Festival, attracting many tourists from our city and other Pearl River Delta cities to come and try the fresh fruit, with a very good response. In early April this year, Wu Caigen plans to continue this Mulberry Fruit Festival, add a picnic segment, and at the same time exhibit and sell a series of mulberry products on site, using the sightseeing model of "touring, shopping and entertainment" to continue polishing the mulberry brand. "In the next few years, I will also improve supporting facilities such as accommodation and amusement facilities in the planting base, and build it into an ecological farm covering functions such as eating, drinking and playing, planting experiences, and science popularization and research."

Wu Caigen said that in the past, planting mulberries and raising silkworms followed the Silk Road, while now planting mulberries to nourish people follows the road of health. "As the concept of health preservation becomes more and more deeply rooted in people's hearts, mulberry products will enter more households. In the future, I hope to continue to strengthen the mulberry industry and build it into a representative of Sihui's new distinctive agriculture, so that more people can come into contact with this green and healthy product."