Luzhou longans are currently entering the market in large volumes. High-quality, low-priced longans are available in every supermarket and fruit stall. The cheapest sell for as little as 1 yuan [0.15 USD] per 0.5 kg. The Agricultural Department of Luzhou City divulged that Luzhou longans enjoyed another bumper harvest. Preliminary data shows that the overall production volume of longan in Luzhou reached around 70 thousand tons, which is more or less the same as last year.
The overall surface area devoted to longan plantation in Luzhou was around 7,333 hectares before 2007. They practically all produced local longan varieties. The overall surface area devoted to longan plantation now reached 19,933 hectares, and most of the new plantations produce Shuguan and Lufeng longan varieties, which have similar ripening periods as the local varieties. Although much attention has been paid to the structure of longan varieties, only 600 hectares are devoted to high-quality, late-season longan varieties. These varieties account for 1/30th of the overall production volume.
Luzhou longans
Furthermore, longans began to ripen 10 days earlier this year because of excellent weather conditions. They entered the market in mid-August, just as the weather in Luzhou was relatively hot. In other words, about 60 thousand tons of longans entered the market in Luzhou in a brief period. In addition, the longan processing industry in Luzhou lags behind the longan production volume.
Source: Luzhou News Online