In the cold winter season, the strawberry planting base in Daguanzhuang village in Taishan district, Tai'an, presents a vibrant and warm scene. [Photo/Tai'an Daily]

In the cold winter season, the strawberry planting base in Daguanzhuang village in Taishan district, Tai'an, presents a vibrant and warm scene. The ripe strawberries here not only illuminate the path of rural economic development but also become a vivid stroke in the picture of rural vitalization.

At present, the strawberries in the village are ripe. Huang Pingxin, Party chief of Daguanzhuang village, has turned his mobile phone into a new farming tool and uses live streaming to sell strawberries, allowing the small strawberries to quickly gain popularity, attracting many visitors for picking and sightseeing.

"We have eight varieties, including the well-known milk strawberries, pink jade strawberries, and the new sweet variety, Suizhu strawberries. With different appearances and tastes, each has its own characteristics, satisfying everyone's expectations for strawberries," Huang said.

Strawberries bear fruit quickly with a short cycle. Currently, there are four strawberry greenhouses in the village, with a fruiting period of four to five months from January to May. Surrounding residents can come here to experience the joy of picking strawberries. The village also leases greenhouse facilities and agricultural land to farmers through public bids. The village collective can increase its annual income by 120,000 yuan ($16,367).

Who would have thought that the picking garden, which brings considerable income to the village collective economy, was once idle for many years. In 2023, Daguanzhuang village established a company named Shandong Huimin Industrial Development Group Co Ltd that  relies on the collective economic cooperative to register and efficiently activate land resources. They established eight modern intelligent greenhouses, focusing on planting fruits, vegetables, flowers, and seedlings in order to develop modern agriculture and eco-tourism, which will provide a new way for the village collective to increase income.