Fig cultivation is in full swing as farmers find a path to prosperity

Along with the pace of agricultural economic restructuring, more and more farmers and family farms around Hefei are moving away from traditional planting models and constantly innovating their crops, which not only reduces environmental pollution but also creates economic benefits. In Guanting Town, Feixi County, a farming couple planted 30 mu of figs, generating an average annual income of up to 30,000 yuan per mu.

In the fig orchard in Zhangci Village, Guanting Town, Feixi County, tender new fig buds are sprouting. Orchard owner Li Changyun and his family have begun "bud thinning" on the trees, that is, removing excess tender buds, keeping the strong and discarding the weak, and selecting the best, to ensure fruit yield and quality. "The seedling work in March has been completed, and the figs have entered the spring management period," Li Changyun explained. "The main work now is weeding, bud thinning, fertilizing and setting up trellises. Fruit sets in May, and harvesting runs from August to November."

This 30-mu fig orchard has taken a great deal of effort from Li Changyun. In March last year, Li Changyun successively introduced and planted more than 3,000 fig seedlings from Jining, Beijing, Jiaxing and other places, involving more than ten varieties. Since last year, Li Changyun and his wife have worked from dawn to dusk, putting down roots in the orchard, and the figs planted that year yielded a good harvest. According to reports, fig yield reaches about 3,000 jin per mu, with a minimum selling price of 10 yuan per jin, bringing considerable income. In addition to picking and selling fresh fruit, Li Changyun also purchased deep-processing assembly line equipment to turn figs into a series of products for drinking tea, cooking and more, which is also quite profitable.

Today, the Guanting Linhai Scenic Area not far from the orchard has successfully been established as a National Ecological Park and a 4A-level tourist attraction, with visitor numbers growing day by day and broad prospects for the tourism industry. This year, Li Changyun plans to expand the planting area and adopt greenhouse cultivation to extend the growing period, so that more visitors can personally pick low-priced, fresh and sweet figs.