[Explanation] Yanyuan County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province is located on the southeastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and southwest of Liangshan Prefecture.
Benefiting from abundant land resources and unique climate environment, "Yanyuan Zanthoxylum bungeanum" has the characteristics of early listing, fresh fragrance and hemp flavor.
In recent years, the local area has taken industrial development as a fundamental measure to increase agricultural income. In addition to "Yanyuan Apple", Yanyuan pepper is another special business card that the local area is trying to create.
On July 19, a "rumbling" mechanical roar came from the factory building of Dongshun Huajiao Cooperative in Yanyuan County. Liu Laigui, chairman of Dongshun Huajiao Cooperative, was testing the newly purchased blower specific gravity selection machine. Can effectively improve the quality of pepper products.
[Concurrent] Liu Laigui, Chairman of Dongshun Huajiao Cooperative
We are now (introduced) advanced equipment for the quality of our cooperative’s peppercorns and for sales across the country.
In order to pull the peppers farther, our government here gave us cold storage subsidies, we built this cold storage room, and transported the peppers farther.
[Commentary] Liu Laigui introduced that the cooperative was established in 2011 and has more than 200 members in total.
Over the years, the cooperative has led the members and the masses of farmers to vigorously develop the pepper industry and help farmers increase their incomes by improving the varieties of peppercorns.
The annual income of the cooperative is now more than 5 million yuan, and the average annual income of the members of the cooperative exceeds 50,000 yuan.
"Little pepper" nourishes a big industry.
Nowadays, there are 106 cooperatives in Yanyuan County that develop prickly ash cultivation, production and marketing.
As the "big prickly ash planting county" in Sichuan Province, the prickly ash plantation area in Yanyuan County reaches 820,000 mu, with an annual output of 60,000 tons of fresh prickly ash, with a comprehensive output value of 2 billion yuan, and pepper farmers realize an annual income of more than 7,000 yuan per capita planting pepper.
In July, it is the harvest season of Yanyuan pepper. Walking on the small roads in the countryside of Yanyuan County, you can see the busy figure of pepper farmers picking pepper.
Maquer, a 31-year-old villager from Longkouhe Village, Runyan Town, Yanyuan County, has been helping picking pepper in the fields of large pepper farmers since late June.
Ma Quer said that the prickly ash industry in his hometown has developed well and his own income has been guaranteed.
[Concurrent] Maquer, a villager in Longkouhe Village, Runyan Town, Yanyuan County
I started picking here on June 19, and then I may have 200 yuan per day, (picking) a catty is 3 yuan, a day may buy about 70 catties.
Through picking each year, the possible wage can reach about 30,000 yuan.
The better the peppers sold in our hometown, the better we are the peasants (pickers) who have the income to pick it, and it will definitely benefit us.
[Explanation] At present, the pepper market in Yanyuan County has also entered the "peak period of trading."
The "Two Provinces and Three Counties Pepper Trading Market" where the Yanyuan County Green Red Pepper Association is located is based on the major pepper production and marketing cooperatives in the county, and uses the fresh and dried product trading and primary processing as the production and marketing hub. In the month when a large number of peppers are on the market Attracting prickly ash merchants from all over the country to come to purchase.
Lan Jingju, a merchant from Chengdu, comes to Yanyuan every year to buy prickly ash, and then sells them all over the country. She has been in this business for 32 consecutive years.
[Concurrent] Lan Jingju, a merchant from Chengdu
(I am) I specialize in selling this Yanyuan peppercorns. I have been selling it for 32 years, and (every year) I buy three to four hundred thousand catties in Yanyuan.
(Yanyuan Zanthoxylum bungeanum is very popular). It has relatively good sales in the whole country, and its tingling degree is good.
The output value of Yanyuan peppercorns in recent years is much better than before, and the quality is better.
[Explanation] In order to further promote the Yanyuan peppercorn brand, Yanyuan County has recently held the 2021 Sichuan Flower (Fruit) Ecotourism Festival and the first Yanyuan County peppercorn festival.
During the event, Yanyuan County actively promoted the Yanyuan peppercorns, built a cooperation platform for enterprises, and invited experts and scholars to provide suggestions for industrial development, aiming to promote the revitalization of the rural areas through the high-quality development of the peppercorns industry.
He Meikun and Yang Yudi report from Liangshan, Sichuan
Editor in charge: [Sun Jingbo]