While speeding up the pace of construction, the Three-North Project has also continuously driven the development and growth of the understory economy and characteristic forest fruit industry. Youyu County is located at the edge of the Mu Us Desert, in order to prevent the sand from entering and retreating, the Youyu people planted sea buckthorn in the plots that are not suitable for tree planting, which not only played a role in preventing wind and fixing sand, but also brought 60 million yuan of economic benefits to the local people every year.
In the middle of summer, the sea buckthorn forests in Youyu County are lush and green, and the swaying branches and thin leaves are dotted with young fruits. Before the harvest season came in October this year, the technicians of the Youyu County Seabuckthorn Research Institute came to explain the pruning and picking skills of the new seabuckthorn varieties to the local villagers, so as to avoid cutting off the main branches and uprooting the picking method, which destroyed the normal growth of the seabuckthorn forest.
Zhao Fuping, a villager in Shuiquan Village, Youwei Town, was cutting sea buckthorn in a farm vehicle, and at the end of the day, he could cut more than 1,000 catties and earn 1,560,000 yuan, and he could earn 50,000 or 60,000 yuan in two or three months.
Every year after the National Day, many people begin to drive tricycles, take baskets, and go to sea buckthorn together. Sea buckthorn is easy to sell and make money, and if you have the strength and work well, you can earn thousands of yuan a day.
At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the forest coverage rate of Youyu County was less than 0.3%, the wind was strong and the sand was abundant, and the land desertification area reached 76%. Through afforestation, the greening rate of trees here has increased to 57%, and 280,000 acres of sea buckthorn have been planted in plots that are not suitable for tree planting.
Cao Man, director of the Youyu County Seabuckthorn Research Institute, said that the role of seabuckthorn in windbreak, sand fixation, and soil and water conservation is very strong. The yellow sand depression of Youyu is the most serious place for wind and sand, and later because of the creation of a large area of sea buckthorn forest and poplar trees, the wind and sand are locked, and now the sand cannot be seen on the surface.
Based on good ecological conditions, Youyu County vigorously develops the seabuckthorn industry, transforms and upgrades the 125,000 acres of low-yield and low-efficiency seabuckthorn forests concentrated in contiguous areas, and introduces new varieties of seabuckthorn for trial planting every year.
Cheng Jun, deputy director of the Youyu County Forestry Bureau, told us that since last year, 10,000 acres have been planted every year, and 25 new varieties have been introduced for trial planting. Among these 25 new varieties, sea buckthorn fruits with high yield and good quality are selected for promotion, which can not only improve ecological benefits, but also bring great benefits to the people in terms of economy.
These shrubs, which are not amazing, have not only become the "heroes" of wind prevention and sand fixation in Youyu County, but also become the fruit of prosperity for the local people. Every year, the picking volume of sea buckthorn fruit here reaches 8,000 tons, and there are 12 sea buckthorn processing enterprises, and the products processed by sea buckthorn fruit are dazzling, including sea buckthorn oil, sea buckthorn wine, sea buckthorn enzyme and other products, with an annual output value of more than 300 million yuan.
Speaking of the next step, Cao Man said that they will further build a communication base and a seabuckthorn trading base by establishing a seabuckthorn breeding base, a seabuckthorn raw material base, a nutritious and healthy seabuckthorn product base, and a seabuckthorn R&D base, and build the entire seabuckthorn industry chain into a national seabuckthorn industrial park.
Source: This is Shuozhou
Editor: Ma Shijie
Re-examination: Li Chi
Final review: Yang Qiang