Changfeng county in E China's Anhui cultivates thriving strawberry industry

Photo shows a strawberry planting base in Changfeng county, Hefei, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Jun)

The strawberry planting area in Changfeng county, Hefei, east China's Anhui Province has reached 210,000 mu (14,000 hectares), with an annual output of 360,000 tonnes of strawberries. The output value of the entire strawberry industry chain in the county exceeds 11 billion yuan ($1.52 billion).

In recent years, Changfeng has boosted the scale and strength of the strawberry industry by leveraging its ecological advantages. The county has formed a comprehensive strawberry industry chain that includes the cultivation of new varieties, seedling production, planting, sales, and pick-your-own experiences, contributing to boosting farmers' incomes and advancing rural revitalization.

Shuihu township, a major strawberry-producing area in the county, grew strawberries on 50,000 mu of farmland in 2024, with the output surpassing 125,000 tonnes. Last year, the township's total sales value of strawberries reached 2 billion yuan, including online sales of more than 40 million yuan, with the average net income per mu approaching 35,000 yuan. In addition, the output value of strawberry processing in the township stood at 180 million yuan.

"My father is a competent strawberry grower," Ruan Chengcheng, head of a family farm in Changfeng county, told People's Daily Online. Her family manages 40 strawberry greenhouses.

A worker shows freshly harvested strawberries in Changfeng county, Hefei, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Jun)

"Previously, we sold almost everything through wholesale markets where prices were severely depressed. Seeing how hard my parents worked year-round, I wanted to help lighten their load," Ruan said.

Since 2016, Ruan has tried various e-commerce channels, including online stores and WeChat, to help her parents sell strawberries. "Changfeng strawberries have a great reputation. As soon as they hit the market, people scramble to try them, leading to a flood of online orders," she noted.

Like Ruan's family, 185,000 farmers in Changfeng are engaged in growing strawberries, with the strawberry industry benefiting over 360,000 people.

Shuihu township has pooled 120 million yuan of government funds earmarked for agriculture and rural areas to implement several projects related to the strawberry industry. It has cultivated several strawberry processing enterprises, laying the foundation for extending the strawberry industry chain.

Workers pick strawberries in a greenhouse in Changfeng county, Hefei, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Jun)

Smart agriculture has boosted the development of Changfeng's strawberry industry, with innovation evident in both cultivation methods and production management.

"We can monitor strawberry growth in real time and track temperature, humidity, pest issues, and light conditions on a smartphone," said the head of Zhongke (Chinese Academy of Sciences) Hefei Intelligent Agricultural Valley Co., Ltd.

The company's digital strawberry experimental greenhouse uses sensors, big data, and artificial intelligence to transmit collected data to a big data center, where a strawberry growth model is created to provide reasonable suggestions and solutions for strawberry growers, thus promoting sustained income increases for farmers.

In June 2020, the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences partnered with the Hefei municipal government and the Changfeng county government to build an intelligent agricultural valley in the county, leveraging talent advantages in big data and automation while pooling quality research resources to create new digital agriculture models.

Photo shows the strawberry e-commerce center in Changfeng county, Hefei, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Jun)

To address the pain points in the sales of strawberries faced by many growers, Shuihu township introduced a supply chain management company in November 2024 and established a strawberry e-commerce center.

"We've set up 60 collection points in Changfeng's main strawberry production areas, rented 11 logistics vehicles, and formed a team to help strawberry farmers with packaging, collection, and shipping," said Chen Haibin, head of the company. Since starting operations, the e-commerce center has handled parcels of 150,000 orders.

The center has partnered with Chinese courier giant SF Express and other courier companies to reduce logistics costs for strawberry farmers.

Photo shows strawberries in a greenhouse in Changfeng county, Hefei, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Jun)

"We'll offer e-commerce training sessions to families, guiding young people to use private domain traffic to sell strawberries. This will help our strawberry farmers enhance their sales skills and market competitiveness, thus promoting the high-quality development of Changfeng's strawberry industry," said Chen Yan, head of Shuihu township.

A staff member (R) helps strawberry growers handle orders in Changfeng county, Hefei, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Jun)