Bountiful Yumberry Harvest in Wubu County Boosts Farmers' Income and Local Economy

Wubu County, China - With the arrival of autumn harvest season, yumberry orchards in Wubu County are filled with ripe, juicy berries ready for picking. Farmers are busy harvesting and transporting the bountiful yield, while tourists visit to experience picking fresh yumberries straight from the vine. The prosperous harvest scenes showcase the success of Wubu's yumberry industry.

As a unique, ancient fruit variety native to Wubu County, yumberries have a cultivation history spanning over 1000 years locally. With smooth green skin and dense, crisp white flesh that is sweet and bursting with juice, yumberries are beloved by consumers. In recent years, Wubu County has fully leveraged the market potential of the traditional yumber industry. Following an approach focused on "developing bases, strengthening supply chains, building premium brands, and training talent", Wubu has adopted a management model of "leading enterprises + cooperatives + farmers" to build first-class yumberry brands.

One village benefiting from these efforts is Lijiahe Village in Xinjiahe Town, which is accelerating yumberry planting by transferring land and attracting investment. The results are already emerging.

"As of now, the total yumberry planting area in Wubu County has reached 10,000 mu (667 hectares). In 2023, there are over 1000 mu (67 hectares) of fruiting yumberry orchards, with an output of over 400 tons and a value of 56 million yuan ($8.4 million). Peak season yields are over 30,000 yuan ($4,500) per mu," said Li Qiang'er, Party Secretary of Lijiahe Village.

"To fully promote yumberry industry development, Wubu County has introduced policies like the ‘Wubu Yumberry Industry Development Plan (2021-2025)’, which clarifies industry positioning, support scope, and subsidy standards. It encourages enterprises, cooperatives, family farms, and other emerging business entities to expand the scale of the yumber industry. For instance, with government support, 7 enterprises have planted over 5,000 mu (333 hectares) of yumberries by developing bases of 1000 mu each," said Tian Antao, General Manager of Wubu Guowei Ecological Agriculture Development Co., Ltd.

"Meanwhile, science and technology innovation efforts have been strengthened. A Wubu Yumberry Experimental Demonstration Station has been established with Northwest A&F University. Cooperation with academic institutions, research institutes and leading enterprises has also been enhanced to improve yumberry science and technology innovation capabilities," Tian added.