Xincheng County, Guangxi: Three Red Honey Pomelo Brightens Farmers' Path to Wealth

“This whole area is planted with Three Red Honey Pomelo.” On May 16, our reporter walked into the Gaoling Family Farm in Wulong Village, Masi Township, Xincheng County, and saw that both sides of the clean and tidy road were planted with thriving Three Red Honey Pomelo trees. Between the rows of fruit trees, each more than 1 m tall, peanuts were also intercropped, and fruit growers were busy with scissors pruning the branches and leaves of the trees.

“This area covers more than 70 mu in total. Next year about 30-plus mu will bear fruit. In the first year, one tree can probably yield 20 to 30 jin. Calculated at last year's retail price of 8 yuan per jin, it can sell for at least 200 yuan. In the third and fourth years, the fruit from one pomelo tree can sell for 500 to 600 yuan.” In the view of Yuan Fei, owner of Gaoling Family Farm, every one of these fruit trees before his eyes is his “money tree.”

Yuan Fei is 29 years old this year. He once went out to work and helped a boss manage an orchard, where he learned some fruit-growing techniques. During the Spring Festival in 2014, he came back and discussed with his family, deciding to return to his hometown to start a business growing Three Red Honey Pomelo. After gaining his parents' support, he used all 200,000 yuan sponsored by his family to rent land and order fruit seedlings. In 2015 he successfully planted 30 mu, and this year he continued to expand the planting. At present, under his influence and drive, more than 10 households in the whole village have taken part in growing Three Red Honey Pomelo, with a total area of more than 100 mu.

“Xiao Yuan not only provides us with techniques for free, but also promised to help us sell the pomelo. As long as the market remains stable, in just a few years my family can also shake off poverty and be lifted out of poverty.” Lan Guokang, a poor grower in Gaoling Tun, said happily.

Yuan Fei's development of Three Red Honey Pomelo planting has also gained recognition from the Xincheng County government. In addition to subsidising his fertiliser and recommending him to go out for study and training, the county agriculture bureau and other relevant departments also fully assisted him in building his Three Red Honey Pomelo orchard into a typical ecological family farm in Xincheng County.

“Gaoling Farm's development of the Three Red Honey Pomelo industry can increase local villagers' income in three ways. First, land transfer rent: by leasing land for 10 years, farmers can get a one-time land leasing income of 3,000 yuan per mu. Second, labour income: some left-behind women and older farmers who work on the farm can get about 80 yuan per day in labour pay. Third, three-dimensional planting and breeding: in the first three years, peanuts, rapeseed flowers and the like can be intercropped between the fruit tree rows, and after the trees bear fruit, local chickens can be raised under the trees, bringing multiple sources of income.” The person in charge of the county agriculture bureau told our reporter that the honey pomelo planting industry has become a good way for the county's poor farmers to increase income and become wealthy.

“Next, I plan to develop more than 400 mu of red-fleshed honey pomelo planting in several village groups in Wulong Village, including Gaoling Tun, Banyang Tun, Moguang Tun and Niuyan Tun, driving more than 200 farming households and building a ‘Hometown of Three Red Honey Pomelo.’ At the same time, in combination with ecological village construction, I will guide farmers to insert holes and plant flowers and trees, creating a demonstration site for an ecological village. When the pomelo ripens, through flower viewing, fruit picking, running agritainment and so on, we will further tap the added value of the honey pomelo industry and drive villagers to shake off poverty and increase income.” Yuan Fei is full of confidence about future development.