How much investment does dragon fruit farming require?
Dragon fruit is a tropical and subtropical fruit, also known as red dragon fruit, dragon pearl fruit, fairy honey fruit, etc. It is cultivated in Hainan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan, Taiwan, China and other places in our country. It is rich in nutrients and has unique effects, combining the advantages of fruit, flower buds, vegetables and medicine in one, and has extremely high cultivation value. Let us take a look below at how much investment dragon fruit farming requires!
How much investment does dragon fruit farming require?
The investment in dragon fruit farming is relatively not high. Taking the cultivation of one mu as an example, growing one mu of dragon fruit requires building 110 cement posts, generally 15-20 yuan each, totaling 2200 yuan. Generally one post holds four seedlings, requiring 440 seedlings. Ordinary red-fleshed varieties cost 3-5 yuan each, while the more expensive red crystal ones are estimated to cost 10 yuan per seedling. Calculating with ordinary red-fleshed varieties, that is 2200 yuan. Adding labor and fertilizer at 1200 yuan/mu, the initial investment is 5600 yuan/mu.
How much income does dragon fruit farming generate?
The average annual purchase price of dragon fruit is generally 5-6 yuan/jin for red-fleshed dragon fruit and 3-4 yuan/jin for white-fleshed dragon fruit. Calculating with a yield of 3000-4000 jin/mu for red-fleshed dragon fruit and 4000-5000 jin/mu for red-fleshed dragon fruit, the gross income from growing one mu of red-fleshed dragon fruit is 15000 yuan (calculated at the lowest yield and price, the same below), and the gross income from growing one mu of white-fleshed dragon fruit is 12000 yuan. Subtracting the cost, the profit from one mu of dragon fruit is around 10000 yuan.
What conditions are needed to grow dragon fruit?
1. Temperature: Dragon fruit is not afraid of high temperatures but is afraid of low temperatures. It requires an annual average temperature of no less than 18°C, a January average temperature of no less than 8°C, and an extreme low temperature of -3°C lasting no more than 6 hours. The optimum growth temperature is 25-35°C, and growth stops below 10°C and above 38°C.
2. Soil: Dragon fruit has extremely wide adaptability to soil and can grow well in mountain land, dry land, semi-dry land, rocky mountain land, wasteland and waterlogged low-lying land. In particular, dragon fruit grafted onto local night-blooming cereus has even wider adaptability.
3. Water: Dragon fruit is a drought-tolerant plant, but its growth requires relatively abundant water. If the dragon fruit planting site lacks water for a long time, it will cause the growth of dragon fruit to stagnate, and even the original thick fleshy stems will slowly wither.
4. Light: Dragon fruit is a typical sun plant and likes warm direct sunlight. If the light duration is long and sunlight is sufficient, photosynthesis will be especially vigorous, the fleshy stems will be thick and deep green, and there will be many flowers and large fruits with high yield. Conversely, the amount of fruit produced will decrease significantly.
5. Fertilizer: Dragon fruit grows quickly, and the fertilizer needed throughout the entire growth cycle must be sufficient. In the early growth stage, enough nitrogen fertilizer should be supplied to help the plant grow tall and strong quickly. In the middle and late stages of plant growth, balanced application of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers should be increased to enhance the plant's photosynthesis.
Dragon fruit cultivation and management techniques
1. Planting method: There are many ways to plant dragon fruit. It can be grown climbing on walls or under sheds, but pillar-style cultivation is the most common. Its advantages are low production cost and high land utilization rate.
2. Planting spacing: For dragon fruit using double-season pillars, the plant and row spacing is 1.5×2 m. Calculating 4 seedlings planted around each pillar, 750 plants can be planted per mu. But note that it must not be planted deeply; planting about 3 cm deep is enough, and the soil should be kept moist in the early stage.
3. Apply thin fertilizer frequently: Dragon fruit has a long harvest period. Organic fertilizer must be heavily applied every year, and nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compound fertilizers should be applied evenly over the long term. During the flowering and fruiting period, potassium and magnesium fertilizers should be supplemented. During the fruiting period, keep the soil moist, and cover the tree base with grass or mushroom residue.
4. Pinching and pruning: When the branches of dragon fruit grow to 1.3-1.4 m long, pinch off the growing tips to promote branching and let the branches droop naturally. After harvesting fruit each year, cut off the branches that have already borne fruit so that they send out new branches again, ensuring the yield for the coming year.
5. Reasonable interplanting: Red-fleshed dragon fruit has poor self-compatibility, a low fruit set rate from self-pollination, small fruits and poor marketability. It needs white-fleshed dragon fruit for pollination. Interplanting about 10% white-fleshed dragon fruit can significantly increase the fruit set rate.
6. Artificial pollination: When growing dragon fruit, artificial pollination should be carried out during rainy weather. Pollination can be done in the evening when the flowers open or in the early morning before the flowers close, using a brush to directly apply pollen onto the stigma of the female flower.
7. Pest and disease control: Dragon fruit has relatively few pests and diseases. Seedlings are easily harmed by snails and ants, which can be controlled with insecticides. In hot and humid seasons, it is prone to diseases, with partial necrosis of branches and mildew spots, which can be controlled with triadimefon, strong copper oxide, etc.