Haosongzhuang Village, Changli County develops high-end greenhouse strawberries for Beijing’s supermarkets
Farmers get rich with strawberry planting
Hao Guoqing shows strawberries with joy. Photo by Sun Yeda/Hebei Daily
“You will come soon? OK, strawberries are just about ready for you.” “Strawberries for Beijing have been ready. You can come and take them tonight.”... Recently, the greenhouse strawberries in Haosongzhuang Village, Changli County entered the harvest season. Fruit farmer Hao Guoqing’s phone kept ringing.
Haosongzhuang Village is a well-known greenhouse strawberry planting village in Changli County. There are more than 1,100 mu of strawberry greenhouses with an annual output value of more than 50 million yuan. The village has been growing greenhouse strawberries for more than 20 years. Hao Guoqing has been among the first group of fruit farmers in the village to grow greenhouse strawberries since 1990s.
Under the leadership of the village director Li Xiangqian, Hao Guoqing began planting Hongyan, a high-end strawberry variety, and successfully entered Beijing’s supermarkets. The price was 2 to 3 yuan per kg higher than in the traditional market. Hao Guoqing, who benefited from the high-end strawberry planting, rented 40 mu of land with his friends and built 16 greenhouses exclusively for Beijing’s supermarkets.
Workers are thinning fruits in Hao Guoqing’s greenhouse. Photo by Sun Yeda/Hebei Daily
Red strawberries thrive in Hao Guoqing’s greenhouses. “Try my strawberries, sweet and free of pesticides.” Hao Guoqing said, “Our greenhouses are covered with quilts and plastic film on the north, and steel frame and plastic film on the south, with automatic roller shutters, they can be used for 10 years.”
There is a wooden beehive in the greenhouse, and bees fly out of it from time to time. Hao Guoqing said that strawberries can grow 6 to 7 crops per year, and they need to be continuously pollinated. Artificial pollination is inefficient, and it is much more efficient to have bees pollinated. The ridges in the greenhouse are covered with black plastic film, and strawberries grow outside of them without touching the ground and organic fertilizer.
Then how to water it?
“Look, here is the water pipe.” Hao Guoqing lifted the mulch and said, “We use drip irrigation, and it is automatic, which saved water and labor.”
Hao Guoqing said that fruit thinning is the most important part to improve strawberry quality. “Fruit thinning and humidity control are good for the looking of strawberries, so that they can be sold at a good price in the market.” adding that although the price of strawberries this year is not as good as in previous years, the wholesale price reaches 28 yuan per kilogram.
“Now my fellowmen are gradually realizing the importance of strawberry management, and they have accepted this high-end Hongyan strawberry.” Li Xiangqian said, adding that the villagers thought fruit thinning was a waste, but now they know it is good and beneficial. “The most important thing is that fruit thinning provides jobs for the idle labors in the village.”
Haosongzhuang Village has established the Jiuyu Fruit and Vegetable Planting Cooperative, uniting the growers and sharing strawberry planting techniques. They sell more strawberries to Beijing’s supermarkets, and earn more money.
“Only 20 tons of strawberries met the standards of Beijing’s supermarkets in 2019, we expect 200 tons this year.” said Li Xiangqian, adding that there is a long way to go for them, but he believe that the strawberries of Haosongzhuang Village will definitely become popular as long as they stick to the high-quality planting.
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