Papayas fatten villagers’ wallets

Papayas are ripe in the fruit base of Longwanghu Village, Duanlongshan Town, Guzhang County, and villagers are busy picking, sorting, bagging and transporting them.

Longwanghu Village, with suitable climate and abundant land resources, is very suitable for planting traditional Chinese medicinal materials. Papaya is cold and drought resistant, with strong adaptability. It flowers in April and fruits from July to September. Its fruit has an astringent taste and can be used as a traditional Chinese medicinal material after being sliced and dried, with the effects of soothing the stomach, dispelling wind and dampness, and relieving cough and phlegm. In order to drive local farmers to develop industries and increase income, Longwanghu Village has set up the Yumin Ecological Agriculture Professional Cooperative, with a common development interest linkage mechanism established with 107 households in the village.

“We planted 400 mu (about 26.67 hectares) of papayas in 2019 and about 200 mu (about 13.33 hectares) of papayas in 2020, which started to bear fruit last year. This year we can harvest about 150,000 kilograms of papayas with an output value of about 400,000 yuan,” said the Party deputy secretary of Longwanghu Village.

Now, the medicinal papaya industry in Longwanghu Village has developed rapidly and become a major characteristic industry that helps the local people to increase income. It has also paved a new path for strengthening the village collective economy.