Shahong Peach: An Excellent Variety in the Kingdom of Fresh Peaches

Shahong peach is a newly released high-tech variety and a rare premium peach. It was developed from the Japanese 'Cangfang Zaosheng' variety through more than ten years of systematic selection and breeding as a new fresh-eating peach variety, and was approved by the Shaanxi Provincial Crop Variety Approval Committee in September 1999. The Agricultural Science and Technology Information Service Department of the Science Association of Shaan County, Henan Province, together with relevant departments, through nearly two years of introduction trials, demonstrations, and promotion, concluded that Shahong peach is currently the unique premium peach in China, a rare gem in the kingdom of fresh-eating peaches, and could become the fresh-eating peach variety with the highest returns in the future. Its most notable characteristics are: bright color, extra-large fruit size, good firmness, and long storage and transport tolerance. Experts have repeatedly emphasized that Shahong peach has good comprehensive traits and good marketability, with great potential for opening up international markets. The variety characteristics, commercial advantages, and cultivation techniques of Shahong peach are summarized below for the reference of farmers. I. Variety Characteristics. The tree posture is relatively upright; two-year-old branches are brown, smooth, with small and few lenticels; leaves are long elliptical-lanceolate, large, 20-24 cm long and 5-7 cm wide, with blunt serrated leaf margins, raised on both sides of the leaf surface, dark green in color, petiole 1.2 cm long, veins moderately dense; flowers are rose-type, single-petaled, pink, 4 cm in diameter; pollen present, anthers light red. The tree grows vigorously, with a high germination rate and strong branching ability; fruiting is mainly on medium and long fruit branches; trees can bear fruit at 2 years of age and enter full fruiting period at 6 years; flower buds are plump and full, capable of self-pollination, with a relatively high natural fruit-setting rate. The fruit is round, with the two halves relatively symmetrical, the fruit apex flat and concave, the suture line obvious, the stem cavity narrow and deep; the fruit is extra-large, with an average single fruit weight of about 280 g and a maximum fruit weight of 500 g. When ripe, the fruit is fully red, with more than 90% of the fruit surface covered in rose red; the fuzz is dense and short; the skin is thick; the flesh is milky white, crisp and firm, fine in texture, with few fibers, hard melting texture, sweet with a strong aroma. When overripe, the skin is relatively easy to peel; the shelf life is over one month, and the fruit does not drop, soften, or fall if left unpicked; the red pigment extends deep into the flesh; it is sandy-sweet and pleasant, and tolerates long storage and transport. Clingstone; soluble solids 13.1%, total sugar 10.78%, total acid 0.21%, Vc content 4.48 mg/100 g, firmness 2.8 kgf/cm2. Trees can bear fruit at 2 years of age; at 4 years, 1 mu yields 825 kg of fruit; at 6 years, 1 mu yields 4000-8000 kg of fruit. Shahong peach trees are robust, with strong disease resistance and few insect pests; for many years, no peach anthracnose or scab has occurred, and it has high resistance to shot hole disease and leaf curl disease. It also has a wide adaptability range and has now been promoted in Shaanxi, Henan, Liaoning, and other places, and is very popular among fruit growers. Peach is a deep-rooted, drought-tolerant plant, suitable for sloping land, mountainous land, and more complex geological soils. In short, wherever other peaches can adapt, Shahong peach can adapt. II. Commercial Advantages: No matter what the product is, as long as its quality is good and its commercial value is high, its market opportunity is good. The advantage of Shahong peach lies in the seven major indicators of variety approval: color, flavor, size, firmness, vigor, yield, and resistance. It is especially leading domestically and internationally in the three indicators of color, firmness, and yield. It is not afraid of goods crowding goods, but afraid of goods comparing goods. Only 1-3 Shahong peaches weigh 0.5 kg, while ordinary peaches weigh 3-8 per 0.5 kg; the color of ordinary peaches is red, red-yellow, or red-white, while Shahong peach is a rose red that everyone loves; ordinary peaches are red on the sunny side and green or yellow-white on the shady side, while Shahong peach can develop 100% rose red even on parts that receive