How Many Years Until Wushan Crisp Plum Bears Fruit? A Complete Guide to Ripening, Harvest Time and Market Prices
Wushan crisp plum, also known as Wushan large plum or crisp plum, has been cultivated since the Tang and Song dynasties, and its products are sold far to Sichuan, Guizhou, Hubei and other places.So when does the Wushan crisp plum ripen for harvest? And roughly how much does it cost per jin on the market? According to Rosaceae data, the Wushan crisp plum begins to produce an economic yield in the 3rd year after planting, and enters full bearing period in 4~5 years. After the plant enters full bearing period, under natural management conditions, each tree can yield more than 100kg. In the hilly and valley areas along the Yangtze River in Wushan, Chongqing, the Wushan crisp plum buds in late February, shows flower buds in early March, has its first flowers on March 5, full bloom on March 8, and final flowers in mid-to-late March; the fruit ripens in late June and the leaves fall in mid-October.
Yesterday (the 28th), the second Wushan Crisp Plum Picking Season officially opened in Ganyuan Village, Quchi Township, Wushan County, Chongqing. On the trees, the plums covered in “salt frost” glowed with a silvery sheen on their emerald-green skins under the sunlight; beneath the trees, visitors crowded together, vying to pick the plums, creating a bustling scene.
“Wushan crisp plum has dense flesh, abundant juice and rich aroma, a crisp and tender texture, and a pleasant sweet-and-sour taste.” At the event, a relevant person in charge from the Wushan County Agriculture Committee said that because it is rich in vitamins and various amino acids and has a high antioxidant content, it has the effects of nourishing beauty and smoothing the skin, and the Wushan crisp plum is also hailed as “edible cosmetics.”
In the courtyard of villager Wang Jiaquan in Quanfa Village, Quchi Township, Wushan County, six or seven people sat on stools, skillfully sorting crisp plums and putting them into different baskets according to size.
“Every year, when I return home after work to sell plums, I can earn an extra income of over ten thousand yuan.” Wang Jiaquan revealed that after these crisp plums are picked and brought home, the villagers all sort them into large, medium and small fruits by specification, package and price them separately, and then sell them. Because of their excellent quality, there is no need to worry at all about the market for their own crisp plums. The market price can reach around 25 yuan/jin.
For a “small fruit” to open up a “big market,” it not only needs market recognition and environmental adaptability, but also cannot do without the active support of the Wushan County government.
According to reports, in recent years, Wushan County has taken the development of crisp plum cultivation as an important lever for promoting farmers' escape from poverty and prosperity, and has insisted on large-scale planting. Based on testing and analysis reports from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it has delineated the suitable planting range and scale for crisp plums.
Every year, Wushan County integrates more than 100 million yuan in funds to support the development of the crisp plum industry, and insists on increasing this by more than 10% year by year,
At the same time, it has established the Wushan Crisp Plum Research and Development Center to carry out research and development of Wushan crisp plum varieties.
With the joint efforts of the Wushan County Party Committee, the county government, associations, fruit growers and fruit merchants, the Wushan crisp plum was successfully registered as a Chinese geographical indication trademark in 2016, and has successively been rated as a “Chinese Famous Fruit,” a “National Gold Award for High-Quality Plums,” an “Agricultural Product Geographical Indication Trademark,” and one of Chongqing's top ten regional public brands for agricultural products; Wushan County has been honored as the “Home of Chinese Crisp Plums” and a “National High-Quality Plum Production Base County.”
It is reported that in 2017, the planting area of Wushan crisp plums reached 200,000 mu, with an annual output of 80,000 tons, and an output value of 800 million yuan. It is expected that this year's output will reach 100,000 tons, realizing an output value of 1 billion yuan, and the brand valuation is expected to reach 2 billion.
It is reported that next, Wushan will also issue support policies, introduce a number of powerful agriculture-related enterprises to settle in Wushan to invest and start businesses, develop high-value-added products, push the Wushan crisp plum industry chain deeper, and truly leverage the “big market.”