Menglian joins hands with China and Israel to build Asia's avocado hometown, expanding planting scale this year
Menglian, located in Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, China, is an autonomous county of ethnic minorities including the Dai, Wa and Lahu peoples. This obscure place, situated at the southwesternmost corner of China's border and adjoining Myanmar, has become known to more and more people thanks to its indissoluble bond with the avocado. Menglian's perfect climate and environmental conditions make it an ideal place for avocado cultivation and growth. One of the largest agricultural cooperation projects between China and Israel, the “Lvyin Manor” avocado project, has now taken root and borne fruit in Menglian. On May 15, at the FPFC Forum of the Shanghai Youwan Guo International Fruit and Vegetable Exhibition: "Brand Power—Winning through Marketing", Raz Dor, a director of Pu'er Lvyin Biotech, introduced to the guests the growth opportunities for avocados in China.
The avocado project, a cooperation between Yunnan Lvyin Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. and Israel Zhongyi Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd., carries out large-scale avocado planting in Menglian County. It is understood that the entire avocado project is expected to invest 500 million yuan, with a total planting area to exceed 200,000 mu and more than 8 million avocado trees planted. The project's main goals also include establishing domestic and international sales networks, with the capacity to sell 200,000 tons of avocado products once completed. At the same time, it will establish and develop China's avocado processed product market, striving to become the domestic center for avocado technology and quality and a market leader.
According to the introduction, in 2015 Menglian's avocado planting area had already reached 1,500 mu. In 2016, the project had built a nursery base with an annual seedling capacity of 100,000 plants and expanded the avocado planting area to 5,000 mu, while beginning construction to raise the nursery base's annual seedling output to 500,000 plants; a nursery of this scale is also one of the largest avocado nurseries in the world. In 2017, the project expanded the avocado planting area to 7,500 mu and began sales promotion in China's local market. It is expected that by the end of 2018, the avocado planting area will expand to 15,000 mu, and a packing factory with a processing capacity of 20,000 tons will also be built, capable of completing post-processing procedures such as packing, sorting, cold storage and storage. By then, avocado market sales will reach 1,000 tons. In 2019, the project will also build an avocado product processing factory, using the world's leading fruit processing technology to establish a fully automated avocado product processing plant, with processed products covering avocado oil, jam and avocado soap and other deep-processed avocado products. By 2020, Menglian's avocado planting area is expected to reach 25,000 mu, with annual sales reaching 5,000 tons. At the same time, small distribution centers will be established in major cities to provide ready-to-eat avocados to end customers.
As the only large-scale local avocado grower, Lvyin Company has targeted the huge potential of the domestic avocado market and vigorously developed the domestic avocado industry. In recent years, imported avocados have sold well in the Chinese market year after year, with sales growing annually. Statistics show that in 2017, China's total avocado imports from Mexico, Chile and Peru reached 30,000 tons; in 2018, New Zealand avocados were approved to enter the Chinese market, and several other countries are also actively applying for import access. China has a large population base, and through the influence of various information, avocados have gradually become one of consumers' favorite fruit categories, with more and more consumers incorporating avocados into their daily diet, so the market potential for avocados in China is enormous. Compared with imported avocados, locally grown avocados have obvious advantages. The avocado growing areas are close to the consumer market, with transport times of at most 3 days, so locally produced avocados have a longer sales period, higher solid content, and a better and fresher taste.
The Chinese and Israeli parties in this cooperation both possess strong capabilities and technical strength. Lvyin Company is a leading agricultural technology enterprise in Yunnan Province, with rich experience and a deep background in international agricultural development projects. Israel's Zhongyi Company began doing business in China in 2008, committed to bringing high-end Israeli agricultural technology into the Chinese market. The Menglian avocado project fully uses Israeli technology, including nursery, planting, greenhouses, irrigation, fertilization, nutritional materials and research. At present, Menglian's avocado nursery center has produced more than 10 different avocado varieties and 5 rootstocks; Menglian's avocado farm has also built several planting bases, among which the Mangxin planting base is the largest, mainly growing Hass avocados, the Haidong planting base mainly grows green-skin avocados, and the Mangjie planting base specializes in growing black-skin Hass avocados. In 2018, Lvyin Company will also gradually complete the construction of several other new bases.
As a healthy, green and socially contributive project, the Menglian avocado project's development also benefits southwestern China. From its inception, the project's goals included supporting the local ethnic minorities of Yunnan Province. As part of practicing the “Belt and Road” policy and as one of Yunnan Province's “targeted poverty alleviation” projects, the Menglian avocado project has received strong support from the local government and the Yunnan Provincial Government. The Menglian avocado project has also been selected by Pu'er City as a key agricultural project for practicing the “one county, one industry” policy.