70% of passion fruit growers lose money, so why can a post-80s grower make a profit from a hundred mu?
A while ago, I wrote an article titled "A Small Grower's Autumn Planting Demonstration: 4,000 yuan/mu investment, estimated output of 12,000 yuan/mu" (click to read), which caused quite a stir in the industry. Every day I receive many voices of doubt from various places, thinking this is a story I made up. However, most of the doubters are growers who have paid a lot of tuition or have not been very successful in planting, which confirms a saying: there are many ways to succeed, but the reasons for failure are strikingly similar. Below, through a real case analysis of an on-site interview with a post-80s grower, I will let everyone learn from both his successful experience and his shortcomings.
Interviewer: Qin Muliang (head of Guangxi Passion Fruit Express)
Interviewee: Mr. Li (a grower in Jianglin Village, Mingliang Town, Shanglin County, Guangxi)
(Mr. Li on the left, Qin Muliang on the right)
Planting time: February 2017
Fruiting time: July 2017
Planting location: Jianglin Village, Mingliang Town, Shanglin County, Guangxi
Climate characteristics: subtropical monsoon climate, annual average temperature 20.9 °C
Terrain characteristics: gentle slope land (former sugarcane field)
Soil pH: 5.0~6.0
Planted variety: Tainong No. 1 virus-free grafted seedlings
Trellis: flat trellis + curtain style
Interview video (omitted)
The input-output table is shown in the figure below:
Successful experience
Overall, Mr. Li's hundred-mu passion fruit orchard is profitable. This year is already the third year, with an average profit of 3,500 yuan/mu, and 116 mu has brought a profit of more than 350,000 yuan. This is thanks to the virus-free grafted seedlings Mr. Li selected, professional planting technology guidance, timely and reasonable pruning in the early stage, and the choice of flat trellis + curtain style, which provides ventilation, light transmission, and air permeability, reduces the occurrence of Phytophthora disease, and lowers input costs, especially labor costs.
Shortcomings
Extensive management, pruning not done well enough in the later stage, no artificial pollination during high-temperature periods, no protective measures taken in advance during frost periods, insufficient fertilizer supply, high soil viscosity without improvement, resulting in underdeveloped and partially damaged roots, which is not conducive to nutrient absorption.
The following is the planting situation of 1,000 Tainong No. 1 cuttings that Mr. Li propagated experimentally. 70% of growers will surely find this familiar; this is a portrait of many failed growers. Through the experimental plot, it can be seen that fruit virus disease spreads severely, the fruit is small, yield is low, and the rate of marketable fruit is low, so the purchase price at the field edge is naturally low. Therefore, choosing good virus-free seedlings is the foundation of success, and planting technology and agricultural inputs are the guarantee!
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