Why Ninghai watermelons in Zhejiang sell for 200 yuan each yet are still in short supply
Round in shape with emerald-green skin, evenly marked with dark green wavy stripes, it looks like an ordinary watermelon.
But cut it open across the middle, and the red and yellow flesh that leaps into view reveals how different it is; taste it, and your mouth fills with sweet, crisp freshness. Chilled, it has a texture like shaved ice, making it especially cool and refreshing to eat on hot days. That is where the name "two-tone ice cream watermelon" comes from.
Since the start of summer this year, this new watermelon variety, bred by the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences and grown by an agricultural cooperative in Ninghai, has drawn widespread attention, and even at 200 yuan each it is still in short supply. So far, the roughly 10,000 two-tone ice cream watermelons produced by the cooperative have sold out, yet large numbers of customers from Shanghai, Jiangsu and elsewhere are still drawn by its reputation to come pick and order them.
What exactly makes a watermelon with an ice cream texture so different?
The demanding art of growing watermelons
Walking into the production workshop of the Ninghai Jinlongpu Agricultural Cooperative, the floor is covered with two-tone ice cream watermelons of similar size, plump and round. Workers carefully place them one by one into foam-padded cardboard boxes, then weigh them on an electronic scale. Apart from the packaging box, each watermelon weighs around 5 kg.
"From seedling raising to planting, irrigation, plant protection, fresh-keeping storage and sales, the whole process requires fine-tuned management." According to You Hongwei, chairman of the cooperative, before planting two-tone ice cream watermelons, the overall ecological environment of the melon field must first be tested, including whether water samples and soil samples meet standards; only if everything qualifies can planting begin. During cultivation, the work also needs to be done by farmers with more than 6 years of watermelon-growing experience. A few years ago, a local melon farmer planted 10 mu of this variety, but due to technical management problems, the flesh had a sour taste after ripening, and the crop was nearly a total loss.
Inside the steamy watermelon greenhouse, farmer Qin Wenjiang was busy picking watermelons while talking about the almost harsh "art of growing watermelons": every Spring Festival, they intensively till the melon field, lay drip irrigation tape and plastic film, and even travel dozens of kilometers to a chicken farm by the sea to collect organic fertilizer, haul it back and spread it on the field as base fertilizer; after the Spring Festival, they transplant the seedlings from the greenhouse into the large shed, with a limit of 400 plants per mu, each seedling costing 2 yuan; when the vines spread and flower, the farmers travel among the sheds from early morning to late at night to pollinate by hand, never using drugs such as fruit-setting agents or swelling agents, and each plant is allowed to bear only 1 melon; at harvest, this variety can only be harvested for one crop and cannot grow a second crop, whereas ordinary watermelons can be harvested for multiple crops depending on vine growth.
According to You Hongwei, because two-tone ice cream watermelons are harder to grow than ordinary watermelons and yields are relatively low, they currently plant only 30 mu. By the time the season ended in early July, only about 10,000 watermelons met the standard. But this watermelon has considerable appeal: many melon farmers in Ninghai, Yuyao and other places have signed agreements with the cooperative to produce two-tone ice cream watermelons strictly according to the green watermelon product planting standards set by Jinlongpu.
At present, the cooperative is working on designing a WeChat barcode. Once ready, a simple scan will display on a mobile phone every stage of the growing and sales process of the two-tone ice cream watermelon, as well as the farmer's name, contact information and other details, so consumers can trace the whole process.
The difficult path of research and development
As for the origins of the two-tone ice cream watermelon, its "inventor," Gu Weihong, a researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, is the most authoritative voice.
In 1988, after graduating from university, Gu Weihong entered the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences to work on watermelon breeding research. The two-tone ice cream watermelon was the first new watermelon variety she painstakingly cultivated over many years of her career.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the watermelon variety most recognized by the market and sold nationwide was one named "**8424." But Gu Weihong believed that as the economy and society continued to develop, people's demand for watermelons would become increasingly diverse, and breeding high-end products with good quality and distinctive features would be a major trend for the watermelon industry in the future.
"Breeding a new variety depends on resources, technology and a unique vision, as well as countless studies and trials." Gu Weihong said the two-tone ice cream watermelon is not a genetically modified watermelon, but a breakthrough and innovation in watermelon growing technology.
The path of scientific research was full of ups and downs. In the late 1990s, when Gu Weihong brought the first successfully bred two-tone ice cream watermelon to market, it was withdrawn from promotion because the flesh color was unstable. Afterward, through countless experiments, Gu Weihong found that this instability was mainly caused by changes in temperature and light conditions, and that as long as these factors were well controlled during the watermelon's growth and development, the flesh color could gradually stabilize.
This research filled a gap in the theory of watermelon flesh color inheritance. At the same time, using soybean cake fertilizer and extracts as raw materials, she also successfully developed a special topdressing for two-tone ice cream watermelons, giving the seedlings their own special health supplement, so that no other chemical fertilizers or pesticides were needed during growth.
In 2005, You Hongwei, chairman of the Jinlongpu Agricultural Cooperative, saw the market potential of this watermelon. After many setbacks, he found Gu Weihong and asked to trial-plant it, and spent 300,000 yuan to buy out the 5-year production and distribution rights for the variety from the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
A miraculous new product
In 2008, the first batch of two-tone ice cream watermelons carefully cultivated by You Hongwei and the cooperative members was born at the cooperative by the Huchen Port on Sanmen Bay.
You Hongwei still remembers that at the time, because it lacked recognition and its price was relatively high, people did not favor this watermelon. He led the cooperative members under the blazing sun to promote it in streets and alleys, yet few showed interest. The high upfront production costs also discouraged many farmers from planting it on a large scale. One melon farmer did the math: based on an output of 300 standard two-tone ice cream watermelons per mu, income would be only about 15,000 yuan, while the various costs per mu alone would be 6,500 yuan, and after deducting labor costs, almost nothing would be left.
How could the two-tone ice cream watermelon be promoted more widely? Gu Weihong kept looking for ways. Because this watermelon can only be planted one season per year and harvested in only one crop, after successful breeding she devoted herself to researching supporting cultivation techniques for the two-tone ice cream watermelon, trying as much as possible to reduce production costs and risks for melon farmers.
"High quality, high price - that is the development direction for agricultural products in the future." Gu Weihong said she is full of confidence in this new variety and will further expand the planting range next year, sowing and bringing it to market in stages to extend the supply period of two-tone ice cream watermelons so that more consumers can eat high-quality watermelons with a unique texture. As long as melon farmers sign a "standardized planting agreement" and a "qualified purchase agreement," the technical research team will track farmers and provide quality services starting from seedling transplanting, and all watermelons grown according to the standardized process will be purchased at a premium price. If natural disasters occur, all losses of farmers will be borne by the company, reducing the planting risks for melon farmers.
As for the future, You Hongwei also has his own plans. He told reporters that while the cooperative expands and strengthens the watermelon industry, various vegetable cultivation and factory-based seedling raising, it is currently working to build an innovative modern agricultural complex integrating primary, secondary and tertiary industries in a multi-format development. The first phase has a total investment of more than 70 million yuan and has already begun construction. By then, the Jinlongpu Cooperative will become a new vehicle for regional modern agricultural development, promoting industrial structure adjustment and transformation and upgrading, and achieving higher farmer incomes and greater agricultural efficiency.