It is midsummer, it is the critical season of wolfberry picking, walking into the pollution-free standardized wolfberry planting base in Shuangzhou Village, Lianghu Township, Guazhou County, the wolfberry branches are luxuriant and neatly arranged, and the pickers are seizing the favorable opportunity of good weather to pick wolfberry fresh fruits in an orderly manner. The red wolfberry not only brings considerable benefits to local farmers, but also drives more laborers to increase their income.
The sky was bright, Hudu, a villager in Shuangzhou Village, Lianghu Township, packed up a day's rations and water, put on labor clothes and sunhats, and took a car with the picking workers to the wolfberry base in Shuangzhou Village, starting a busy day.
The endless wolfberry fields are full of red fruits hanging on the branches, and the wolfberries are bathed in the sun, enjoying the abundant light, swaying gracefully under the breeze, which is more and more intoxicating. Looking at this harvest scene, Hudu's family was full of joy.
"This year, I planted 42 acres of wolfberry, and now I have hired 23 pickers, and the income of wolfberry is very good, and I am expected to earn about 300,000 yuan this year." Hudujia, a grower in Shuangzhou Village, Lianghu Township, Guazhou County, said with a smile.
Hudu's family is a local wolfberry planter, he has been planting wolfberry for 12 years, and now the family has more than 40 acres of land, all used to plant wolfberry, more than 10 years of planting has made him gradually change from a "layman" to a "expert" in wolfberry planting in continuous learning and practice.
The natural climatic conditions of large temperature difference between day and night and long sunshine hours in Guazhou County are conducive to the accumulation of nutrients in wolfberry. The harvest season is from early July to August every year, and the ripening period is from July to October. The first wolfberry is the first fruit produced after the winter break and spring, with good nutritional value, sweet flesh and better taste, and is the best wolfberry of the year, which is favored by consumers.
"In recent years, through the continuous improvement of planting technology, wolfberry yield gradually increased, this year's wolfberry growth is very good, now the first stubble wolfberry has begun to pick, before this farmers have carried out the early fertilization, insect control, weeding and drying site cleaning and other work, this year and the introduction of four hundred acres of new varieties of wolfberry, I believe that the quality of wolfberry next year will be better." Zhao Liang, secretary of the party branch of Shuangzhou Village, Guazhou County, said.
In order to meet the demand for labor, Shuangzhou Village, Lianghu Township, Guazhou County, while attracting local labor, recruited skilled pickers from outside the province in the form of labor transfer to ensure that wolfberry picking is timely and quality is guaranteed.
"This is my 5th day here to pick goji berries. The best day can earn 250 yuan, and the less is 150 yuan. At first, because I was not proficient, and in order to ensure the quality of the picking, I picked relatively little, but after slowly mastering the skills, the picking was fast and good, and the daily income also increased. Xu Guizhi, a picker from Fengqiu, Henan Province, said.
The bumper harvest of wolfberry not only benefits the growers, but also drives the surrounding farmers to work nearby, from pruning, weeding, management and protection, to picking, a large amount of labor is required, so that farmers can work at their doorsteps and realize the "two correct" of earning money and caring for their families.
"Lianghu Township, Guazhou County can drive more than 1,000 foreign seasonal workers every year, most of them implement the 'daily wage system', the price of labor varies between 150-250 yuan per day, relying on seasonal labor, the per capita annual income of migrant workers reaches more than 10,000 yuan, wolfberry picking not only effectively drives the development of the labor market, but also solves the employment of surplus labor around the city, and at the same time achieves economic benefits, it also produces good social benefits." Chen Haowen, deputy head of Lianghu Township, Guazhou County, said.
In the next step, Lianghu Township will continue to rely on the advantages of the wolfberry industry, take pollution-free wolfberry planting as an important industry for cultivating characteristic pillar industries, accelerating the adjustment of agricultural industry structure, and building ecological brands, continuously accelerate the development of wolfberry industrialization, and continue to drive the masses to work and increase income.
(Author: Wei Hongjiao, correspondent Gao Li)