During the winter slack season, the blueberry plantation in Dajingba Village, Shaxi Town, Tongjiang County, Sichuan Province, is bustling with activity. Villager Fu Daode leads fellow residents as they bend over to weed, apply fertilizer precisely, and prune branches scientifically. "With proper management now, we're sure to have a good harvest next year. Combined with the deep processing line as a safety net, our blueberries have no trouble selling. Our lives are getting better and more promising!" Fu Daode's words are filled with confidence.
This confidence stems from his six years of perseverance and, more importantly, from the industrial empowerment brought by the East-West collaboration between Zhejiang and Sichuan. In 2019, village officials approached Fu Daode, a major pig farmer in the village, with a specialty cultivation development plan. "Current policies encourage eco-agriculture. Tongjiang has beautiful mountains and clear waters; growing blueberries is sure to find a market. Would you like to give it a try?" This proposal left Fu Daode in a dilemma—pig farming was second nature to him, but blueberry cultivation was an entirely unfamiliar field. "The initial investment, whether the seedlings would survive, and who to sell the fruit to were all unknowns," Fu Daode admitted, noting that risk was his biggest concern. "Blueberry cultivation has a long cycle and requires significant investment. If it fails, not only would my savings be lost, but it would also hinder the fellow villagers following my lead."
Just as he hesitated, the spring breeze of Zhejiang-Sichuan collaboration blew into the small mountain village. "Don't worry! The Zhejiang-Sichuan collaboration offers special subsidies. Seedlings are provided uniformly by the county, with an additional 600 yuan subsidy per mu. Technically, there's no need to worry either; experts provide regular on-site guidance, offering full support from planting to management," the village official explained, detailing the policy document clause by clause. "Tongjiang's altitude, climate, and soil conditions are uniquely advantageous. Coupled with the support from collaboration funds, blueberry cultivation is bound to succeed!" Fu Daode followed the village officials to inspect blueberry bases in Zhejiang. The sight of blueberry trees covering the hills, busy farmers harvesting, and the success stories of local growers gradually eased his worries. "If they can prosper from blueberries, why can't we, given our comparable conditions?" Fu Daode invested his savings, supplemented by policy subsidies, totaling over 1 million yuan, to plant 100 mu of blueberry seedlings.
After the seedlings were planted, Fu Daode practically lived in the plantation. Experts arrived punctually every month, teaching him hands-on how to prune, fertilize, and prevent pests and diseases. "They clearly explained when to thin flowers and when to bag the fruit," he said. During his time learning from the experts, he filled three notebooks, transforming from a layman into a local blueberry cultivation expert. What kept him going was the continuous policy support. "Not only were there initial capital subsidies, but infrastructure also improved step by step," Fu Daode noted, pointing to the reservoir in the plantation. Irrigation used to depend entirely on rainfall, causing anxiety during droughts, but the government later built a reservoir specifically for the blueberry plantation, solving the irrigation problem.
What reassured him even more was the guaranteed sales channel. "I used to fear most that the ripe blueberries would rot in the fields if unsold. Now, the county supply and marketing cooperative purchases them promptly every year at stable prices," Fu Daode said. His blueberry plantation expanded from an initial 100 mu to over 300 mu, with an annual fresh fruit yield of over 30 tons and an annual output value exceeding 400,000 yuan. It consistently provides employment for more than 20 households, increasing per capita annual income by over 10,000 yuan. Villager Fu Liemei works regularly at the blueberry plantation and can still take on carpentry work in her spare time. During busy periods, both she and her husband work there, earning nearly 30,000 yuan extra annually just from plantation work. "Earning money close to home while caring for the elderly and children—this kind of life was previously unimaginable," she said.
Inspired by Fu Daode, many farmers in the village have joined blueberry cultivation, forming a healthy development pattern of "large growers leading the way, smallholders following suit." Not long ago, Tongjiang County's first blueberry deep processing production line officially began operations—a project aided by Lanxi as part of the Zhejiang-Sichuan collaboration. This not only fills the gap in local blueberry deep processing but also gives growers peace of mind. Inside the deep processing workshop, automated equipment runs at high speed. Fresh blueberries undergo cleaning, grading, quick-freezing, and concentration processes, transforming into products like juice, dried fruit, and jam.
"Without deep processing, agricultural products lack a promising outlet," said Lu Qingfeng, head of the Jinhua, Zhejiang work team stationed in Bazhong and Tongjiang County Standing Committee Member and Deputy County Chief. He indicated that the production line's current annual processing capacity far exceeds Tongjiang's existing blueberry output. In the future, it will further serve the storage and processing needs of over 15,000 mu of blueberries in surrounding counties like Bazhong and Dazhou, building a full industry chain covering planting, processing, cold chain, logistics, e-commerce, and marketing.
Today, this small berry is growing into a vast new blue ocean in Tongjiang. By 2025, Tongjiang County's blueberry cultivation area is expected to reach over 8,000 mu, achieving an output value of 32 million yuan. It will boost the average annual income of 2,500 farming households by 2,800 yuan per household and increase village collective economic income by 4.5 million yuan.
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