On July 5, authorities of Zhouzhi county in Shaanxi were called by fruit farmers to report that a fruit shop in the vicinity was buying all the unripe kiwis. Fruit farmers and authorities of both locations formed a delegation for law enforcement, 15 people in total. They went to the fruit shop to inform the owners of the risks of early harvesting and selling and warn them of the dangers it held for the kiwi industry.
Afterwards, the delegation collected the 500kg of unripe kiwis from the 3 farmers and destroyed them. It is the first case of dealing with early harvested and sold kiwis this year.
Zhouzhi is the largest kiwi cultivation region in China. The cultivation area currently covers over 27333 hectares. The yearly production volume is 460.000 ton. Consumers appreciate the kiwis for their quality and taste. July to September is a crucial period. This is when the nutritional value in the kiwis accumulates. When harvested too early, the kiwis lose their taste and quality. The store time and shelve time are shorter. The market reacts bad to this, so early harvest can severely harm the reputation of the kiwis and jeopardise the healthy development of the kiwi industry.
Source: Sunny Newspaper