no sunlight; the coloring degree of ordinary peaches can only reach 50-70%, while the coloring degree of Shahong peach can reach almost 100%; in terms of firmness, ordinary peaches fall if not picked within one or two days after ripening, while Shahong peach does not drop or fall after ripening, with a shelf life of more than one month; ordinary peaches are completely gone once wind and rain come after ripening, while Shahong peach fears neither wind nor rain and suffers no loss; ordinary peaches can only be stored for 1-2 days after harvest and spoil if not eaten, while Shahong peach does not change flavor after ten days and does not spoil after half a month; most ordinary peaches are sweet-sour, while Shahong peach is purely sweet; the soluble solids content of ordinary peaches is only 8-9% and total sugar content 6-8%, while Shahong peach has a soluble solids content of 13.1% and total sugar content of 10.78%; ordinary peaches lack resistance, while Shahong peach is a highly resistant variety; ordinary peaches yield 1500-2500 kg per mu, while Shahong peach trees over 10 years old yield up to 8000 kg per mu; for ordinary peaches such as Jinghong peach, the wholesale price is 2.8-3.2 yuan/kg, and the wholesale price of Shazi Zaosheng is 0.8-1.2 yuan/kg, while the wholesale price of Shahong peach is 8-12 yuan/kg, 3-4 times that of Jinghong peach and more than 10 times that of Shazi Zaosheng. This was the price on the fruit wholesale market on Changle Road in Xi'an in 1999. Looking at these advantages of Shahong peach, we should seize the market opportunity brought by Shahong peach being at a world-leading level, adjust the internal structure of the planting industry, carry out large-scale production, conduct group marketing, boldly open up international markets, and hasten to earn money from foreigners. III. Cultivation Techniques: On flat land, spacing is 3 x 4 m, planting 55 trees per mu, trained to a small canopy shape, with canopy height controlled at about 3 m, forming three-dimensional fruiting and good productivity. On mountainous land, sloping land, and dry poor land, spacing is 4 x 4 m, planting 41 trees per mu; on plain land with high water and fertilizer, early close planting can be implemented, with spacing 2 x 5 m, planting 66 trees per mu, or 2 x 4 m, planting 82 trees per mu. These two spacings can use three-main-branch training, with canopy height controlled at about 2.8 m; after bearing fruit for three consecutive years, transplant with soil, removing every other tree. This close-planting scheme can multiply yield and planting before fruiting in the first three years without affecting quality and yield in the middle and late stages. Watering and fertilizing: water 3 times a year, once in winter, once before bud break, and once during fruit expansion. Water frequently in severe drought, do not water when not drought, preferably with small amounts of water, avoid flood irrigation; those with infiltration irrigation or sprinkler irrigation facilities are best. For young trees, use high-nitrogen chemical fertilizer to promote canopy growth; for trees in full fruiting period, considering the five requirements of the international market for green food, chemical fertilizer may be omitted and organic fertilizer applied heavily. The key to fertilization should be: for 1000 kg of fruit, apply 6 kg phosphate fertilizer and 5 kg potassium fertilizer. The best time for fertilization is winter and autumn. Use the method of root cutting year after year. Peach trees over 8 years old have already borne fruit for many years, and their root systems have shifted outward relatively seriously, with most fine roots aging. Therefore, in combination with trench application of organic fertilizer, within the 2 m wide water and fertilizer band, dig over three years: three fertilization trenches 50 cm wide, 60 cm deep, and as long as the row, taking the opportunity of deep application of organic fertilizer to also achieve the purpose of root cutting for the peach trees. Fertilize once each year, and also cut roots once each year, ensuring every year that all peach trees produce large numbers of new fine roots within the water and fertilizer band to absorb water and nutrients. This is the secret of Shahong peach's full nutrition, vigorous energy, and consecutive years of high and stable yields. Summarizing years of production practice in one sentence: "Manage the tree underground, ask the space for money." Other fertilization, pruning, and pest and disease control are the same as for ordinary peach trees.