The three major bayberry bases in Chaling have become a springboard for farmers to get rich.

When the red bayberry was ripe, when I walked into Xiling Village of Zaoshi Town, I saw a gratifying harvest scene, with fruits all over the branches. Dozens of migrant workers were busy picking, packing, loading and transporting them to sales markets all over the country.

Chaling is located on the border between Hunan and Jiangxi and at the western foot of the Luoxiao Mountains. Bayberry cultivation has a long history. According to the local elderly, the mountains were covered with bayberry when they were young, which can be picked on the Dragon Boat Festival. It has always been the custom of eating rice dumplings and bayberry on the Dragon Boat Festival. Because the wild bayberry on the mountain is not sweet and beautiful in shape, it can hardly be sold. Generally, the bayberry is dried with sugar and collected for ordinary eating.

Bayberry fruit is a kind of pure natural and pollution-free green food loved by the public. It also has the effects of promoting body health, such as promoting digestion, relieving thirst, etc. The market demand is large, and the planting technology is also gradually improved. It is especially suitable for planting in Chaling mountain climate. The county regards bayberry planting as a major industry to adjust the rural industrial structure and increase farmers' income. Since 2001, high-quality bayberry varieties of Wumei and Dongkui have been introduced from Zhejiang to cultivate and cultivate, so that farmers can share benefits in the development of the new bayberry base by way of land shareholding. begin to solve the development of bayberry sales and other important problems, and gradually explore and sum up a set of mature planting technology experience.

Up to now, the county has planted more than 2000 mu of bayberry, of which more than 1200 mu has been forested, with an annual output of 500000 kg, basically forming three major bayberry bases, namely, Yanwo Mountain in Pingshui, Xiling in Zaoshi City, and Lianxi in Huotian. Especially in Pingshui Yanwo Mountain, every family grows bayberry, up to dozens of mu, with an annual output of more than a thousand tons. Chaling red bayberry is deeply loved by consumers because of its big sweet taste. The price is generally 24 yuan per kilogram, and the income per mu of red bayberry is more than 7000 yuan. The bayberry planting base is still a beautiful scenery when it is in blossom and fruit season. Attract many tourists to come for leisure, sightseeing and picking. Since June this year, the county red bayberry base has received more than 5000 tourists, and the sales value of red bayberry has reached more than 12 million yuan. Red bayberry has become the "golden fruit" of increasing farmers' income.

It is reported that the county will rely on the three major bayberry planting bases, continue to expand the planting area, have planted more than 10,000 mu of bayberry in villages and towns such as Huju and Taokeng, and actively introduce bayberry deep processing enterprises to create a bayberry production brand and further strengthen the bayberry industry. The three major bayberry planting bases have become a springboard for farmers to get rich, and bayberry planting will become a new Avenue of Stars for farmers to get rich and earn income.