Common Problems in Indian Jujube Production and Their Solutions

Although Indian jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana) has been successfully introduced and trial-planted across various parts of southern China, it is still in its early stages, and the area under commercial production is currently small. However, Indian jujube cultivation in China currently suffers from problems such as mixed and confused varieties, extensive and careless cultivation management, and poor marketing channels, all of which need to be further improved and resolved.

1. Weak regional planning for development and mixed, confused varieties

Indian jujube has the characteristics of early fruiting and high yield (planted in the same year, it bears fruit in the same year) and excellent quality with high prices. Combined with heavy publicity in the media by some fruit seedling suppliers, this has set off a wave of Indian jujube planting in several southern provinces in recent years. Indian jujube seedlings are in short supply, and prices remain high. But at the same time, some problems have emerged: First, some places plant blindly, cultivating large areas of Indian jujube in unsuitable areas prone to freeze damage in winter, so that the Indian jujube cannot safely overwinter, causing losses to fruit growers. Second, the seedling market is not standardized, with mixed and confused varieties passing off inferior goods as superior. Some fruit seedling suppliers, exploiting growers' lack of understanding of varieties and poor ability to identify them, pass off inferior goods as good and heavily promote large quantities of poor-quality varieties with small fruit and poor quality, and even introduce wild seedling stock from Southeast Asia (which can only be used as rootstock) and push it onto the market without grafting. Among the Taiwan Green Jujube variety group, Gaolang No. 1 has good comprehensive traits and commands a high price, but the source of scion wood is limited, so seedlings of this variety are in short supply. Some fruit seedling suppliers also pass off Myanmar jujube varieties as Gaolang No. 1, causing unnecessary losses to fruit growers.

In summary, only on the premise of cultivating in suitable locations and selecting improved varieties can fruit growers achieve high yield, high quality and high efficiency in Indian jujube production. In addition, because Indian jujube varies greatly, through seedling selection, bud sport selection, foreign introduction and other approaches, cultivated varieties are constantly renewed, and in recent years a new variety has appeared almost every two years. Taking advantage of the characteristic that Indian jujube is easy to graft and change varieties, grafting in spring to change varieties can solve the problem of inferior original varieties. The characteristic of great variation in Indian jujube also places new demands on the vast number of fruit growers. Fruit growers would do best to use the highest-quality individual plant in the orchard as scion wood each year and graft and renew the entire orchard (grafting to change varieties). Only in this way can Indian jujube quality be continuously improved and varieties continuously renewed, ending the history of relying solely on introduction for excellent Indian jujube varieties and allowing China's Indian jujube planting industry to remain invincible.

2. Extensive and careless cultivation management, severe pests and diseases, and a low rate of marketable fruit

Indian jujube cultivation on the mainland is in its early stages, and fruit growers do not yet understand cultivation techniques or pest and disease control techniques very well. Although Indian jujube is easy to grow and manage and is not strict about soil requirements, because of heavy pruning and large fruit loads, its demand for fertilizer and water is correspondingly high. Some fruit growers only care about planting and neglect management, with extensive and careless cultivation management and neglect of pest and disease control (mainly one disease and one pest, namely powdery mildew and red spider mite); or because of poor site conditions and no irrigation conditions (water shortage during the fruiting period leads to low yield, small fruit, severe fruit drop, loose and soft flesh, and low quality); or because of poor fertilization (Indian jujube needs large amounts of organic fertilizer, and during the fruiting period potassium, magnesium and boron deficiency symptoms easily appear and should be supplemented in time); or because they do not understand the plant shape characteristics of Indian jujube (the tree form is open and spreading and is suitable for sparse planting), planting too densely causes the orchard to become closed and shaded, with severe outbreaks of pests and diseases; or because they do not know how to prune or build trellises, causing tree vigor to decline and fruiting capacity to decrease year by year, making the trees prone to wind damage, ultimately leading to a low rate of marketable fruit and poor returns. Therefore, on the premise of doing a good job in variety improvement and regionalization of improved varieties, the urgent task is to teach fruit growers high-yield, high-quality cultivation techniques for Indian jujube.

3. Disconnection between production, supply and marketing, and poor circulation channels

In recent years, the market price of fresh Indian jujube fruit has been quite high, which has to a certain extent stimulated the rapid growth of the cultivated area. But at present, Indian jujube production on the mainland is still mainly based on decentralized household management, and a matching supply and marketing system has not yet been established and perfected. With the rapid growth of Indian jujube cultivated area and output, the contradiction of difficulty in selling fruit will become increasingly prominent. In addition, because Indian jujube started relatively late in China, it will still take time for most people to understand and accept it. As people's living standards rise day by day, the demand for a diversity of fruit varieties is also growing higher and higher, and with growers and the media actively promoting it, it is believed that Indian jujube will soon become a popular fruit. In recent years, some large-scale, specialized Indian jujube orchards have appeared in China's economically developed regions. In places where agricultural industrialized management has been done well, various forms of business organization have already appeared, such as "company + farmer households", "company + specialized cooperative economic organization + farmer households", "specialized cooperative economic organization + farmer households" and "other intermediary organizations + farmer households". By continuously expanding these business organizations and other various channels, the problem of fruit growers' difficulty in selling fruit can be gradually resolved.