Loquats bring extra income to Zhaotong farmers

In many towns of Yongshan county along the Jinsha river section in Zhaotong city, northeast Yunnan, loquat forests cover the orchards in early summer. The golden loquats are plump, and the joy of the harvest fills the air as farmers shuttle through the orchards.

"My family has planted over 1.3 hectare of loquats and more than half of them are bearing fruit. The yield per mu is basically above 1500 kilograms, with a premium fruit rate of over 85%,” said Liu Xingjiang.

Liu is a villager of Yusun village. In his orchard, he opens the fruit bags wrapping on the loquats and carefully removes the nets. Then, he cuts down the loquats. After sorting, bagging, and packaging, he will send the fresh fruits to many places of China via well-established logistics networks.

“The key to growing loquats is that you should put effort in management and fertilization. That is why my loquats have more pleasant color, larger size, and they finally fetch me a higher price,” added him proudly.

As of now, the loquat planting area in Yongshan county has reached 80,000 mu (about 5333.33 ha), with an estimated output value of 315 million yuan.

Source: Yunnan News app; trans-editing by Wang Yunya