Big opportunities for apple crops in China

Thomas Mur, the director of Fiera Bolzano, stated, "We thought it would be important to know what markets our exhibitors are interested in a few months before Interpoma 2016. During the last edition, two years ago, we had participants from 71 different countries, which just goes to show how international this event has become. Before choosing China as a topic -he said- we explored several of its productive areas. Currently, some facilities meet high quality standards, but most are in similar conditions to the ones that our country had in the '50s. We have also met with political representatives and with exponents of research centers. Thus, we have noted that China has great interest in apples and that that sector's economy is developing at high speed." 

Hereafter, Yongbing Yuan, professor of horticultural science at the College of Horticulture and Vice President of the Qingdao Agricultural University, spoke about China's apple production. Current and future outlook. "Currently, China has a huge acreage of apples: about 2.3 million hectares, with a total production of 38 million tons. The plants are usually big, but the facilities are rather small. Producer cooperatives are still not widespread enough, despite government efforts to promote them. There are few varieties, such as the Fuji which accounts for almost 73% of the production. The market, however, has 1.400 million consumers."

The vice president of the Qingdao Agricultural University also said that apple cultivation in China has been modernized, especially in the last ten years, but that there was still much to be done. Regarding agricultural machinery, for example, China is a major importer. "According to some studies - Yongbing Yuan stated- 70% of the machines used in agriculture are imported. And there aren't too many obstacles for the plants, as China has bought many trees to Europe in recent years, especially to the Netherlands. Our apple orchards, in fact, have a large number of old trees. On the other hand, the installations performed with more modern criteria allow the use of machines. Additionally, the government provides incentives for the purchase of new machinery."

The future. According to Yuan-Yongbing, "currently the province of Shandong, which produces 9.3 million tons, concentrates most of the apples. Our intention is to have more than 400,000 hectares that yield 40 tons per hectare by 2020, while reducing the cost of labor and the use of water resources by 15%, and fertilizer use by 30%. Alto Adigio is our example to follow."

While China looks to the Italian example, Fiera Bolzano has been working in recent years to create business opportunities. Kurt Werth, an adviser for Interpoma, spoke about his experience with China: "We often talk about China, but we find it hard to imagine its enormous size. 25 percent of mankind lives in China. The exhibitors of Interpoma consider this market has great potential: given its size and the velocity of its development, business opportunities are obvious. The Chinese are starting to do what the rest of the world does to grow plants: grafts or intermediate rootstocks. The equipment is often imported from Italy or Europe. The mobile platforms, such as sprays or nebulizers, also come from Alto Adigio. Research is also being promoted: in two weeks, we managed to visit eleven variety development research centers."

Gottfried Rottensteiner, director of Skipp Sas, stressed the importance of having business trips to these geographical areas. Attorney Veit Gamper concurred with him and said that those who planned to work with Chinese partners needed to address legal forms and issues.

The meeting at Interpoma International was only the first of a series of events and discussions that Interpoma plans on having regarding the central role that China has in the apple production and sales sectors. In this regard, the aim of Fiera Bolzano is to offer companies in the sector the necessary tools to better understand this country, which can become a future market for the world of the apple.

For more information: