Which regions are the main producing areas of Guoguang apples?

The main producing areas of Guoguang apples are mainly in Yanqing County of Beijing, Gaizhou of Liaoning, and Chengde County, Pingquan County and Kuancheng County of Hebei Province, among which “Chengde Guoguang Apple” has been approved by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine as a National Geographical Indication Protection Product of the People's Republic of China. So, what are the cultivation techniques for Guoguang apples?

I. Soil

Because Guoguang apples are generally cultivated on sloping farmland, where the soil is poor and thin and deep plowing for improvement has not been carried out for many years, the soil in the tree basin should be deep plowed during the rainy season, green manure should be applied and pressed in, and organic fertilizer should be applied in autumn for improvement, so as to increase the soil organic matter content, improve the physical and chemical properties of the soil, and enhance the soil's ability to retain fertilizer and water.

II. Fruit tree management

In young orchards, green manure or short-stalked crops such as peanuts and soybeans can be intercropped between the rows, but the intercrops must be kept at a distance of 50-10cm from the apple trees. In orchards at full fruit stage, planting crops between the rows is prohibited; soil management mainly adopts the clean cultivation method and the straw mulching method. For Guoguang apple orchards in arid mountainous areas that lack irrigation conditions, the straw mulching method is especially recommended, covering the area under the canopy or the whole orchard with weeds, straw, etc., to a thickness of 15-20cm; after it decomposes, deep plowing is carried out to improve the soil, and it is replenished year by year. Mulching has the effect of increasing soil organic matter, suppressing weeds, avoiding tillage, preventing freezing, and improving the soil's water, fertilizer, air and heat conditions.

II. Fertilizer and water management

Base fertilizer should preferably be applied before the Guoguang apples are harvested, generally from late August to early-to-mid September, with 5000kg of decomposed base fertilizer applied per 667 sq m of orchard each year. Applying base fertilizer early is conducive to the accumulation of stored nutrients in the tree, to the early recovery of tree vigor and the improvement of the tree's overwintering ability, and is also beneficial to the recovery of root growth and the flowering and fruit set of the following year.

Topdressing is applied on the basis of sufficient base fertilizer to timely supplement the nutrient requirements of apples at each growth stage, generally 3 times a year, namely topdressing at the bud break stage, before flowering, and before fruit enlargement. In the early stage, nitrogen fertilizer is mainly used to promote tree growth, while in the later stage, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are mainly used, which is beneficial to improving fruit quality. In addition, foliar spraying can also be used to promptly supplement the deficiency of some trace elements.

Irrigation of apple orchards is mostly carried out in combination with topdressing or according to climatic conditions; generally, irrigation should be carried out once with each topdressing, but orchards without irrigation conditions can combine fertilization with rainfall.

IV. Disease control

The key targets of disease control for Guoguang apples are mainly apple valsa canker, apple anthracnose, apple ring rot and apple early defoliation disease. Apple valsa canker is a serious disease of Guoguang apple orchards in arid mountainous areas. The focus of control is to strengthen fertilizer and water management and enhance tree vigor; the second is to control yield; the third is to carry out integrated control in combination with pollution-free chemical agents, which can control the harm of valsa canker. As long as attention is paid to the prevention and control of other diseases, they will not cause relatively great harm to Guoguang apple production.

V. Pest control

The main pests of Guoguang apples include the peach fruit moth, leaf mites, aphids, etc. The key is to do well in forecasting, control the fruit borers well through pollution-free chemical agents, and reasonably control leaf mites and aphids, so that they will not affect Guoguang apple production.

Guoguang apples have the advantages of strong adaptability, high fruit set rate, high yield, late ripening and good storability, no pre-harvest fruit drop, easy renewal and long lifespan, so farmers who want to plant them can give it a try.