In the waxberry planting base of Laozhai Village, rows of waxberry trees are well-arranged. Big and red waxberries are delicate and charming against green branches and leaves, attracting numerous visitors to pick and taste. Besides, fruit farmers are busy picking ripe waxberries during sunny days.

 

“This year, with good weather and adequate sunlight, we have a great harvest. We pick waxberries from around 5 in the morning every day and deliver them to customers at the scheduled time to ensure freshness,” said Liu Hua, Party secretary and Director of Laozhai Village.

 

 

Laozhai Village started to plant waxberry trees in the 1990s and has a history of nearly 30 years. The waxberries are now becoming more fragrant and delicious. At present, the base has 45,000 fruit trees of over ten kinds such as waxberry, loquat, grape. Among them, the most distinctive are the dark plums growing on old trees, with a harvest of 1,500 kilograms on average per day and an estimated total yield of over 2,000 tons.

 

Liu added that the waxberries are marketed to other places like Fujian Province, Yongzhou, Chenzhou, Changsha. There is also a freezer in the base, and waxberries can be sold around the country through cold chain logistics, allowing more people to taste its dark plums.

 

 

Ripe waxberries are easily perishable and spoiled, so that they require timely picking. However, there are strict requirements for picking because they are easily damaged on the surface. Now waxberries are picked mainly by hand and there are more than 100 villagers picking them every day.

 

In recent years, the base has promoted the integrated development of agritourism and rural tourism according to local situations to create a fruit planting and picking base combining green ecology, leisure experience and parent-child interaction. Besides, 268 households in the surrounding areas have also been driven to plant fruit trees. At present, the waxberry industry becomes the most characteristic leading agricultural industry in the village and an important source of increasing income for farmers.

 

Liu said, “next, the village will improve the planting techniques and expand the consumption ways to let consumers enjoy better waxberries.”