The extended industrial chain of the "Little Goji Berry" industry benefits upstream and downstream
CCTV News: Goji berries are one of the important economic crops in the northwest region of China. Qinghai is the largest goji berry planting area in China, with a planting area of approximately 500000 acres. In early autumn, the goji berries in Dulan County are in the picking season, and picking workers from all over are busy here.
Dulan County is the largest goji berry planting county in Qinghai Province. From the end of July to mid September each year, it is the season for goji berry picking. More than 50000 migrant workers from 19 provinces across the country gather here to pick goji berries.
In 2023, the planting area of organic goji berries in Dulan County reached 50000 acres, and all organic fertilizers were used during the planting period. In order to further save irrigation water during goji berry cultivation, the industrial park has also specifically introduced drip irrigation.
The problem of low market share without a brand and the dilemma of industrial development
The distribution area of Goji berries in Qinghai has high altitude and sufficient sunlight. The soil is rich in selenium element, with less non-point source and air pollution. The fruit yield is high, the quality is high, and the development value is great. The advantages are very obvious, and the development potential is huge. However, during the investigation in Dulan, the reporter found that there are difficulties in the development of the goji berry industry.
The planting area of goji berries in Dulan County is over 200000 acres, accounting for nearly half of the total goji berry planting area in Qinghai Province. This place is located in the southeastern part of the Qaidam Basin, with an average altitude of over 3000 meters. It has long exposure to light and a large temperature difference between day and night. With its unique climate conditions, the goji berries produced here have large red seeds, few seeds, thick flesh, and excellent quality.
Unified brand, strict quality control, and enhancing product competitiveness
How to solve the dilemma of industry growth without one's own brand and low market share? The reporter's research found that Dulan in Qinghai is conducting multiple explorations.
Dulan County will start building its own goji berry brand - Chaidamu goji berries from 2022. At the production workshop of goji berry enterprises in the National Modern Agriculture Industrial Park of Dulan County, the reporter saw packaging boxes printed with the unified goji berry brand logo on the production line running one by one.
Although goji berry products have a unified "business card", this is only the first step towards entering the market. How to achieve smooth sales channels, expand into a broader consumer market, and be recognized by more consumers? A new path has been explored locally.
In 2023, through cold chain logistics, it will be possible to reach the first tier consumer market in China within the fastest 24 hours, allowing consumers to taste fresh goji berries from thousands of kilometers away.
To further improve the freshness of fresh goji berries, Dulan will build a new 2500 square meter cold storage in 2022 and introduce the first goji berry freshness locking technology in Qinghai.
Standardizing the market and extending the industrial chain to benefit upstream and downstream
Creating your own brand and expanding market channels is just one step in expanding the goji berry industry in Dulan County, Qinghai Province. More needs to be done to promote the high-quality development of industries. Dulan is standardizing the sales market of goji berry planting industry and making efforts to extend the agricultural industry chain.
In the past two days, many goji berry growers and foreign buyers have gathered in the newly put into operation National Modern Agriculture Industrial Park's Special Agricultural Products Exhibition and Trading Center in Dulan County. In front of me, what is displayed on this screen is the current market price, price index trend, planting area distribution, yield and other information of different varieties of goji berries in China.
In addition to market information, the display and trading center has also set up 76 goji berry product trading booths. From dried goji berries to goji honey, there are hundreds of goji berry products for buyers to choose from, and buyers can directly conduct transactions on-site.
Small Goji Berry Industry, Beautiful Ecology, Rich People
Through a series of measures, Qinghai Dulan has broken the limitations of regional development and effectively improved the value chain, industrial chain, and supply chain of the goji berry industry. Developed nearly a hundred products such as goji berry honey and goji berry beer, and the application of new technologies is also promoting green development in planting.
In 2023, the output value of goji berries in Dulan County is expected to reach 1.3 billion yuan, which will drive more than 5000 surrounding farmers to increase their income, accounting for about one-third of the total number of farmers in the county. We also hope that in the future, the local government can develop "small goji berries" into an ecological, green, and prosperous industry, promoting the sustainable, healthy, and stable development of the goji berry industry.