Shenzhen has seen a bumper year in litchi harvests with the output expected to reach more than 10,000 tons, according to a Shenzhen Economic Daily report yesterday.
Due to the low temperatures and dry weather in November and December last year, which were favorable for helping litchi blossoms to sprout and grow, the flowering rate for litchi trees has reached 100 percent, guaranteeing a high fruit-yielding rate.
The harvest this year is once in 30 years as the 40-square-kilometer farmyards across the city are expected to generate more than 10,000 tons of litchi, double the previous year’s amount, according to the Shenzhen Economic Daily report quoting Qiao Fang, head of the Shenzhen Experiment Station of the China National Litchi and Longan Industry and Technology System. Among them, 70 to 80 percent of the fruit was produced in Nanshan District.
“We harvested more than 5,000 kilograms of litchi last year from the farmyards in Tanglang’s Baimang area. This year, the amount will reach 150,000 tons,” a litchi farmer surnamed Wu from Shanwei said. At present, only 40 percent of the fruit has been picked; the rest of the fruit was left on trees.
As the end of the fruit season draws near, a farmyard known as Xili Orchard has halted the harvesting of its litchi crop, leaving 30 percent of the fruit on the trees.
A fruit seller surnamed He in Baimang Community in Niucheng Village harvested 50,000 kilograms of fruit last year, and in this bumper year, the amount reached 250,000 kilograms. “We have picked 150,000 kilograms and by July 15, we will stop picking the fruit as they will be out of season and won’t taste good,” said He.
The increase in litchi production also drove down prices. The litchi variety known as guiwei was sold at 18 yuan (US$2.72) to 25 yuan per 500 grams last year, and the nuomici variety was sold at 45-60 yuan per 500 grams. This year, the prices dropped by 3-8 yuan per 500 grams.
At Xili Orchard, the two varieties were sold at 20 yuan per 500 grams. Head of the orchard Zhang Junfei said the price was the lowest he had seen since the founding of the orchard.
