Huaxi goes all out to develop strawberry industry

A visitor picks strawberries at a planting base in Huaxi. [Photo/Guiyang news network]

Huaxi district in Guiyang, where strawberries have been cultivated for nearly 40 years, has transformed the fruit into a distinctive agricultural and tourism product with geographical significance.

The district's strawberry cultivation covers over 5,000 mu (333.33 hectares) and yields approximately 7,000 metric tons annually worth around 320 million yuan ($44.67 million). The local strawberry brand – "Hua Xiao Mei" – is valued at 492 million yuan, ranking third in the 2023 Guiyang City and Gui'an New Area regional public brand assessment for agricultural products.

For a long time, strawberry cultivation in Huaxi district was predominantly carried out by individual farmers, and they earned a limited income mainly through retail and on-site picking by tourists.

To address this development bottleneck, the regional public brand "Hua Xiao Mei" was officially launched on Dec 12, 2020.

In order to develop the brand, the district has taken a number of measures to guarantee the quality of strawberries.

It has issued several development plans to establish and improve standards for the entire industrial chain entry, involving the so-called "six unified" – unified seedlings, unified branding, unified packaging, unified quality, unified management, and unified image, and "five major enhancements" in strawberry seedlings, standards, quality, branding, and safety.

The district also established a quality and safety traceability system for the brand, ensuring full traceability from the field to the dining table and guaranteeing the quality and safety of strawberries.

Only after passing district-level comprehensive inspections and sampling by provincial authoritative institutions, meeting the standards for pesticide residues, and complying with the specifications of "Hua Xiao Mei" can the strawberries be labeled as such and be released onto the market.

Organic strawberries and green food certification were advocated to promote standardized management and encourage the adoption of standard production practices.

A rapid quality inspection model was also initiated for "Hua Xiao Mei."