Bagged loofah from the Yangtze hilly area of Dongxing District, Neijiang City sells at high prices and is in hot demand

On June 19, the reporter saw at the vegetable base of the Yangtze hilly area modern agriculture demonstration park in Dongxing District, Neijiang City that in each steel-frame greenhouse, tender and bright green loofahs hung everywhere. Workers, carrying back baskets and holding scissors, were busy harvesting ripe loofahs.

At the scene, the reporter saw that the ripe loofahs had without exception been covered with a thin bag. Wang Yulan, who was harvesting the bagged loofahs, told the reporter: “Bagged loquats, bagged lemons and the like are nothing new in people's eyes, but seeing bags put on loofahs is still a first.”

According to vegetable grower Liu Qiliang, traditional loofah cultivation does not use bagging; the loofahs grown this way have a poor-looking shape and cannot fetch a good price, whereas bagged loofahs can not only reduce pests and diseases and improve the quality and taste of the loofah, but also have a good-looking shape and are welcomed by consumers when they hit the market.

“It is very important to bag the loofahs at the right time!” Liu Qiliang said. When the loofah grows to 2 to 3 cm long, a non-toxic, pollution-free white plastic bag is used to cover it, and after bagging, the loofah can grow with a fixed shape; the loofahs grown this way have a good-looking color and are basically uniform in length and size.

It is understood that Liu Qiliang planted more than 120 mu of loofahs this year. In vegetable cultivation, he changed traditional growing methods and paid attention to vegetable packaging. It is currently the loofah harvest season. At the peak, he picks more than 3,000 kg of his bagged loofahs a day. His bagged loofahs are all sold to Chongqing and Nanchong. The wholesale price of the bagged loofahs is 4.4 yuan per kg, about 1 yuan higher per kg than ordinary loofahs.