Wild peach

Wild peach fruit can be eaten fresh, and the wild peach is also one of the best rootstocks for grafting fruit seedlings and ornamental plants. Shengzhou City currently has 25,000 mu of ornamental plants, about 1/3 of which are fruit seedlings. Fruit seedlings require large quantities of rootstock, but rootstock is extremely scarce in our province. Wild peach seed is the best rootstock variety for fruits such as peaches, plums and apricots. Every year our province transfers in 15 million kg of wild peach seed from Jiangxi, Anhui, Hunan, Guangxi, ** and Gansu. Shengzhou City's requirement is 1.5 million kg, accounting for 1/10 of the province's total transferred volume. Developing wild peach production has great prospects.

Generally, 100 wild peach seedlings can be planted per mu. They come into production after two to three years, and each tree can yield up to 50 kg, basically with no alternate bearing, and in high-yield years the yield per mu is 5,000 kg. The fresh fruit comes on the market exactly during a gap in the fruit market, and the price is also relatively high. Calculated at the current lowest market price of 0.40-0.60 yuan per kg, the output value per mu of fresh wild peaches is 2,000-3,000 yuan. In places with inconvenient transport, the wild peach can be kept for seed use; it does not take much work. Wait for the peaches to fall naturally, pick them up, remove the flesh and process them, and they can be used as seed stock. Each mu of wild peaches can produce about 500 kg of wild peach seed. Calculated at the current market price of 5.2-6.0 yuan per kg, the output value per mu can reach 2,600-3,000 yuan.

Wild peaches are easy to plant, widely adaptable, and have extremely low soil requirements. They can be planted whether on hills or high mountains, in front of or behind the house, and are especially suitable for planting on sloping land. Farmers in plains and mountainous areas might as well give them a try while adjusting their industrial structure.

Developing wild peach production is a good way for mountain farmers to become prosperous. In Shihuang Town Forest Farm and the villages of Sixin and Jinpan in Shengzhou City, a 1,000-mu wild peach base has already been established. Zhao Xinjun, the town's agricultural technician, planted 60 mu of wild peach seedlings last winter and this spring, and this winter and next spring can supply 1.8 million high-quality wild peach seedlings.