Three Major Bayberry Bases in Chaling Help Farmers Get Rich

It is the season when bayberries ripen. Walking into Xiling Village, Zaoshi Town, one sees a delightful scene of harvest, with abundant fruit hanging from the branches, and dozens of workers busy picking fruit, packing it, loading it onto trucks, and shipping it to markets across the country.

Chaling is located on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi, at the western foot of the Luoxiao Mountains, and has a long history of bayberry cultivation. According to the recollections of local elderly people, when they were children, bayberries grew all over the mountains, and they could generally be picked at the Dragon Boat Festival. There has long been a custom of eating zongzi and bayberries during the Dragon Boat Festival. Because wild bayberries on the mountains were not sweet and not attractive in shape, they could rarely be sold. Generally, the bayberries were mixed with sugar, dried in the sun, and stored for ordinary consumption.

The bayberry fruit is a pure natural, pollution-free green food that is popular with the public. It also has health benefits such as promoting saliva production, quenching thirst, and aiding digestion. Market demand is large, and cultivation techniques have gradually improved and become more complete. It is especially suitable for cultivation in Chaling's mountainous climate. The county has taken bayberry cultivation as a major industry in adjusting the rural industrial structure and increasing farmers' income. Since 2001, high-quality bayberry varieties from two major strain lines, Wumei and Dongkui, have been introduced from Zhejiang for cultivation and planting. Farmers have been allowed to participate in the development of new bayberry bases by contributing land as shares and sharing in the benefits, among other methods. Work began to solve important issues such as the development of bayberry sales, and a mature set of cultivation technical experience has gradually been explored and summarized.

Up to now, the county has planted more than 2,000 mu of bayberries, of which more than 1,200 mu have become bearing orchards, with an annual output of 500,000 kg, basically forming three major bayberry bases: Pingshui Yanzishan, Zaoshi Xiling, and Huotian Lianxi. Especially in Pingshui Yanzishan, every household plants bayberries, with the largest reaching several dozen mu and an annual output of more than 1,000 tons. Chaling bayberries are deeply loved by consumers because they are large and sweet. The price is generally 24 yuan per kg, and the income from one mu of bayberries reaches more than 7,000 yuan. When the bayberry planting bases are in bloom and bearing fruit, they are also a beautiful scenic line, attracting many tourists to come for leisure, sightseeing, and picking. Since June this year, the county's bayberry bases have received more than 5,000 tourists, and the bayberry sales value has reached more than 12 million yuan. Bayberries have become the “golden fruit” for increasing farmers' income.

It is reported that the county will rely on the three major bayberry planting bases to continuously expand the planting area. In townships such as Huju and Taokeng, more than 10,000 mu of bayberries have already been planted, and active efforts are being made to introduce bayberry deep-processing enterprises, build bayberry production brands, and further strengthen the bayberry industry. The three major bayberry planting bases have become a springboard for farmers to get rich, and bayberry cultivation will become a new avenue to prosperity and income for farmers.