"On such a cold day, it’s beautiful to eat a sweet and crisp fresh cherry!" Dehua Zheng picked the red cherries and carefully put them in the picking basket.
After the heavy snow and solar terms, it is freezing in the north. In the fruit tree base camp of Songjia Village, Hubu Township, Wulian County, Dehua Zheng, the person in charge, was busy picking and selling big cherries, and the sales price per catty reached 280 yuan.
In recent years, Wulian County, a big fruit county, has continuously improved the development level of cherry industry and extended the industrial chain through the innovation of cultivation management technology, and embarked on a road of integrated development of primary, secondary and tertiary production of big cherry.
Mature before winter, and big cherries seize the market opportunity in winter.
Open-air cherry was listed in May and June, and most of the large cherries planted in conventional greenhouses were listed in March and April. At the beginning of December this year, the big cherry in Songjia Village, Hubu Township, Wulian County has matured.
"The key to the early listing of big cherries is to promote dormancy and heat up early. After several years of exploration, the technology in this area is becoming more and more mature, and the time to market is advanced year by year. " Dehua Zheng said.
Cherry has been planted in Dehua Zheng for many years. In the autumn of 2020, he planted large cherry in the fruit tree base camp in Songjia Village. In the spring of 2021, explore the planting technology of big cherry in the early market. At that time, there was no temperature control equipment suitable for cherry greenhouses in the market. Based on years of planting experience, he thought about it himself and contacted the manufacturers. After repeated deliberation with the manufacturer, a set of greenhouse temperature control equipment with cooling, heating and dehumidification was finally made. At the beginning of January 2022, greenhouse cherries were successfully listed before the Spring Festival.
In December, the big cherry in the planting base of fruit tree base camp in Hubu Township, Wulian County has matured and listed.
After cherry picking in greenhouse in January this year, Dehua Zheng began to ponder how to continue to go public early. In June, measures such as artificial defoliation, cooling and dormancy were taken, and in September, temperature and fertilization were carried out to promote the germination and flowering of big cherry. Although the temperature fluctuated greatly in late autumn and early winter this year, it did not affect the cherry.
"Open-air cherries in April and May generally take 45 days to grow from fruit setting to harvesting. Our cherries are properly cooled during the planting process. They bloom and set fruit in early October, and the growth period is extended to 60 days, which is sweeter than the big cherries in summer. " Dehua Zheng said.
At present, the planting base has reached 600 mu, and there are 70 high-standard greenhouses. Through reasonable regulation, cherries are listed from the end of November to the end of June of the following year.
Changing the planting tradition, the northern fruit can also be planted in the south.
Wulian County, with abundant sunshine, excellent soil quality and beautiful ecology, is one of the key cherry producing areas in Shandong Province. The specific geographical environment and soil conditions have created the unique qualities of Wulian cherry, such as big and gorgeous, thin skin and small core, sweet and juicy taste.
It is understood that in the past two years, the protected cherry industry in Wulian County has developed rapidly. The local agricultural and rural departments, in conjunction with universities, research institutes and industry experts, have carried out in-depth research on cherry industry technology, experimental demonstration of new technologies and transformation of scientific research results, and continuously improved the scientific and technological level of the cherry industry.
Dehua Zheng believes that the technology of early listing of cherry in greenhouse can increase the planting benefit of big cherry several times, and the related technology has great promotion value.
Du Guiying, a senior agronomist in the second crop division of the Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center of Wulian County Agricultural and Rural Bureau, said that stone fruit trees such as big cherries need a certain amount of cooling capacity for normal flowering and fruit setting. Usually, the cooling capacity of big cherry reaches 700-800 hours below 7℃. Many northern fruit trees are not suitable for planting in the south because the southern region can’t meet the cold demand. With the maturity of relevant control technologies, northern fruits such as big cherry can also be planted in the south, which is expected to realize "northern fruit planting in the south".
In recent years, Wulian County, in conjunction with relevant scientific research units, has been exploring new techniques for greenhouse cultivation of big cherry.
At present, many new techniques have been explored in the big cherry planting base of fruit tree base camp. Most common cherries are planted directly after leveling the ground, but ridging cultivation is adopted here, so that all three sides can breathe freely, which is more conducive to root respiration and can quickly increase soil temperature. In addition, there is also a limited root growth planting mode, which will control the flourishing growth of branches and leaves to a certain extent, promote the differentiation of flower buds and improve the fruit setting rate.
Open up the whole industrial chain of cherries and enhance brand influence.
At present, the area of cherries in Wulian County is 81,000 mu, with an annual output of 22,000 tons and an annual sales income of nearly 300 million yuan. In 2013, "Wulian Cherry" was successfully registered as a national geographical indication certification trademark, and in 2018, "Wulian Cherry" became a national geographical indication registration protection product.
When big cherries are on the market in May and June, high temperature weather often occurs, and big cherries mature rapidly. If they are not sold in time, it is easy to form rotten fruits. In recent years, Shandong Lufeng Ecological Agriculture Co., Ltd. in Wulian County has explored a number of patented technologies, such as quick freezing, quick thawing and juicing, which effectively solved the problem of deep processing of big cherries. Especially in the middle and late stage of local cherry ripening, the local cherry is purchased at the reserve price and then further processed.
"As long as it is not rotten fruit or insect fruit, Lufeng Company will open its acquisition in the middle and late stage of cherry harvesting." Wu Peicai, a cherry grower in Jiaogezhuang Village, kou guan zhen, Wulian County, said.
In recent years, Wulian County has explored a variety of new cultivation methods of big cherry.
In recent years, cherry has also become a "catalyst" for Wulian County to promote the integrated development of beautiful countryside, global tourism and rural construction. The cherry planting area in Doujiataizi Village, Songbai Town, Wulian County has reached 600 mu. From the peach blossom in KINOMOTO SAKURA in late March to the open-air cherry market in June, tourists are coming in an endless stream. In the past five years, this small mountain village with only 75 villagers, relying on the cherry industry, has continued to expand rural tourism and become the first scenic village in Shandong Province. At present, there are 12 homestays in the village, and the annual tourism income exceeds 10 million yuan.
At present, more than 80% of the fruit projects in Wulian County have integrated leisure tourism, sports and other elements, and successfully established a national demonstration county for leisure agriculture and rural tourism.
Since 2022, Wulian County has implemented the cherry geographical indication protection project, standardized the cherry production, selected the catchy slogan "Sweet and sour, Happy Lianlian", further created the main image of Wulian Cherry regional public brand +IP image, and unified packaging and promotion of Wulian Cherry, which enhanced the influence and competitiveness of Wulian Cherry brand.
Mass Newspaper and Rural Mass Reporter Li Wei Correspondent Yue Dekun Sun Yufeng Chen Wenxin