Fruit planting in Xilin County, Guangxi, forges a path to prosperity

In March, the height of spring, walking into Gaowei Village, Xipingcheng, Xilin County, Guangxi, the surrounding hillsides are covered with sugar mandarin (shatangju) trees, and busy figures are everywhere in the orchards. Over the past few years, Gaowei Village has seen a surge of enthusiasm for planting fruit. Many farming households now have their own orchards and have embarked on a path to prosperity through fruit growing, all thanks to Cai Hualiang, deputy director of the villagers' committee, who led the villagers in making it happen.

Cai Hualiang is a native of Pingxin Tun, Gaowei Village. In 2002, the Xilin County Party Committee and County Government introduced sugar mandarin (shatangju) cultivation from Sihui, Guangdong. With the boldness of a "newborn calf that fears no tiger," Cai Hualiang planted 6 mu of sugar mandarins on his own hillside. Beforehand, many people had doubts about this. In 2005, the Xilin County Agriculture Bureau organized fruit growers to go to Wuzhou City for sugar mandarin cultivation technology training, and Cai Hualiang actively signed up to participate. In just 8 short days in Wuzhou, he gradually mastered a complete set of sugar mandarin cultivation techniques, from digging pits, selecting seedlings, planting, management and care, to pest and disease control. With technical support, Cai Hualiang felt confident. In 2006, the 6 mu of sugar mandarins he planted reached an initial yield of 15,000 jin.

Cai Hualiang became wealthy through fruit growing, and his story became widely praised locally. In order to help villagers get rich together, he decided to guide them in planting sugar mandarins. Under Cai Hualiang's demonstration, Gaowei Village planted more than 1,200 mu of high-quality sugar mandarins, averaging more than 5 mu per household. To meet market demand and put fruit cultivation on a standardized and industrialized path, in 2014 Cai Hualiang established the Xilin County Jinmandi Sugar Mandarin Production and Marketing Farmers' Professional Cooperative. The cooperative provides guidance on fruit seedlings, fertilizers, pesticides and more. When problems arise in production, Cai Hualiang helps them solve them, and he also takes the initiative to solve marketing problems. Over the past few years, the local sugar mandarins have often been snapped up by the market as soon as they appear.