There are limited volumes left in warehouses across China with the sales season of apples from the last season entering its last stage. The flowering period of the new crop has ended and the fruiting period has started. Li Lijun, manager of Li Lijun Ecological Farm in Yantai, Shandong talked about the influence of weather changes on apple production and the sales situation of last season’s crop.
Li has an ecological apple cultivation center covering 55 mu in Yantai, Shandong. "The strong winds and low temperatures experienced during the flowering season have affected pollination, which has reduced the fruit set rate in Yantai by about 50% compared with the normal rate. However, judging from the number of fruit set per inflorescence, each inflorescence will still produce 1 to 2 pieces, so it seems that the low fruit set rate will not directly lead to a significant decline in production."
"Due to limited production, we position our ecological apples is premium sales channels. Most of our products are marketed in organic food stores and premium fruit stores in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. In addition, we also market a large portion of our products through government purchase channels,” The manager said. “Although we suspended shipping from February to April for nearly two months due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we haven’t experienced slow sales thanks to our solid customer base and fixed price throughout the year, only the time of shipment was delayed. Our 100,000 kilos of apples were basically sold out by early May. "
As China's living standards improve, consumers are not only demanding fruit with good eating-quality but are also paying more and more attention to their naturalness and nutritional values. In addition to growing and marketing apples, Li Lijun Ecological Farm has also been perfecting their ecological apple growing techniques.
"In addition to improving the biodiversity above and below the ground and adjusting the structure, we also voluntarily reduced the yield during the full bearing period to 2,500 kilos per mu when it could have reached 4,500 kilos. Apples produced under our yield control are higher in nutrients, with sugar content and acidity of 1.2% and 50% higher than conventional apples, and the aromatic substances are about one time higher,” Li said.
Li Lijun Ecological Farm started to share their ecological cultivation methods on the Internet last year, attracting nearly 90,000 followers. "This year, on top of our existing planted area, we have also expanded our cooperation with local cooperatives to provide local farmers with support such as agricultural resources and technology.”
More Information:
Contact: Li Lijun
Company: Li Lijun Ecological Farm
Tel.: +86 13105200606