Old loquat trees in Shimian bloom anew, and making a fortune depends entirely on them
The history of loquat cultivation in China dates back as early as the first century BC. Song Qi of the Song Dynasty once wrote in a poem: "There is a fruit in Western Shu, bearing flowers that brave the early cold. The tree is lush with jade-green leaves, its branches laden with golden balls. The soil cannot be sent afar, and chewing its flavor alone brings long sighs." This shows that loquats produced in what is now Sichuan were already favored by people at that time. In the latter part of the last century, as botanists and researchers carried out continuous verification, it was basically determined that the Shimian area in the middle section of the Dadu River basin southeast of Mount Gongga is the center of origin of the common loquat. At present, more than 16,000 wild loquat plants have been found within Shimian's borders, including more than 150 ancient trees over a hundred years old, mainly distributed along the banks of the Dadu River and the Nanya River at elevations between 780 and 1,700 m.
Old trees still bloom
In the Huang family compound in Group 6 of Laojie Community, Xinmian Town, Shimian County, there grows an ancient loquat tree 18 m tall with a canopy area of about 35 sq m. According to the tree's owner, Zhu Faxiu, this loquat tree is more than 200 years old, yet it still grows healthily to this day, blooming every year in late autumn and early winter, with its fruit ripening in mid-to-late May of the following year.
It is understood that the edible value of this ancient loquat tree is no longer high, but its fruit is still very effective at relieving coughs. A few years ago, the tree's owner Zhu Faxiu had a severe cold and coughed for more than a week without getting better, so she picked two jin of loquats and boiled them in water with rock sugar. Unexpectedly, after taking it for 2 days, the cough was cured. To this day, whenever neighbors have colds and coughs, they all go to her home to pick loquat fruit, loquat flowers or loquat leaves to boil in water and drink.
"This tree has accompanied me for more than 50 years. Now I want to do my best to protect it well and give it a better growing environment. I also hope that my descendants can protect it as well as I have," Zhu Faxiu told the reporter while standing under the tree.
New fruit helps farmers increase income
Zhu Xiaomin, 52 years old this year, is from Lashu Village, Fengle Township, Shimian County. In her family's orchard are two trees that neighbors and friends all recognize as "money trees." "In 2015, from the fruit on just these two trees, I sold more than 10,000 yuan!" Zhu Xiaomin, who was picking loquats in her family's orchard, told the reporter.
In 2003, Zhu Xiaomin began growing loquats. In the first year she planted a total of 50 saplings, including these two "money trees." "At first I didn't understand cultivation techniques myself, so I just watched what others did and did the same. Later the government sent technicians to teach us cultivation techniques, and I also read some books and watched TV programs about cultivation techniques, and slowly the yield began to rise."
It is understood that by this year, Zhu Xiaomin has planted more than 150 loquat trees in total. Because her fruit trees are well managed and of good quality, the loquats she grows all fetch a good price, and growing loquats brings her an income of about 40,000 yuan each year. Zhu Xiaomin is very satisfied with this. "In recent years, the loquat market has been getting better and better, our income has been getting higher and higher, and life has been getting happier and happier."