Raspberries Become the Money Tree for Farmers in Bin County, Heilongjiang

As the major agricultural province with the most arable land in China, Heilongjiang Province has been continuously stepping up the pace of agricultural structural adjustment and reform in recent years to boost agricultural efficiency and farmers' incomes, and the people of Bin County, Heilongjiang have tasted the tangible "sweet rewards" brought by agricultural structural adjustment.

When the reporter met Li Yaqin, a villager from Daxing Village, Chang'an Town, Bin County, he was explaining cultivation techniques to farmers in the village who were preparing to switch to growing raspberries. Li Yaqin said: "Now the county is carrying out agricultural structural adjustment, and the government encourages farmers to grow cash crops. The farmers who come to me for advice all used to grow corn. In recent years, corn production capacity has been in surplus, and last year the state even abolished the floor purchase price for corn. Compared with corn, raspberries can bring in 2500 yuan per mu, 3 times that of corn. Farmers can only get rich by changing their way of thinking."

In recent years, Chang'an Town in Bin County has fully mobilized farmers' enthusiasm, taken the market as the guide, optimized the planting structure, encouraged farmers to set up various specialized cooperatives, and guided farmers to grow high-quality and high-efficiency cash crops such as flue-cured tobacco, vegetables and fruits. After several years of development, Chang'an Town has become the second-largest flue-cured tobacco demonstration zone in Bin County after Ningyuan Town. Local fruits produced under the "Chang'an" brand in Chang'an Town, such as Longguan, Jinhong, Qiulu, raspberries and blackcurrants, are sold far and wide at home and abroad.

Li Yaqin is a major grower in the village. When the topic of his family's raspberries came up, Li Yaqin became talkative. "The raspberries in Daxing Village belong to the autumn raspberry category, a type of single-season raspberry. Last year, my family planted 22 mu, more than 100,000 plants in total, with a yield of 2500 kg per mu, at 8 yuan per kg, and net income reached more than 120,000 yuan." Speaking of sales, Li Yaqin was excited: "We never worry about selling our raspberries. Every August, when the raspberries are about to ripen, the agent from Harbin Gaotai Food Co., Ltd. comes to contact the farmers, sets the price and signs an agreement; fruit wholesalers from Shangzhi drive their trucks right to the edge of the fields, eager to buy our raspberries, because Chang'an raspberries are good in quality, large in size and especially sweet in taste. After being purchased in bulk, raspberries can be quick-frozen or further processed into dried fruit, fruit puree, fruit wine and other products. Raspberries are rich in nutrients, and after deep processing their value multiplies."

Talking about raspberry cultivation, Li Yaqin said: "Raspberries are cold-resistant and suitable for planting in the north. The cultivation cycle is short. After annual seedlings are planted, they bloom and bear fruit the following year, enter full fruiting in the third or fourth year, and their economic life can reach more than 20 years. The yield per mu can reach 1500-2500 kg. Later management is relatively complicated. Ordinary herbicides cannot be used; once used, the seedlings die, so we can only weed by hand; only organic fertilizer can be used, so the raspberries we produce are organic green food and are absolutely safe to eat." "In large supermarkets, a small box of raspberries can sell for more than 10 yuan, so I am very optimistic about the prospects of the raspberry industry. Last year, I set up a raspberry planting cooperative with five villagers from the same village, and the planting area reached 100 mu. This year we will continue to expand the planting area, attract more farmers to join the cooperative, add new varieties and introduce new techniques, so that small berries can make a big story."

Valuing agriculture and consolidating the foundation is the basis for reassuring the people. As a traditional major agricultural county, Bin County has always placed the work related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers in an important position. In 2016, Bin County will seize the rare opportunity brought by supply-side reform, give full play to its advantages of abundant mountain and forest resources and a relatively good industrial foundation in beef cattle, fruits and vegetables, flue-cured tobacco and other industries, accelerate agricultural structural adjustment, and vigorously promote the flue-cured tobacco industry in eastern townships such as Ningyuan and Chang'an, the vegetable industry in western townships such as Yonghe and Binzhou, the forest and fruit industry in southern townships such as Chang'an and Sanbao, and the livestock industry in northern townships such as Niaohe and Manjing, striving to build an agricultural industrial layout of "tobacco in the east, vegetables in the west, fruit in the south and livestock in the north," and accelerating Bin County's transformation from a major agricultural county to a strong agricultural county.