Grapes enrich local people in Hexi Town

On the morning of September 9, many citizens picked brier grapes at the planting base in Tieyan Village, Hexi Town, Jishou City.

“These big and sweet grapes are the best I have ever eaten. I came here to pick grapes with my two children, so that they can get close to nature and experience the fun of picking grapes,” said Peng Cuiyan, a citizen of Jishou, holding the freshly picked grapes. “The alpine brier grapes in Tieyan Village can be picked now. This variety has received green certification, which has no pesticide. Bring your family to have a taste here.” In the planting base, a livestreamer was promoting grapes through Douyin.

“This year, we planted 100 mu (about 6.66 hectares) of brier grapes, and the annual output value is expected to reach 400,000 yuan. Next year, our cooperative will continue to expand the planting area, enrich the varieties, and drive more villagers to get rich,” said Fu Wenhua, head of Alpine Brier Grape Cooperative. Grapes have become the key industry of Hexi Town. In addition to brier grapes of Tieyan Village, the town has also vigorously developed the grape industry in Zhangpai Village. The current grape planting area at Zhangpai Village is 850 mu (about 56.666 hectares), and its annual output value is expected to reach 17 million yuan.

The town has actively explored the new model of rural leisure tourism development of “characteristic manor plus grape industry park”, and strived to create a number of scenic spots integrating agriculture and tourism such as the Moon Island of Zhangpai Village, the vineyard leisure and sightseeing base and the Baxian Lake Scenic Belt, so as to boost rural revitalization with industrial prosperity, and enrich local people through grapes.