"ZiGui county of YiChang City, HuBei province, is one of the main citrus producing areas in China, specialising in the navel orange. Recently affected by severe dry weather, the output of Citrus this year dropped 10%-20% compared to the same period last year. The purchase price per kilogram rose 20 to 30 cents, up by about 10%." Mr.Lin Zhou said from ZiGui County of YiChang City, HuBei Province.
There are many varieties of citrus planted in ZiGui county, the main kinds are Newhall and blood oranges. The production season is from September to June and the annual output of the whole county is less than 1 million tons. Located in the mountains, the production plant has not yet formed a fixed sales system. In the past few years, the fruit merchants have had to travel to the production plant to make their purchases, then sell on to the rest of the country. Comparing to JiangXi city, another main producing area of Citrus in China, Zigui county has a unique geographical advantage, and uses no insecticides or other pesticides.
"Currently,most growers are retail investors with different planting scales. In the process of planting, growers receive big support from the government, especially on the technical aspects. The technical specialist of the government will guide the people, when needed, in order to ensure the smooth progress of planting."