Zhenlong lychees have seen a cliff-like drop in production this year, selling for forty to fifty yuan per jin
It's lychee season again, but do you know? This year, if you can get a taste, you'll instantly become this ↓↓
Why! A Dongjiang Times reporter visited Zhenlong Town in Huiyang District, known as the "hometown of lychees," today and found thatthis year Zhenlong lychee prices have soared, with Guiwei wholesale prices at around 15 yuan/jin, and Nuomici generally above 20 yuan/jin.On the day of the summer solstice(June 21), Zhenlong's local Guiwei and Nuomiciretail prices reached as high as forty to fifty yuan per jin, setting the highest price in nearly 20 years, and there were even situations where a single fruit was hard to find.This year Zhenlong lychee production has plummeted. A Dongjiang Times reporter learned from the Zhenlong Town government that due to factors such as the strong cold wave last winter and abundant rain in early spring, this year's total Zhenlong lychee productiondropped by about 80%。
The editor also feels very sad!! Wholesale prices of 15 to 25 yuan, sold out and gone. Zhenlong produces high-quality lychees such as Nuomici and Guiwei, and almost every household grows them. According to past convention, this year the Zhenlong Town government set up a temporary lychee market along the Zhenlong section of National Highway 205, to make it convenient for local fruit farmers to sell lychees and to give merchants and tourists who come to buy lychees a better shopping environment. A Dongjiang Times reporter visited in the afternoon and found that this lychee wholesale market, covering about 2,500 sq m, seemed somewhat deserted, with only a small number of fruit farmers selling lychees. In previous years, the market was crowded with people and the ground was piled with lychees.
"Guiwei is 15 yuan per jin, Nuomici is 22 yuan per jin, sold out and gone." Ms. Tang, a fruit farmer from Gaotian Village in Zhenlong, was selling 4 baskets of lychees. She said her family orchard's harvest this year was less than one thousand jin, down 80% from last year. She had not planned to sell, but after learning that wholesale prices had surged several times, she decisively picked the fruit and came to sell. That afternoon, the wholesale prices of the other fruit farmers were generally between 15 yuan and 25 yuan per jin. It is reported that in previous years, Zhenlong lychee wholesale prices were about 3 to 5 yuan per jin, and in high-yield years, the wholesale price per jin was even only a few mao, leading to the situation of "cheap fruit hurting farmers." On the summer solstice, a single fruit was hard to find. A Dongjiang Times reporter visited several local villages. Some villagers were busy picking lychees, while others had lychees not yet ripe. "It may take a few more days to ripen. I hope the price won't fall by then." The lychees at Mr. Wu's home in Jinglong Village were still slightly green.
He said his family orchard is expected to produce three thousand jin, most of it Nuomici. Mr. Wu said that based on past experience, lychee wholesale prices differ almost every day, mainly affected by the day's picking volume and buyers' purchasing volume. He hopes that because there is less lychee this year, the price will remain at a relatively high level. In Tangjiao Village, a group of relatives and friends from Shenzhen was picking lychees in an orchard. "Mainly bringing the kids to play. We came in previous years too. It feels like there are so few lychees this year and they're so expensive." Tourist Mr. Zhang said that this year the entry price is 80 yuan per person, all-you-can-eat on site, with takeaway calculated separately.In previous years, there was not even a "ticket" to enter, and you only needed to pay for the lychees you bought.A Dongjiang Times reporter learned that according to traditional sayings, yang energy is strongest on the summer solstice, lychees are pure yang in nature, and eating lychees is said to nourish yang energy.On the summer solstice, authentic local Zhenlong lychees soared to about 40 yuan/jin for Guiwei and 50 yuan/jin for Nuomici, setting the highest price in nearly twenty years.Due to the small quantity, the wholesale market was once out of stock, and some out-of-town customers went directly to the orchards to buy, resulting in a situation where a single fruit was hard to find. This year Huizhou lychees are expected to drop by 40% to 50% in production. It is worth mentioning that the Zhenlong lychee wholesale market attracted fruit farmers from surrounding areas such as Huiyang Qiuchang and Yonghu to sell here, and in the past two years lychees from Gaozhou, Boluo, Dongguan and other places have even flowed in, passed off as local Zhenlong lychees for sale.
It is reported that Huizhou is the main producing area of lychees and longans in Guangdong. Last year, Huizhou's lychee output accounted for about 10% of the province's total lychee production. A Dongjiang Times reporter learned from the Huizhou Municipal Agriculture Bureau that due to the low-temperature and heavy-rain weather at the beginning of the year and pests and diseases,this year Huizhou's lychees are expected to drop by 40% to 50% in production, with output expected to be more than 50,000 tonnes, and the market time is also slightly later than in previous years.Alright, if you can be so luckyas to eat Zhenlong lychees~please be sure to
invite the editor!
(Except for online accompanying images) Text and photos by Dongjiang Times reporter Liu Jianwei