Apples Return to Bagless Cultivation, Costs Cut by One Third

Our reporter Zhong Xin

"Our Langyaling Ecological Orchard began using bagless technology last year. The apples have smooth skin, vivid color, and even better taste, and above all, it saves on labor costs..." Speaking of the benefits of bagless apples, Wang Jingbo, chairman of the Langyaling Xiaolong Farmers' Professional Cooperative in Laizhou City, Shandong Province, could not praise it enough.

Shandong fruit growers began using apple bagging technology in the 1990s. Apple bagging not only promotes uniform fruit coloring and larger fruit size in a short time, but also cuts off the paths by which various diseases and pests directly harm the fruit, effectively reducing the incidence of pests and diseases. But after more than 20 years of development, the problems with this technology are also becoming apparent.

According to Wang Kuiliang, director of the Yantai Agricultural Technology Promotion Center, in 2015 Shandong's apple planting area reached 4.5 million mu, with total output of about 9.6 million tons, and apple bagging technology was almost the main production management technique. At the same time, bagging generated high costs. According to statistics, an average apple orchard of 1 mu uses 10,000 bags; counting the cost of paper bags and the labor for bagging and removing bags, each bag costs 0.2 yuan, and this alone accounts for about 1/3 of total production costs. Shandong uses 20-25 billion bags each year on average, with a total cost of more than 4 billion yuan, while the national figure reaches tens of billions of yuan. The negative effects of bagging, such as energy consumption and environmental pollution caused by the paper bags used, are even harder to estimate. Therefore, starting in 2015, Yantai began trial demonstrations of bagless apple technology in Qixia, Laizhou and other places.

In this year's apple ripening season, more than 300 apple dealers and cooperative representatives from apple-producing areas across Shandong Province gathered in Laizhou to learn on site about the Saierbeili bagless apple technology of Xinyang Group at the Langyaling Ecological Orchard.

In previous years, every October, Wang Jingbo and cooperative members were extremely busy. "So many bags had to be removed, and not only did labor costs keep rising, but the key issue in recent years is that even when we offer money, we can't find people to help," said Old Wang. This year, the cooperative's use of Saierbeili bagless apple technology has become more mature. Bagless Red Fuji gets longer sunshine, the fruit colors naturally, and the aroma is more fruity. As a result, many apples were ordered while still hanging on the trees. In particular, eliminating the hard work of bagging and removing bags also saved more than 1,000 yuan per mu in bags and labor costs.

Zhao Zhongzhi, an agricultural expert at Xinyang Group, told reporters: "Some developed countries have also gone through the process of bagging and removing bags. At present, apple cultivation in Europe and the United States is all bagless, and Japan's bagging rate is less than 10%. The Saierbeili bagless cultivation technology we promote is a complete plant protection program and cultivation technique. At present, more than 80% of apple orchards in Japan are using Saierbeili technology."

Japanese expert Mr. Masuda believes that adopting bagless cultivation technology for apples means no pollution from bags, no pollution from reflective film, and reduced pesticide pollution, which is of great significance for saving wood and promoting environmental protection.

Today, as people's health concepts and environmental awareness continue to strengthen, demand for bagless apples is also gradually growing. When the reporter searched online, many fruit sellers specifically labeled "bagless apples," and their prices are often higher than bagged apples.

"When I buy apples, I often think: where do all those bags go? Do they pollute the environment? Since bagless apples grow more naturally, and their nutrition, taste and appearance are no worse than bagged apples, of course I am willing to buy bagless apples." At the Langyaling Ecological Orchard, a fruit dealer who made a special trip from Chongqing told the reporter.

Apples are a pillar industry of Yantai's agriculture. Yantai's agricultural technology promotion department has already realized that bagless apple cultivation will be the general trend. They are stepping up research on a new prevention and control system, striving to achieve quality upgrading of the cultivation management model as soon as possible, reduce dependence on apple bagging technology, lower the input cost of orchard management, and lead a new transformation in apple cultivation systems.

Not only in Shandong, but this year apple-producing areas in Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places are also conducting trial demonstrations of bagless apple cultivation technology. A single spark gradually starts a prairie fire.